Fredericksburg Labor Day Ride (September 5, 2016)

Brought the Triumph home on Friday, but we had a bunch of rain from the Hurricane (Hermine) on Saturday and Sunday went out with friends Talked about that on my "Richmond and Me" blog.
On Labor Day though got the bike out and really wanted to give it a shakedown ride.
Made this stop at The Stone House in Forest Hill Park to get a photo of the bike. I have been enjoying it though really had a good time on this ride. Ended up being 140 miles via Highway 1. 1 runs all the way to DC - perhaps even further - but my destination was Fredericksburg.
No problems with the ride as traffic was light this Labor Day. Heat and humidity were also low with not a cloud in sight.
I headed out around 10:30 and got back to my house just before 5PM. Of course I had a few stops along the way. Fun thing was I got to see a favorite place I had seen before  but also a number of new things in the very interesting town of Fredericksburg, VA. Wanted to make this trip while passing through during a trip to West Virginia a few weeks ago and made it today.          

This is at the battlefield which I have visited before. The Union troops are buried there..quite a few thousand and most of them are unknown.
Battles tended to have long aftermath periods and sometimes armies returned to battlefields to fight again, and came across the remains of troops from previous battles.
It was a very sad time but in my opinion one of the few necessary wars and accomplished a great deal in making this country one.  

This is actually part of the original wall. Much of the wall is a recreation, but this is actually what troops stood behind while waves of Union attacks tried to take the position. All of the attacks were unsuccessful and it was a terrible slaughter.
I have often wondered though after Fredericksburg what drove Lee to attack a position much like it at Gettysburg? The result was the same.  

I also toured Chatham. Interesting house which was owned by a rabid rebel who owned many slaves. The house was seized by the Union Army attacking Fredericksburg and from its heights the city was shelled. The slaves were freed, it was used both as a headquarters and a hospital. Many Union dead were also buried there. The house was largely in ruin when the war ended but was restored and is quite interesting to tour which I did for the first time today.
I also came across the Confederate Cemetery in Fredericksburg and toured the old town. Some of those photos and others will be on my "Richmond and Me" blog page in the next post there. As for the ride as noted...problem free and a whole lot of fun. Looking forward to the next ride and among them a return to this area in the future.