Taking a break from unpacking and painting, the kids and I excitedly drove to Colonial Williamsburg for a special Civil War presentation in the afternoon that would supplement my kids’ recent history studies. Off we went!
Hook ’em Horns
While driving down the road, a horn honked and an elderly man drove by me with his right hand held up in a Hook ‘em Horns sign. sign! I did a “Hook ’em Horns” sign back.
What a nice way to try to alleviate some of my homesickness. =)
Chocolate Making – Roasting and Peeling the Cacao Nuts
After perusing the schedule for the day, we ventured to the Governor’s Palace kitchen to watch the chocolate making process!
After roasting the cacao nuts, the shelled the nut. The actual pod the nuts come from is huge.
One of the guests was surprised by the cayenne pepper on the table.
Since the nuts come from Mexico, the Aztecs were the first to develop this delicacy by adding chili peppers to the drink.
(Just like my Texas cooking. I add chili peppers to many of my dishes. In fact, my secret ingredients for black bean soup are cocoa and cayenne. Shhhh, don’t tell.)
The chocolatier also mentioned that it is Cinco de Mayo, which makes it a perfect day to make chocolate and add chili powder.
I’ve been so busy unpacking and painting the house I forgot about Cinco de Mayo, which is often celebrated in San Antonio.
Surprised to hear a Cinco de Mayo mentioned in Virginia, I was going to hear about it again later.
Interestingly, that was not going to be the last I was to hear about it in CW that day.
The processing of chocolate is a ten step process and they were on about step 2 or 3. We decided to come back later.
Walking through beautiful spring gardens
I took a picture of this same garden when we last visited a few weeks ago. The changes are remarkable.
President George Washington
Then we met with President George Washington.
It is the end of his 8 years in office and he is sharing with us his opinions of the State of the Union and his future hopes for our country.
Someone else asked Washington about freeing his slaves. He explained to us that he wanted to grant them manumission.
However, according to the law of Virginia at that time, one could only do so through his will.
George Washington is the only Founding Father to have freed his slaves after his death.
After his program, he stepped down for renderings (photographs) and answering questions.
I stood by listening, enjoying the great questions, and learning lots!
Chocolate Making – Grinding the Nuts
After lunch we checked a few more gardens on the way back to the Palace kitchen to catch up with the chocolate making process.
By now they were on about step 6, grinding the nuts.
Because of the amount of fat in the nuts, grinding the powder turns it into gooey chocolate.
It smelled wonderful!
It is a very long process, that would not be complete until the next day when spices will be added.
Cooks often used the same grater for orange, nutmeg, chocolate, etc so the chocolate would pick up the flavor of the spices.
Although we can’t sample this chocolate due to health codes, the packaged chocolate in the shops are available.
Street Theater – Walking with Patrick Henry as he debated the Tea Act
Then we hurried back to the street theater programming.
As we headed down the Duke of Gloucester Street for the Capitol for Revolutionary City to begin, Patrick Henry fell into step next to us!
Wow! Then another 18th century gentleman started walking with him, debating the issues of the Tea Act which the Burgesses were up in arms about.
That was incredible to be walking next to them and listening to their discussion.
It made me feel as though I was a part of the times.
The Heckler – will he be Tarred and Feathered?
My son wanted to stand on the opposite side that we usually do.
When we got there, I saw an 18th century gentleman that looked familiar to me.
He was nearly tarred and feathered the last time we visited (although in the below scene he was portraying a prisoner of war.)
When he spoke I definitely recognized his voice. That was him!
He stood right behind me and was heckling everyone!
He introduced the Burgesses to us as they came out of the Capital Gate.
We got to see Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, George Washington (yes he was a Burgess too!) and the others.
As we booed the governor, the Heckler cheered.
As we cheered the Burgesses, the Heckler did what he did best, he heckled them.
Now I think I understand why he was nearly tarred and feathered.
He heckles all the patriots. He even heckled us.
Especially agitated by the governor, we yelled, “Boooooooooo!” to which he sarcastically criticized, “You all sound like a bunch of cows.”
That was a lot of fun.
Thomas Jefferson getting out of the way of the horse
As everyone was taking their places, we saw Thomas Jefferson arriving and hurriedly looking over his shoulder.
The horse was coming.
The herald has announced the arrival of the Royal Governor Lord Dunmore.
After the governor dissolves the House of Burgesses, news of Lexington and Concord arrives from the north.
Mann Page has arrived after a 100 mile ride from Fredericksburg, Virgnia with news that the men are ready to arm.
After the Mann Page scene, we walked to the Hennage for the Civil War power point presentation by historian Carson Hudson.
The Battle of Williamsburg – May 5, 1862
Although he’s worked at Colonial Williamsburg over 27 years, he has more information on Williamsburg in the Civil War than he does of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington in Williamsburg.
Despite all the books we read on the Civil War, and visiting several battlefields, we learned a lot about how the Civil War affected the historic area during the Battle of Williamsburg.
The historian also mentioned Cinco de Mayo.
On May 5, 1862, while the Mexicans fought the French in Mexico, the Battle of Williamsburg was also
General McClellan
Then he talked about General McClellan who led the Union armies.
The Union capital, of course, was Washington DC while the Confederate Capital was in Richmond.
Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was in between.
McClellan decided to circumvent the path to Richmond by going by sea and attacking from the South, near Yorktown.
The only road to Richmond, from the South, went straight through Williamsburg, down the Duke of Gloucester Street!
Duke of Gloucester Street Divided North and South
The historian also talked about the effect of the Emancipation Proclamation on the area.
While studying this document a few weeks ago, we learned that it freed only those slaves under rebel control.
Because slave states like Maryland did not secede, the Union wanted to preserve that barrier of defense around DC, among other things.
When the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, the Union controlled Williamsburg, so those slaves were not emancipated until after the war.
To complicate matters, the county line between York County and James County goes through the Duke of Gloucester Street.
Specifically mentioned in the Emancipation Proclamation is that the slaves in York County could not be freed.
The ones in James County were freed.
My daughter remarked later that she remembered reading “York County” when she studied the Emancipation Proclamation and had wondered about that.
Long story short, the Union won this battle and held their position in Williamsburg through the end of the war, into Reconstruction.
The historian showed us how the Colonial capital had changed over the years through photos.
The union troops put up telegraph poles down the Duke of Gloucester Street.
He also told some stories of the soldiers from the Battle of Williamsburg in the historic area.
Texan Decimus et Ultimus Barziza from Baylor
To our surprise, the first was a Texan story.
One guy, a direct descendant of the Ludwells, used to live in the Ludwell-Paradise House in the historic area.
His name? Brace yourself. His parent’s apparently had a statement to make using Latin…Decimus et Ultimus Barziza.
The historian said he was the last of ten kids. He also said that he grew up and went to Texas to study at Baylor.
I looked at the kids and whispered, “Baylor University.” (That’s in Waco, Texas.)
When the Civil War started, he joined the Texas army and fought at the Battle of Williamsburg.
After the war he returned to Texas and became a Texas Senator!
General Custis of Little Big Horn Fame
Next, the historian showed us a picture of Basset Hall where a young girl lived.
(Few of these buildings in CW looked the same in the Civil War Era as they did in the Colonial Era.)
While tending a wounded Confederate soldier in her family’s home (Basset Hall), they fell in love.
After he was wounded, an old friend from West Point, now a Union officer, pulled him off the battlefield.
The historian put up a picture of these two men. Did we recognize the Union officer?
It was George Custer, who later died at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
. Custer visited his wounded Confederate friend quite often.
When he found out his friend was in love, he arranged for the marriage.
Custer was the best man! (We read lots of stories like this in our Civil War studies.)
Palmer House used as Headquarters by South, then North
Then the historian showed us a picture of the Palmer House, across from the Capitol and Coffee house.
The Palmer house was used as headquarters, first by the Confederates, and then by the Union.
This building was used as headquarters longer than any other building in the Civil War.
Some of what my son heard helped him develop his persona for our upcoming Becoming History presentation of the Civil War. Stay tuned!
