the problem is, lincoln's generals can't get their act together and so there is a major loss at manassas in august and that is not a victory until september, september 17th, at antietam. so while this is going on, lincoln is waiting for this victory to come, he does several things to try to prepare the white, racist north, the white, racist electorate in the north, for what is coming. he knows he's going to issue an emancipation proclamation, he knows he's got to wait, but he might as well begin to prepare and shape public sentiment on this issue. so he does several things. one of its as he writes a very famous letter to horace greely, where he says my paramount object in the struggles to save the union. and it's not either safe or destroyed slavery, he's trying to get people on board. if you are willing to fight for the union, think about how ending slavery might help do that. and then, he also calls in this black delegation and he brings a stenographer into the room to write down everything he says. and the messages, what you just very ably described, the reason for the war is because

and so there's a major loss at manassas and i in august and then there's not a victory until september of september 17th at antietam. and so while this is going on while lincoln is waiting for this victory to come he does several things to try to prepare the white racist north the white racist electorate in the north for what is coming. he knows he's going to issue an emancipation proclamation. he knows he's got to wait, but he might as well begin to prepare and shape public sentiment on this issue. so he does several things one of which is he writes a very famous letter to horace freely where he says my paramount object in this struggle is to save the union and it's not to either save her to destroy slavery. he's trying to get people on board if if you are willing to fight for the union think about how ending slavery might help do that and then he also calls in this black delegation and he brings us stenographer into the room to write down everything. he says and the message is what you just very described it. the reason for the war is because you're here and if you were here we be cu

i think her last battle was second manassas. she was in the army of potomac. she became ill, and then deserted from the army. so there was two things the pension office was getting her for. they were getting her for, women didn't serve in the military. then when she was able to prove, from affidavits that she served as franklin thompson, they said, well, if you deserved you are ineligible for a pension. because that's what the law was. that's why it took an act of congress to overturn that. so she says in the middle, especially because i took the utmost pains to conceal and hide the facts of the case, then toward the bottom she said but being a woman, and underlined woman, i felt compelled to suffer in silence and endured as i could. in order to escape detection of my six. she underlined, i would rather have been shot dead then two have been known to be a woman and sent away from the army as a criminal. she wrote a book after the civil war. what we do know is that she did serve as franklin thompson. we have evidence she served as a soldier. she wrote a book af

he was asking what battle she was in so i think her last battle was, second manassas. so she was in the army, the potomac. so she became ill and then deserted from the army. and so there was two things. the pension office getting a reformed their pension office was getting her for you know women didn't serve they were just off cuff saying women didn't serve in the military. then when she was able to prove, you know, from affidavits that she served as franklin thompson, then they said, well, if you desert, then you're ineligible for a pension because that's what the law was. and so that's why it took it literally an act of congress to overturn it. so she says in the middle, especially because i took the utmost pains to conceal and she underlined that part to hide the facts in the case. then towards the bottom, she said. but being a woman underlined woman, i felt compelled to suffer in and endure it the best i could in order escape detection of my sex. then, she underlined, i would rather have been shot dead than to have been known to be a woman and sent away from the ar

in 1862, i was taken to manassas for what they said would be 60 days service. it was a year before i was discharged. i drove an army wagon. several times after, i was compelled to work on the fortifications. i never bore arms or took any oath. my great, great uncle robert was made teamster by the confederate government in 1861. he was told he would only be away for 60 days. it turned into six months. he escaped from where he was and came back home. and then he said, the day after i got home, a rebel officer came for me. i refused to go with him. he drew his pistol. i told him he might shoot but i would not go. my family was starving. besides, i was unfit for service. this confederate officer may have been a cousin of his. whoever it was told him to get a doctor suffolk certificate excusing him from further harassment. that was true until late in the war when robert joined his brothers including my great, great grandfather henry and working with the confederate engineers by constructing earthworks for the confederates to defend petersburg. that was the case even

in 1862, i was taken to manassas for what they said would be 60 days service. it was a year before i was discharged. i drove an army wagon. several times after, i was compelled to work on the fortifications. i never bore arms or took any oath. my great, great uncle robert was made into a teamster and he was told he would only be away for 60 days. it turned into six months. he escaped from where he was and came back home. and then he said, the day after i got home, a rebel officer came for me. i refused to go with him. he drew his pistol. i told him he might shoot but i would not go. my family was starving. besides, i was unfit for service. this confederate officer may have been a cousin of his. whoever it was told him to get a doctor suffolk certificate excusing him from further harassment. that was true until late in the war when robert joined his brothers including my great, great grandfather henry in working with the confederate engineers by constructing earthworks for the confederates to defend petersburg. that was the case even as petersburg was evacuated.

recordings john has recently retired from the national park service career, which began 40 years ago at the manassas national battlefield p

challenger in the 2020 race to represent virginia's 10th congressional candidate took part in a forum in manassas park, virginia. they took questions on topics including inflation and recent school shootings. this runs about one hour and 15 minutes. [cheers] [crowd talking] [cheers] [crowd talking] [crowd talking] >> all right. good evening, everybody. thank you for coming out tonight. we have a great turnout. we are honored to have everybody here. my name is ray meisner, president of the committee of 100. we welcome you to the virginia 10th congressional district candidate forum. we are partnering with the league of women voters. this is dana gorn. [applause] we would like to think a bunch of people for making this happen. the program committee, with chair rebecca perkins. vice chair phyllis griffith. we also want to thank councilman donald shoemaker for making this happen and getting us the space. incredible. [applause] we thank c-span and abc 7 news and all the media that has come out today to get this out there to the constituents. so, with that i don't want to forget to mention that we thank

recordings john has recently retired from the national park service career, which began 40 years ago at the manassas national battlefield park. he became the chief history

i was taken to manassas for what they said would be 60 days service, but it was a year before i was discharged a drove an army wagon several times after i was compelled to work on the fortifications. i never bore arms or took any oath. my great great uncle robert was made a team's robotic government in 1861. he was told he would only be away for 60 days. it turned into six months. he escaped from where he was and came back home. and then he said the day after i got home a rebel officer came from me. i refused to go with him. he drew his pistol. i told him he might shoot what i would not go. my family were starving and besides i was unfit for service. this confederate officer may have been a white cousin of his but whoever it was told him to get a doctor's certificate excusing him from further harassment, and that was true until late in the war when robert joined his brothers including my great great grandfather henry and working with the confederate engineers on constructing earthworks for the confederates to defend petersburg. and that was the case i even as peter's work was evacuated as a co

heather manassas was a friend from a constand square. >> my dance teacher called a meeting, they wanted everyone there who knew her. most of the other students in the room were a lot younger so i think she was trying to be very very sensitive to that. and i just remember her saying that meghan had died. and it was at that point that i asked, you know, did she get into an accident and they told us we don't really have any details right now. >> but, it wouldn't be long before details of the killing did come out. brittani hopper was a friend from school. >> it is hard enough to lose somebody. sorry. it was just so brutal. and she was all by herself. i think that that was the worst part. >> megan's lonely, painful death was something everybody took to heart. friends, family police. they remember the girl gleaming with a life. now, finding her killer would require determination, imagination and help from everyone her life had touched. >> coming up -- >> i didn't know if it was somebody who had targeted her, specifically or if it was just a random. to me, it sounded like someone who would hav