in about 1861. He was at a farm near a stream called Bull Run where the first major battle in the War Between the States took place. In his home a pot of stew was cooking on the fire and a shell from the Union army fell down the chimney and exploded in the stew! When McLean realized how his location would expose him to constant danger, he moved to a remote rural area in southern Virginia to escape all contact with the war. He settled in Appomattox Courthouse. But in 1865 this was the very place where