Monday, March 5, 2012

Episode 101 (March 5, 2012): "All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight" by Bobby Horton



Please see below (after the transcript and show notes) for links to news and upcoming events.

TRANSCRIPT


From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of March 5, 2012.

This week, in honor of the recently celebrated Presidents Day, we present the first of several episodes featuring songs that recall the role of rivers in the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars.  Have a listen for about 45 seconds.

MUSIC.

You’ve been listening to part of “All Quiet Along the Potomac Tonight,” performed by Bobby Horton on the 1985 album “Homespun Songs of the C.S.A., Vol. 1.”  The lyrics are from Ethel Lynn Beers’ poem “The Picket Guard,” published by Harper’s Magazine in November 1861.  As a key border between the Union and the Confederacy, the Potomac River was a focal point of the Civil War.  But many other waterways also were important in battles, strategy, industry, and movement of troops and supplies.  Control of the Mississippi River, for example, was a major objective of the war.  Many Virginia waterways were significant to the conflict, including the Rapidan River, the Rappahannock River, the Shenandoah River, and of course the James River, site of the Confederate capital at Richmond.  Thanks to Bobby Horton for permission to use this week’s music.

For other water sounds and music, and for more Virginia water information, visit our Web site at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  From the Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

SHOW NOTES 
Acknowledgments: “Homespun Songs of the C.S.A., Vol. 1” and its version of “All Quiet Along the Potomac” are copyright by Bobby Horton, used with permission.  More information about Mr. Horton is available online at http://bobbyhorton.com/.

Sources: Information on “All Quiet Along the Potomac” and Ethel Beers was taken from http://womenshistory.about.com/library/bio/blbio_beers_ethel_lynn.htm and from Britannica Encyclopedia Online at www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/58438/Ethel-Lynn-Beers.  Information on rivers in the Civil War was taken from The History Place Web site at http://www.historyplace.com/civilwar/; the USA Civil War Web site at http://usa-civil-war.com/CW_Rivers/rivers.html; and the National Park Service’s Web site on the First Battle of Manassas, at www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm.


Recent Virginia Water News
            For news relevant to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper, available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/.


Water Meetings and Other Events
            For events related to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Quick Guide to Virginia Water–related Conferences, Workshops, and Other Events, online at http://virginiawaterevents.wordpress.com/.  The site includes a list of Virginia government policy and regulatory meetings occurring in the coming week.