Reflections of An Uncommon Common Man

  The Innis house is located on Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg along the Sunken Road. It was built between 1856 and 1861. A Mrs. Martha Stephens bought it on April 20th 1861. Mrs. Stephens was born Martha Farrow but would have at least three surnames throughout her life. Farrow, Innis, and Stephen's, or Steven's, because it is listed both ways. There is no evidence that she was ever married. Supposedly, one of her husbands in later life was a former slave. All in all pretty outrageous behavior for a woman during the 1860's. The Innis house was occupied by Mr. John Innis, who was one of Mrs. Stephen's common law husbands.It is rumored that she ran a brothel or illegal bar out of her home. She owned this house and the Stephen's house next door which no longer exists. By 1860 she had two children with a man who was a cabinetmaker named Edward Stephens. They had two girls, Mary, who was 10, and Agnes who was 5. In 1970 the house and land was purchased by the ...

     The battle of Fredericksburg is called one of the worst defeats for the Union, and Lee's most lopsided victory. Although it was a tactical victory for Lee, he was not able to gain any strategic advantage. Other than to compel Burnside to retreat to his winter camp in Falmouth. In fruitless frontal attacks against Maryes Heights and Prospect Hill the Union lost 13,000 casualties as opposed to the Confederates 5,000.   While on a walking tour yesterday, with a nice young female park ranger, who had only been on the job for a month, I could not help myself at the end of the tour when she asked if there were any questions from our group. I raised my hand and said that I didn't have a question, but would she mind if I made a comment.As tactfully as I could, I said that people in the east tend to forget that there was a war in the west. I talked about the battle of Stones River that occurred just over two weeks after Fredericksburg. The Union Army lost ...

We had the pleasure of spending a couple of days in Fredericksburg Virginia. One of my favorite places, because there is so much history in this town and the surrounding countryside. I located the Brompton Oak which was the sight of an iconic Matthew Brady picture taken of wounded soldiers and a nurse surrounding this oak tree. The following is an account of that day. William Howell Reed, a medical worker for the Sanitary Commission, described the following in his book "Hospital Life in the Army of the Potomac" (1866), within a chapter titled "Scenes in Fredericksburg," on May 23, 1864: “We were assigned to the Ninth Corps Hospitals, reporting to Dr. Noyes, on Marie's [sic] Heights ... Monday, the 23d of May, 1864, was a most lovely day [at the mansion of John L. Marie (sic)]. The breeze came fresh and cool from the north; the air was pure and clear; the sky perfectly cloudless. … It was a day for the convalescents, and it seemed as if those who were ...

  On July 20, 1969 I was a 19 year old Airman 1st Class stationed at Kingsley Field Oregon. My wife Debbie and I had invited some military friends, and their wives, over for a moon landing party. As an American I was filled with pride and awe watching our country do something that no other country was capable of at the time. It had been a long, and at sometimes scary ride, while having a front row seat, watching the space race from the age of seven. In 1957 the Russians were able to put Sputnik into orbit. I remember standing in my front yard on Brookside Court and watching Sputnik streaking across the night sky in amazement with my parents and neighbors.   I was too young to realize how worried my parents generation was about the implications of what the Russians had done. They were thinking that if they can put a satellite into space they can also reach our shores with nuclear warheads. This event shook my parents generation to the core and the Federal government beg...

  There was a recent Democrat debate in which Kamala Harris came out in support of forced busing and supposedly made Joe Biden look pretty bad defending his position of when he opposed it back in the day. Because of push back, I understand Harris has now softened her position and is saying that busing should now be an option but not mandated. Personally, I think busing has been one of the biggest factors in the deterioration of public education in America.   When I was a child growing up on White Bridge Road, and later in Charlotte Park subdivision in West Nashville, there was no Metropolitan government. That didn't come along until 1963. The schools in Nashville were divided into Nashville city schools and Davidson County schools. We lived in the county. I lived at Brookside Court Annex and walked to the all White Martha Vaught elementary. Later, after moving to Charlotte Park subdivision in 1959, I had to be bussed to Martha Vaught for my fifth grade year, but that ...