A Delightful Day at the Unison Heritage Day 2012
Todd
& I spent a beautiful autumn day at Unison Heritage Day 2012, which
celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Unison, a charming
village in Loudoun County, Virginia.
We
set up our fly and A -frame tent at the Unison United Methodist Church, which
was used as a field hospital during the battle. One can still see the pencil
scratched inscriptions by the casualties on the walls. It was such a pleasure
to talk with the locals and explain the historic photographic processes. The
re-enactors that participate in the Unison event are top notch living
historians. We proudly advised the villagers they were viewing the best of the
best cavalry, artillery and infantry impressions in the hobby.
Unison
is one of the earliest settlements in Loudoun County, Virginia – dating from
the 1730’s. It is still a charming gem in the midst of the horse country.
Despite its being overshadowed by more glamorous battles, Unison was critical
in prolonging the war. Following the bloody engagements at Antietam, President
Lincoln looked for an opportunity to stop Lee and capture Richmond, the capital
of the Confederacy. The Confederate cavalry led by JEB Stuart kept the federals
at bay and allowed Lee to regroup. This
led to the removal of General McClellan, a decision still debated by Civil War
historians today.
For
us Unison is a confluence of spending a day as a living historian absorbing the
beauty of the countryside, the joy spending time with friends, the pleasure of
sharing our love of historic photography and recreating history, the
opportunity to meet fascinating people and the fabulous hospitality of the
Unison Preservation Society who have worked tirelessly to raise money and to
generate interest in the history of this critical but little known battle.
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