1/15/07 (Martin Luther King Day)

What a better way to enjoy Martin Luther King (MLK) Day than by visiting a Civil War Battlefield!

From 1984 to 2000, Virginia celebrated Lee- Jackson-King Day, a day celebrating Civil War generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. Virginia had celebrated Lee-Jackson day since 1904, and when Reagan declared a national holiday for MLK on Jan 15 in 1984, Virginia decided to combine the two, to create the odd juxtoposition of commemorating southern civil war generals with a civil rights leader.

Growing up in Virginia, with my southern schoolboy pont of view, I always had the lingering thought this arrangement was odd. Alas, in 2000, the Virginia state legislature rousted themselves to correct their act of laziness and separated the two holidays.

So, to enjoy the day off, and celebrate the day accordingly in Virginia style, I toured Manassas National Battlefield Park.

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I won’t give a rehash of the Civil War or Martin Luther King and the Civil rights movement, but as I walked the battlefield what striked me was the similarity was the drive and commitment these men each had for their respective causes.

Peaceful and quiet on a warm, windy January day, a completely different world with these cannons blazing in July 1861 (First Battle of Bull Run) and August 1862 (Second Battle of Bull Run). For the uninitiated, many battles were named differently by the North and the South. Even the war itself had different names

Abpve, trying to emulate Matthew Brady, the famous Civil War photographer. Forget complaining about bulky four-pound cameras and long lenses, Brady took horse-drawn carts into the battlefield to take his photographs, basically bringing the darkroom with him.