State in history. Good evening and welcome tonight history and for those of you are not familiar with the history on path, the series what we have been doing for the last two years now, congratulations on her anniversary guys climactic and thank you. Which we get each other. Yes bear, that sounds good and works pretty so joe and marie and i have been traveling around into different breweries wineries and other establishments throughout the area telling stories of local history kind of the wild and unusual the interesting and stories that slipped through the cracks when it comes to talking about our local history and tons a special program because we are here in a Historic Site in february we are here at the Harrison Hall. It has a lot of historic significance to the American Civil War which we will get into as we move forward this evening but before we go into the microphone over to joe. Thank you so much for joining us here and live at Harrison Hall know my name is joe rizzo the executive director of this museum located in downtown, Loudoun County and i am joined by a director of education terry shaw rated and also the best dresser of the group rated ego is inflated cspan group, problem is to determine he arrived. [taps]. While the crew was one person lets not get too carried away. [inaudible]. And also joined by the executive director of the Loudoun County museum braided. [applause] and sorry marie go ahead and. [laughter] and now since this is our Second Annual fundraiser we needed to bring in the gun and the big guns to celebrate our bet of the special guest is dana, editor. [applause] i am feeling the pressure, have not been out of the house much like many of you. You look like it. Do you know how they say you should never follow a dog or cat on stage but we never should follow anybody with travis hair, i grabbed this little razor for my beard and i put it once around the battery ran out. [laughter] and i was thankful that it was a circuit because id only got halfway across, some going to try to hang in there, the silver fox braided and do what i can in size to meet you all. And on the editor and i also work as a historian and editor for the trials and when i in my free time. So is a real pleasure to be here ive never been here before and this is a beautiful beautiful place. If you want to see the evolution of travis here, the Youtube Channel that has a lot of our history and can see the pandemic. It was a way to spend the time when i was at home printed. Reach will tell a short story about the local history particular Civil War History since we are at historic historical and we do want to say big thank you to the owner of the property for letting us use this beautiful property for the program. [applause] and we would also like to think dynasty brewing located downtown for the beer we are having tonight in the shout out to the museum hauntings available for the october partnership with them and proceed his benefit the museum and benefit you so we have it available tonight and available at the dynasty brewing. I am drinking and im going to tell short story that looks at Political Prisoners. Travis what are you going to talk about tonight pretty. Im also drinking the haunting and also the story of a local soldier during the civil floor and cut it is run a block both good and bad during the civil war the pittman a lot of very interesting circumstances. To begin, Harrison Hall has its origins in the last part of the 18th century. As you are looking at the house now theres a portion on the far right that is one and a half two stories tall. That dates to about 1780 when leesburg was really just being built up and one visiting englishman famously said it was a badly organized a ramshackle town. [laughter] for more on that you can ask Travis Criswell and his drinking envisions it. However, Harrison Hall had relatively humble beginning. By the 1830s, a gentleman by the name of henry taz well harrison moved into this improper date with his second wife Mary Jones Harrison it is he who added on the addition we see here tonight making up the core of the building. The structure we see here and the second of the two outbuildings behind it and of course the land we are sitting currently on our chairs and back to the block behind you. He built the house ostensibly so he and his growing family could fit into less cramped quarters because they did have eight children. Its not that easy to fit eight to adults in this building here they be more comfortable having the larger estate available to them. They did have enslaved workers living at the household with them as well as working on their properties. Now, henry was a prominent harrison of virginia and his wife mary was not only a jones, her father was a prominent attorney. She also is the granddaughter of charles lee. Henry did pretty well for himself marrying into the jones and lee family. They had a very merry household. Unfortunately for them there is a civil war that happens. I think youve probably heard of it. Henry finds that his families also divided certain members are pro secession and pro virginia others including her own father are prounion and count secession as a double treason not just against the United States but also gives the home state of virginia. Some family members will leave d. C. To stay here at Harrison Hall with the family during the war. I think theyre taking a gamble with their house being watched in d. C. , they can live a little bit more freely here in loudoun. They could be thinking they can get away from the capitol and hopefully be away from the war. Importantly for them the war is going to come to leesburg in the fall of 1861. Of course, by fall of 1861 they seen one large battle coming right back in november. During that time, the Union Encampment on the north side of the river and the encampments here the war has just now begun theyre not very good at surveilling each other cm cross lines sneaking around badly. Everyone is fumbling around the dark a little bit at this point. It is only a matter of time before someone stumbles into the wrong place. Enter colonel from the union side of things. He is sent across the river to recount what he thanks is an encampment of confederate soldiers here. It turns out they are trees and not an encampment. [laughter] clicks early in the war break works early in the war and i dont know. The trees look like tense, i dont know. How many of you have been on a nighttime surveilled . I do not know do not want to know what you get up too. [laughter] at least silbert surveilled her. That is a good point that is a good point. [laughter] so, what was meant to be a simple Reconnaissance Mission bubbles up into this battle. Course i wrote down earlier today a recon gone wrong. [laughter] anyway, lees Union Infantry troops are going across the Potomac River where they only have a couple small skiffs to their names are trying to move hundreds of men across the river going by like 20 men at a time. It is slow going but it is a great idea. [laughter] by the time they get to the top of the bluffs on the other side of the potomac, they end up being met by confederate troops, surprise surprise. And among these virginians that we see on the field suggests up on the bluff theres also a number of troops from the deep south to been in Loudoun County who have been stationed around leesburg and it started to make leesburg their home. These individuals have become part of the society here in leesburg. Some are frequent guests of the harrisons here at Harrison Hall. One of the more popular gentleman who comes visiting is eight colonel bert who is a colonel of the 18th mississippi erie he is a doctor back home in jackson. He has a wife and eight kids of his own back there. I think coming to leesburg and meeting the harrisons paris pretty welltodo southern family im sure they have a lot in common. In fact, he makes a special friendship and niece of the harrisons who is from washington d. C. She sang at Harrison Hall and meets colonel burke. Close to what you think of as siblings they had a affection for each other. Not only feeling of patriotism for the confederacy and the other white people in leesburg outside the Potomac River actually. Things in the morning of october 21, full disclosure im not a full disclosure or historian. What i can tell you is the end result are pretty clear. As colonel bert in the 18th are going across the field they are being guided by a maryland her. A mail in hers later given credit as a virginian that is mr. Elijah white. Right now hes acting as a scout for the Confederate Army. He is writing directly on colonel bert right hand, directing him and this battle. The 18th mississippi is moving forward. Colonel bert colonel bert is moving forward and he did not know that ahead the field was clear there is a patch of wood in the ground dropped off. Where the wooded patch was there was just enough cover he came within 100 yards of that unit when they sprang up and fired a volley. No other volley he said fired as directly or hat as deadly of an impact throughout the rest of the career. That was the deadliest of volley he had ever seen. Immediately, we are not talking about decimating the 18h mississippi one out of ten, and decimate. It was one out of three or one out of every two soldiers that was taken out by this volley from the 15th. They were just shredded. One of those bullets came right into colonel bert entering his right hip, shattering the bone and staying lodged inside of his body. This is a horrific, this is very bad news. What does bert do . He turned to me as if in a regular everyday conversation we need to tell colonel jennifer i have to leave the field now. Quick something is, but ive got to go. I think that is a credit to colonel bert being a doctor. And being an officer and from that point to the rest of them to some things up that push all that Union Soldiers down the bluff, down into the river. A large number of Union Soldiers were drowned on each side there about 1700 soldiers to begin with. But 1000 casualties were suffered by the union army. So again, i am not a military historian but that is not good. That is not what you really want. [laughter] so as i said colonel bert is taken within the battlefield and is brought back here to this house to Harrison Hall and an ambulance. They lay him down and the front hall on a stretcher. This man has just been shot. Not even shot through the bull is a drum bullet is still lodged in his hip. He isnt bleeding profusely and blood is pulling onto the wooden floor beneath him. But he is not alone in that house. Remember there are at least a dozen kids of sometime in Harrison Hall in any given time as well as family members of people who are there. And who does colonel bert make eye contact with across the hall but the young Virginia Miller. The young woman who has befriended in this home. She writes the shoulders with him are trying to prepare bed upstairs there was no went right there with colonel birx of Virginia Miller rushes to his side and just takes his hand, there is nothing else she can do for him but she can take his hand. Eventually, after some time there is space made for him upstairs he is made upstairs and made as comfortable as can be made for him. And surprising a lot of people, colonel bert hangs in there, a day passes, then another day passes. Virginia helped him write a letter to his wife back in mississippi. They have small, charming, and significant conversations. For five days colonel bert lingers in this house behind me. As you are looking at it, it is the second story. I believe it is the second window from the right as you are looking at it. That bedroom is where colonel bert blazed for his final hours. But eventually he doesnt pass away from his wounds. He is at least at that time accompanied by friends he has made here in virginia. This death affects Virginia Miller greatly. In fact it affects many people across the south greatly. It would barely be a skirmish. We are talking handfuls of men when you compared to bigger battles. Its literally the biggest thing that has happened. It does make a big difference it makes an impact in the lives in loudoun. Once the body arrives in jackson there is another parade taking his body home for his wife and children. His death also leads his family in a tight spot. Is the youngest of the sons of the family did not have a lot of resources. Theres not even a headstone on his grave for about 50 years after he died. That does not mean he was then forgotten. Keep carrying him in her memory. It is interesting little pieces as we go forward and the war that makes one think his memory stayed alive. For example, in 1864 there was a William Henry luce was imprisoned on johnson island. He wrote to a friend of his, someone he knew talking about an old friend. The Lieutenant Colonel of the 1h mississippi. Serving at the gettysburg when he was captured. Virginia miller is back and she will send him some eight or commiserate. But here in september of 1864 he writes to virginia saying Something Interesting and specific, september 21 he send this letter it is october 21 went colonel bert had received his wound. At first he writes a lot of people say this in the Victorian Era theyre basically saying you should write me more. Basically it says he write more but then goes on to say i never thought to tell you i have a charming boy at home now more than two years old and bearing the same name is art lamented friend burke. I should be proud if he would make such a man is he. Ive not seen him in two years. Someone elses thought enough about him to name their son after him. There are some names that are not as good. That is pretty good. I know its not just Virginia Miller who kept remembering her but Virginia Miller what we know about her actions as she did keep a civil war diary. The diary entries she wrote about the battle were not written when the battle happened. Instead were written as a retrospective a year later. But we do have from her cover late 1861 1862. This is false bluff about colonel bert. Hurt diary entries were only found in 1980 and where were they found . In the attic. Their phone in the attic of Harrison Hall. But wait there is more. Residents are leesburg will tell us Harrison Hall has a number of ghost. There are daytime ghosts and their nighttime ghosts. Im not sure what the difference is. I have heard through the grapevine there is a certain presence that is believed to be colonel bert and he is eight daytime ghosts he is a nice guy. One of the encounter in certain individuals believe is a nod or hint at colonel bert is that the bed there will be a distinct shape of the body lying on the bed that was not there before. It is very spooky. Harrison hall and the greater Civil War History is often overshadowed by the bigger events. Whether it is a bigger battle set of the poultry 1100, or in september of 1862 robert e lee and the other generals came and visited kind of pushing off other memories unless they are officers who had been here. But nevertheless, those individuals are both great and small made an impact here at Harrison Hall. And perhaps they can still be felt today. Did you add that last bit because it is october and we need to get spooky . It is october we need to get spooky. You can hear more about those spook him, scare them at the museum haunting store. I like that segway. On sale next weekend bring. Im getting a cut. And now were going to pass things over too dana here to continue our civil war stories. To me too hold it . Works im going to need help at some point. I think it might be a theme tonight. Remember that name hes going to come up. He also was involved, went below the bluff and captured a number of federal soldiers. He really use that, those exploits hed made a name for himself and hes going to raise a partisan unit. Im going to talk about, kind of giving it away a little bit and encounter a Union Soldier has with him. And he recorded in his diary. The Union Soldier is a man named john nevin. My confusion could start passing that around we get a look at the union man of an hour. The man on the back is not relevant but its fun to look at. [laughter] pennsylvania is never fun to look at. Come on. [laughter] that segues nicely, travis. Because years ago and i am talking a long time because i used to card catalogs,. [laughter] i was waiting for a friend of mine to get off work at the John Heinz Regional History Center in spitsbergen. I had some time on my hands and was flipping to the card catalog and assign entry for john nevin and diaries, Gettysburg Campaign account. So i got those accounts i got the diary photocopied and i have actually done a lot with john evan. Sort of a known name in a way hes not a Major General or anything. But interesting stories come out of his story. To give you a brief background, when the civil war began he was a 28yearold teacher in pennsylvania. If you are promote pittsburgh as down the ohio river it is south of three rivers stadium which is no longer there. Youre dating yourself. He will enlist in the pennsylvania as the