“MCLEAN’S RAVEN” Etching 5 inch x 7 inch

“MCLEAN’S RAVEN”  Etching  5 inch x 7 inch

The US Civil War was predestined to be fought and Raven wanted a front-row seat.

On July 21, 1861, Wilmer McLean saw a Raven perched atop his roof, a rare sight in Manassas, Virginia. Later that day The Battle of Bull Run broke out on his property. Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard needed a building to serve as headquarters and commandeered Wilmer McLean's home. During the Battle, an artillery shell hit the house but miraculously, didn’t explode.

A year later the Raven appeared and again a battle raged on the McLean property, the Second Battle of Bull Run was even more violent. Wilmer sold his house and moved 100 miles to Appomattox.

In 1865 Raven watched as Grant was chasing down Lee’s exhausted army. Lee finally decided to surrender, and Grant sent aid to look for an appropriate home to sign the surrender. A large black bird had flown just over the aid's head and settled on the roof of the perfect home in Appomattox, owned by Wilmer McLean. On April 9, 1865, General Lee officially surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. The site for his surrender: the parlor of Wilmer McLean's new home.

McLean remarked: "The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor."  The raven was never seen again.