One-tank road trips: August 2009 Archives

This impressive line of artillery is in Willard Park on the grounds of the Washington Navy Yard. While most of the tubes were made on-site at the Naval Foundry and sent to Union Navy ships or land installations, the one second from the right served the Confederacy during the Civil War.

According to WIkipedia, the Washington Navy Yard is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy and currently serves as a ceremonial and administrative center, home to the Chief of Naval Operations. It is headquarters for the Naval Historical Center, the Department of Naval History, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps, Naval Reactors, Marine Corps Institute, and numerous other naval commands.The Washington Navy Yard was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976. nearly 400,000 people visit the U.S. Navy Museum annually.

During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln frequently was a guest in this house, which served as the headquarters for Admiral John A. Dahlgren, the commandant of the Washington Navy Yard. Lincoln spent a fair amount of time at the Navy Yard awaiting telegraphed reports from the battlefield, which came in to the Navy's telegraph station. The commandant's house is still in use and is among the oldest continuously occupied buildings on any U.S. Navy installation.

One of my sons recently took me on a day trip to Washington D.C. for my birthday. We spent a rain-soaked afternoon touring the grounds of the Washington Navy Yard, which features FREE admission to the very nice Navy Museum as well as to the USS Barry, a Vietnam-era U.S. Navy destroyer that has been preserved as a floating museum. The Navy Yard's attractions are open until 5 PM most days and are well worth a lengthy visit. After the game, Tom and I took in the Washington Nationals - Milwaukee Brewers baseball game before hitting the Metro for the trip back to the Greenbelt parking lot and the subsequent drive back to our home in north-central York County, Pennsylvania.

The Navy Museum and grounds of the Washington Navy Yard are filled with relics and artifacts of interest to the Civil War buff, including naval artillery pieces from both the Union and Confederate navies, personal property of famed sailors such as Admiral David G. Farragut of Mobile Bay fame, models of Civil War ships, dioramas, ship's bells, paintings, and other interesting things to see, view, or read.

Obviously the Civil War is only one small part of the Navy's collection. There are displays from nearly every major war (and some minor ones such as Tripoli). The original mast and sniper's nest from the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") is a major highlight of the museum's displays.

Here are a few more photos of Civil War-related material from the collection of the U.S. Navy Museum.

The monument to York County's 87th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers is on Araby Church Road (or the old Georgetown Pike) on the battlefield of Monocacy. Large sections of the battlefield have been preserved by the National Park Service and other entities, although the Pennsylvania memorial is surrounded on three sides by private property.

The entrance to the new (opened in 2007) Visitors Center at Monocacy National Battlefield. This is on the Urbanna Pike just 3 miles south of I-70 near Frederick, Maryland. It's about an hour and a half from York, PA. This past Saturday, my son Tom and grandson Tristan spent the day at Gettysburg and Monocacy on a beautiful day. There is no admission charge to the park or to the museum / visitors center.