1865: “Great God! Take Care of Us Now!”

with Rich Gillespie

The Fifth in a Series on the Civil War in the Mosby Heritage Area

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2015 at 3 o’clock P.M.; Goose Creek Friends Meeting, Lincoln, Sponsored by the Lincoln Community League

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2015 at 2 o’clock P.M.; St. James United Church of Christ, Lovettsville, sponsored by the Lovettsville Historical Society

SUNDAY MARCH 22, 2015 at 3 o’clock P.M.; Mt. Zion Church, Mt. Zion Historic Park, Aldie, sponsored by Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority and the Mosby Heritage Area Association.

One hundred fifty years ago during the Civil War, Loudoun, Fauquier, and Clarke were nearing the end of Civil War. If 1864 was about frustration on both sides leading to the use of “total war” tactics that would leave the Loudoun Valley of Fauquier and Loudoun a shambles–burning wagons, burning farms, burning crops, and burning hatred—then 1865 was the year when all of those burning changes came to roost. While the War came to an end in April, the results and impacts of those cataclysmic four years would now take effect with a vengeance. Surprisingly, local fighting lasted until after Appomattox, which we’ll examine.

The Mosby Heritage Area Association in the winter of 2015 will offer the fifth installment in a series of Sesquicentennial glimpses of the local experience during the Civil War featuring MHAA Director of Education Richard Gillespie. The program will use area historic sites and landscapes to weave a tapestry of civilian and soldier experience during the final months of the South’s ill-fated bid for independence, including a glimpse at the first months of Freedom for the enslaved. Richly illustrated with photo and anecdote, this glimpse of 1865 shows a Loudoun sliding into devastation after four years of War. Programs will be held at Goose Creek Friends Meeting in Lincoln on Sunday January 25 at 3:00 p.m. (sponsored by the Lincoln Community League), St. James United Church of Christ in Lovettsville on Sunday February 8 at 2:00 p.m. (sponsored by the Lovettsville Historical Society), and at Mt. Zion Church at Mt. Zion Historical Park in Aldie on Sunday March 22 at 3:00 p.m. (sponsored by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority and Mosby Heritage Area Association as part of their Conversations lecture series. Admission or donation will be charged.