Battling for Manassas: The Fifty-Year Preservation Struggle at Manassas National Battlefield Park

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Bibliography

Appendix I

Appendix II

Appendix III

Appendix IV

Appendix V (omitted from on-line edition)

Appendix VI

Appendix VII

Appendix VIII

Manassas Chapter 5

Reenacting the Past

Planning the Reenactment

In late 1958 Wilshin and fellow Civil War enthusiasts in the local community conceived the idea of staging a reenactment to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the First Battle of Manassas. This reenactment was only one of many programs around the country sponsored by the national Civil War Centennial Commission and various state organizations to commemorate the events of 1861-65. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Congress en couraged these tributes, but local communities and private organizations did most of the work for the centennial. Companies like Sinclair Oil Company tied their product promotions to specific commemorations and helped inform Americans about the centennial. [40]

National interest helped keep Wilshin and other supporters committed to the idea of a reenactment. In early 1960 they established a nonprofit agency dedicated to producing the reenactment. First Manassas Corporation, Incorporated, gained early support when the governor of Virginia, the Virginia Civil War Centennial Commission, and the counties of Prince William and Fairfax contributed $50,000. Adding further impetus to their plans, organizers hired Maj. Gen James C. Fry (Ret.) to serve in a full-time capacity as executive director of the corporation. [41]

Planning for the reenactment accelerated once the First Manassas Corporation became a reality. Wilshin completed an advance plan for the event in February 1960, in which he proposed staging the intense artillery fight on Henry Hill during which Jackson acquired his nom de guerre. Wilshin provided cost estimates and ideas on where to find the needed cannons and individuals for the event. Two months later, the First Manassas Corporation released a more formal prospectus to generate interest in the reenactment and, it was hoped, drum up further financial support. By the end of summer, the corporation had obligated considerable sums of money and had arranged for national and international advertising. [42]

National Park Service involvement in the reenactment developed gradually. Wilshin remained active in the First Manassas Corporation as a director, and his participation gave the appearance, at least, of Park Service support for the corporation's activities. As the First Manassas Corporation made further commitments toward staging the reenactment, Park Service personnel slowly realized that the battlefield park and its caretaker, the federal government, had unofficially blessed the event. This relationship was formally acknowledged in May 1961 when the National Park Service entered into a cooperative agreement with the corporation. [43]

Under the agreement's terms, the First Manassas Corporation would provide the facilities and services necessary to produce and present the historical pageant" of First Manassas. These conveniences included adequate seating and sanitary facilities for the expected crowds. The agreement required that parking and shuttlebus services be provided to accommodate the expected crowds. The Park Service also stipulated that the corporation make refreshments available to visitors. In return, the National Park Service agreed to provide the land for the event at no cost, with the condition that the historical character of the park be preserved. Park Service personnel would also provide technical advice. [44]

Long before the cooperative agreement was signed, Wilshin helped cement the Park Service's commitment to the reenactment. As superintendent, he made the reenactment an integral component of the park's Mission 66 program despite the fact that he had not included the reenactment in his original development planning for the park. In many ways, this decision complemented the Mission 66 goals he had set for the park. The 22 July 1961 date was a closer and more historically relevant deadline than the fiftieth National Park Service anniversary in 1966. Wilshin accelerated land acquisition and other Mission 66 projects so that they might be done in time for the reenactment.

Some Mission 66 plans, such as historic structure improvements, gained heightened attention. The Dogan House and the Stone House were valuable stage props, with the Dogan House serving as a small rural home caught in the crossfire and the Stone House representing a building forced into use as a field hospital. Exterior restoration of the Dogan House, completed between June and November 1960, involved straightening and leveling the building, replacing rotted timbers, and rebuilding the stone foundation walls. Interior work, completed in May 1961, included replacing plaster, trim, and floorboards. Planned Stone House restoration work involved repair of the foundation and masonry walls and replacement of the roof. [45]

While land acquisition and historic structure renovations proceeded on schedule, delays plagued other aspects of the park's Mission 66 program. The planned revisions to the museum displays in the visitor center and the field hospital exhibit in the Stone House were not completed until well after 1961, despite their relevance to the reenactment. The Stone House exhibit as outlined in the Mission 66 plan would explain the conditions soldiers faced when injured. The museum displays would be upgraded to provide more background information about the battles. Wilshin was interested in these interpretive displays, as evidenced by his extensive research on the Stone House and his involvement with Park Service exhibit planning teams. However, he came to rely on the reenactment for fulfilling significant interpretive plans. [46]

Instead of completing museum displays, Wilshin hoped to enhance the park's interpretive program through reenactment activities. Spectators would gain greater understanding of battlefield conditions by witnessing a historically accurate staging. Filming the event would allow later visitors to share this experience. Wilshin intended to show the resulting movie regularly in the park's visitor center. Another interpretive aid that Wilshin hoped would materialize was construction of an impressive facility to house a Civil War hall of fame at the battlefield park. As proposed by the First Manassas Corporation, this large marble building would house a library, flag hall, large rotunda, and administrative functions. Park Service Director Wirth lent his support to the hall of fame idea; however, because of funding and organizational problems associated with the reenactment, neither the film nor the hall of fame advanced beyond the planning stages. [47]

Producing the reenactment proved more difficult than Wilshin and the First Manassas Corporation had anticipated. The enterprise encountered serious financial difficulties. Individual donations and sponsorships by interested organizations augmented the $50,000 provided by the state of Virginia and local counties, and a professional fund raiser was hired to help secure financing. But these efforts did not produce the $200,000 estimated for the event, and the First Manassas Corporation came to rely on expected revenues from the actual event to cover its costs. [48]

Organizational problems compounded the financial worries. Major General Fry continued to direct the operation, but the expected full-time twelve-member staff never materialized. Instead, planning devolved to committees, which worked on a part-time, voluntary basis. Committee members often failed to coordinate their activities. The lack of overall leadership left the National Park Service committing personnel to the daily planning of the reenactment, a task the Service had assigned to the First Manassas Corporation in its cooperative agreement. Wilshin devoted his energies to the production, and in May 1961, the regional director added J. Leonard Volz as the National Park Service coordinator to assist in the final planning and preparations. [49]

The National Park Service had expected the First Manassas Corporation to address certain details early in the planning, but many crucial tasks remained incomplete as the date of the event neared. As late as 19 June, Volz warned the regional director that the corporation had not addressed the "extremely important matter" of sanitation facilities. Press relations, which waited until "late in the game," suffered from Major General Fry's "dictatorial manner." The Park Service's regional publications officer had to step in ten days before the reenactment and run interference by providing adequate parking, phone access, and press boxes because Major General Fry had refused to make special accommodations for the press, except for Life Magazine and National Geographic, which had made prior arrangements. [50]

Some Park Service personnel believed that the administrative difficulties resulted in part from Wilshin's participation in the planning of the reenactment. Wilshin had a personal passion for the First Battle of Manassas, drawn from his southern background and interest in the Confederate cause. His enthusiasm for staging a historically correct and awe-inspiring recreation overrode more practical considerations. For instance, he pursued the idea of lining both sides of Lee Highway, from Fairfax to the Manassas battlefields, with the flags of the Union at the time of the Civil War. When asked who would pay for the flags and protect them, Wilshin dismissed the query. He talked of crowds numbering 200,000, but he could not imagine the logistical details needed to accommodate so many people. He even remarked at one point that two latrines on Chinn Ridge would be sufficient. [51]

Reenactment organizers chose to depend on Wilshin's historical understanding of First Manassas and not on his weaker administrative skills. As technical adviser, Wilshin prepared the script for the reenactment and provided information on the placement of troops and cannons. Volz highly recommended Wilshin to serve as narrator during the actual production because he could accurately and dramatically cover any delays in timing. At times, Wilshin's command of the history put him at odds with the management of the event. He insisted that all reenactors wear authentic uniforms, down to the style of buttons. In 1961 reenactors had not developed the sophistication in attire and weapons that they displayed in later decades. Requiring authenticity would have added large expenses to the already strapped finances. Instead, Fry and others convinced Wilshin to use inexpensive substitutes, like standard gray pants and jackets from Sears Roebuck and Company. [52]

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/mana/adhi5e.htm