One of our last historic tours while staying in Virginia was touring the White House of the Confederacy and the Civil War Museum in Richmond.
Civil War Museum
The Civil War Museum was very well done and impressively unbiased. The museum was built in and around the ruins of the historic Tredegar Iron Foundry. This foundry had produced iron works for every major American conflict until its destruction by Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
The museum’s main gallery was arranged in a timeline format. The focus was less on battles and casualties and more on the civilian and cultural impacts of the events. It highlighted the consequences of the ravages in the South.
The Museum featured lots of “daily life” artifacts collected and sent to the museum by grandchildren and great-grandchildren whose predecessors fought in the conflict. Because of this, this museum has more artifacts with known history than any other.
The White House of the Confederacy
The White House of the Confederacy is the historically preserved and furnished building used as the Confederate headquarters. It also served as the home to Jefferson Davis and his family.
The building remained largely unchanged until it was converted to a school. Then it was almost condemned due to lack of maintenance. The building was purchased by a preservation commission and reset to how it most likely appeared during the Civil War. Though almost all of the original furnishings had been auctioned off, the commission reclaimed many. What the commission couldn’t find was replaced with period-appropriate items.
Originally, the building was outfitted as a showy mansion by the original owner. The owner then let it be leased to the Confederate government at the time of the conflict.
The house was arranged like many of the historic mansions that we’ve seen throughout the area. It had opulent dining rooms, parlors, and sitting rooms. The upstairs family rooms were much less elegantly outfitted. They still gave insight into the life of a well-to-do individual in the era. One interesting observation was how the man and woman of the house had separate bedrooms. It was seen as taboo to share a bed like the poor. However, due to the need for extra office space and meeting rooms, the mistress’s bedroom was converted into a meeting chamber. She shared the master suite with her husband, the ensuite office being converted to her lady’s room for sewing and other projects.
George Washington, a Confederate Hero?
One thing we noticed, and thought odd at first, were the many paintings and busts of George Washington. The tour guide gave an amazing speech about two Washingtons that was very insightful. Both men were identifiable as our first president, but their presentations differed vastly. The George Washington of the North was lauded for pursuing the freedom of men, while the Washington of the South was praised for fighting against the tyrannical acts of an absentee government.
People of the North saw George Washington as the founder of the country who was for the state taking orders from the Federal government.
The South saw George Washington as a freedom fighter who saved the nation from an unsympathetic, tyrannical oppressor.
We visited both sites with a bit of trepidation, expecting the material to be presented in the tilt of “the war of Northern Aggression,” maybe with unsubtle “the South will rise again” vibes. This was not the case, and we can heartily recommend the side trip to view these historic sites for the opportunity to see the Civil War from the other side of victory.