-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
You are looking for a standard ammo can, camouflaged to blend in with the hide area. Cache is hidden out of sight, but in a "typical" spot. Please observe and respect the posted park hours, and practice CITO in your visit to this nice little park. There were a few briars/thorns at the cache site when we placed it, though nothing unavoidable with simple care.
We placed this cache in honour of the NOVAGO Spring Has Sprung event a short distance away. We intend for this to be an "easy" cache to find, and not too strenuous a stroll from nearby parking. We hope that after you discover this cache, you'll be tempted to walk a few hundred feet further up the path, to enjoy some of the history of this beautiful park. Among other sites, you'll get to see:
1. The smallest national cemetery in the United States
2. The site where the only United States senator to die in battle perished
3. The site of the 2nd largest (after Manassas/Bull Run) Civil War battle in the Eastern Theatre during 1861.
The name of this cache refers to a historical oddity relating to the commander of the Confederate forces during the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Colonel Nathan G. Evans. Colonel Evans was a hard-fighting, hard-living former captain in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry, who graduated from West Point in 1848, and resigned his commission in 1861 rather than take up arms against his native South (he was a South Carolinian). Commanding a small brigade at the Battle of First Manassas, he was largely credited with holding the Federal army at bay long enough to allow the out-maneuvered Confederate army precious time to re-position it's forces more effectively, almost certainly preventing a decisive Federal victory.
Evans carried the nickname "Shanks" due to his bow-legged, knock-kneed appearance, and "Shanks" Evans was seemingly everywhere during a battle, usually closely trailed by an aide whose sole responsibility was to carry a small keg of whiskey on his back. During the battles, Evans would frequently "refresh" himself from his "barrelito", and one wonders how much of his aggressiveness and energy flowed from that keg.
"Shanks" Evans would be made a brigadier general as a result of the Confederate victory at Ball's Bluff, and take part in numerous battles including 2nd Manassas and Antietam, with El Barrelito near to hand. He was actually tried (and acquitted) for drunkeness at the Battle of Kinston, and tried (and acquitted) for disobedience of orders by his commanding officer during the 1863 defense of Charleston, South Carolina. Despite the acquittal, he was deemed "incompetent" by General P.G.T. Beauregard, who tried to prevent Evans from resuming command. Between Beauregard's machinations and an unfortunate horse buggy accident, Evans never again exercised a battlefield command, instead serving in the War Department in Richmond until war's end.
The story of El Barrelito brings to mind an occurence later in the war when a frustrated President Lincoln was told by one of his advisors that successful federal General Ulysses Grant was a drunk. Lincoln, who suffered through numerous ineffective generals (McDowell, McClellan, Pope, McClellan again, Burnside, Hooker, Meade) commented that he should send Grant and his other generals some more whiskey. I wonder whether Lincoln knew of "Shanks" Evans.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Arne gur onfr bs n snyyra gerr