Just returned from Saltville, Virginia. A quiet mountain town, steeped in history nestled in
the mountains of southwestern Virginia just north of Abingdon.
According to Wikipedia,
During the American Civil War, Saltville was one of the Confederacy's main saltworks.
The saltworks were considered vital to the Confederate war effort because the salt was
used in preserving meat for Confederate soldiers and civilians. Because of its importance,
the town was attacked by Northern forces intent on destroying the saltworks. On October
2, 1864 the First Battle of Saltville was fought here. In the battle Union forces attacked
Saltville but were defeated by Confederate troops.
Two months later General George Stoneman, a Union cavalry commander, led a second
attack on the saltworks (known as the Second Battle of Saltville). This time the
Confederates were defeated and the saltworks were destroyed by Union troops. The loss
of the Saltville works was considered a major blow to the Confederacy's dwindling
resources.
My camp at the event complete with posing area and backdrop.
The event began on Friday, where the reenacts played host to over 300 of the county's
schoolchildren, where they got to learn about everything from civil war photography from
me, to a camp surgeon, camp life and military drills and firing in addition to the battle
itself.
The weather was spotty with rain showers throughout the weekend but I managed to make
a few nice plates. The pity of these events is the plates always go home with someone
else! The photos that you see here on the website have mostly all been shot with my
iPhone 6 and it's nearly impossible to shoot images of my plates without some sort of
reflection. My apologies. I think I may look into purchasing a small portable scanner that I
can hook up to my laptop and bring to events to get better images of the plates I am
making.
