History Time - Fredericksburg, VA

May 28 - 30.…We have been some busy tourists the last 2 days - visiting Presidential homes, museums and civil war sites. This area is rich with history & also is very beautiful with it‘s rolling hill & green wooded landscape! We arrived at our campsite Sat. afternoon. It is located outside of a small town of Gordonsville. It is located southwest of Fredericksburg, VA. On Sunday we went to Fredericksburg where we visited the James Madison Museum, Chatham (mansion used as Union headquarters & field hospital during Civil War) the Fredericksburg Battlefield visitors center, the Chancellorsville Battlefield (where Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded). It was a full day of very interesting history. This area was one of the bloodiest of the civil war. Memorial Day we visited Montpelier, the home of James & Dolly Madison and Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. Both were within a short driving distance from where we are staying. Montpelier is under renovation to restore it to what it looked like when the Madison’s owned it - 11,000 sq ft. (one of the owners added several thousand sq. feet onto the home & remodeled it quite a bit). It is amazing how they are able to determine where actual walls, doors, mantles, etc were. The view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from this area is great.
Here’s some 'did you know ' history facts:
1) Jefferson, Madison & Monroe where good friends and had homes within 30 miles of each other?
2) 3 of the first 5 Presidents died on the 4th of July and another died the week before? (Adams, Jefferson, & Monroe on the 4th . The Dr. told Madison he could prolong his life so he could also die on the 4th - Madison choose to go naturally, the same way he came into the world. He died on Jun 28th) Jefferson died 50 years to the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
3) Jefferson & Madison both died as debtors?
4) Stonewall Jackson was shot buy his own troops & he actually died of
pneumonia?
We are on enroute to our stop, of Reston VA (just west of Washington DC). Going to soak up some more history !!!