Our Civil War Journey

As you may have gathered, I have always been fascinated by the Civil War. In previous blogs, I detailed our visits to Vicksburg and Gettysburg. The areas in which we have been traveling the last couple of months are, however, rich and densely packed with Civil War history. Penny has been patient enough to accompany me as I visited many significant sites. It could be argued that the formal hostilities began here at Ft. Moultrie. When South Carolina seceded, it claimed both Ft. Moultrie and Ft. Sumter as state property. Since there was a land approach to Ft. Moultrie, on December 26, 1860 the garrison there was withdrawn to Ft. Sumter.

This photo, taken from Ft. Moultrie, is Ft. Sumter. It is rather unimpressive, but it has no land approach. Nevertheless, it was surrendered after only 34 hours of bombardment by General P.G.T. Beauregard's artillery, the first shots of the Civil War.
When the forts were surrendered, General Beauregard, acquired several of these large smoothbore cannons.
In a very clever move, he had the cannons rifled and the chambers banded with an extra two inches of steel so they could fire more accurate and powerful rounds that would be effective against Union ironclads. The above cannon is an example.

This is the Judith Henry House. It sits at the left flank of the Union artillery position for first Manassas. To their shame, no matter your sympathies, Confederate snipers fired at artillerists from the windows of this house without first evacuating Mrs. Henry.

Mrs. Henry, 84 or 85 years of age, depending on which account you read, was killed by a bullet meant for the snipers. She thus became the first civilian casualty of the Civil War.

At first, it looked as though the Union might carry the day. This is the Confederate battery commanded by General Thomas J. Jackson. Here he earned his famous nickname by "standing like a stone wall" in the face of several Union assaults. With the arrival of Confederate reinforcements, the Union was routed to the horror of civilian spectators who had come out from Washington D.C. to witness what they expected to be a short, decisive battle. Here, it became clear that this would not be a short war.

A little over a year later, General John Pope commanded a second Union attempt to win control of this area. This badly conceived and badly managed campaign resulted in disaster. This is Shinn's Ridge. Here, Pope sacrificed several regiments to cover the Union withdrawal.

The Confederate victory at Second Manassas emboldened Lee to attempt an invasion of the north. Here, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, the resulting Battle of Antietam took place. It was the bloodiest single day of the war with over 24,000 casualties. This is the infamous sunken road around which many casualties on both sides occurred. While it was a tactical draw, it was enough of a victory to allow President Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation.

This is the Burnside Bridge over Antietam Creek. It was also the site of much fighting. Late in the battle, Commissary Sergeant William McKinley, under heavy fire, drove a wagon over this bridge to deliver food and drink to soldiers engaged there. He was commended by none other than General Rutherford B. Hayes for his action. He was promoted to captain, finishing the war as a major. Both men went on to become Presidents of the United States The sycamore tree you see on the far side of the bridge was present during the war.

Clara Barton ordered her wagons to follow the sounds of the cannons. Here, she set up an aid station.

More than two long years and many bloody battles later, General William T. Sherman concluded his famous March to the Sea here. He made this house his headquarters during his stay. Sherman treated Savannah much more kindly than either Atlanta before, or Columbia, SC afterward. In an ironic twist, Sherman captured Savannah on December 21, 1864, five days short of four years after the abandonment of Ft. Moultrie. After his capture of Savannah, Sherman sent a telegram to President Lincoln saying "Dear Mr. President, I wish to present you, as a Christmas gift, the City of Savannah." From here, he headed north with the intent of throwing his weight behind Grant's efforts in Northern Virginia.

Before he could get there, however, Grant was able to successfully conclude his campaign. This is a recreation of the village of Appomattox Courthouse. General Robert E. Lee, finding his situation hopeless, and his escape route barred agreed to work out the terms of a surrender.
The village had been known as Clover Hill prior to the establishment of this courthouse. Since the place had few other claims to fame, when the courthouse was established, the village renamed itself. Contrary to popular opinion, the terms of capitulation were not worked out in the courthouse.

They were, rather, negotiated in this house belonging to Wilmer McLean. In another touch of irony, McLean had lived near Manassas. After the battle of First Manassas, in which his house was struck by a cannonball, he and his family relocated here. He often said that the Civil war started in his back yard and ended in his parlor. McLean was a colorful character in his own right. He claimed to be a farmer, but others said he was actively smuggling goods to the Confederates. Some have alleged that when the Federal troops first showed up in his neighborhood, he feared that his true vocation might be discovered. After the war, he lost this house due to overwhelming debt and became a federal tax collector.

This is the McLean parlor where Lee's surrender was finalized. Grant sat at the small table to the right of the picture and yielded the larger table to Lee. These desks are reproductions. We saw the originals in the Smithsonian.

Rather than being imprisoned, Lee's troops were given paroles and allowed to go home. Many were allowed to keep their horses for spring planting. The surrender documents were completed on April 9th, three days short of four years after the bombardment of Ft. Sumter. Immediately after the finalization of the terms of capitulation, a portable press was set up, and paroles were printed in the Clover Hill Tavern above. These allowed the soldiers to pass through Union lines, and proved to Confederate authorities that they were not deserters.

This is the Johnston County, North Carolina Courthouse. It was built in 1921 to replace the original, destroyed by fire. There, on April 11th, 1865, General Sherman received word of Lee's surrender. He stood on the steps of the courthouse and yelled the good news to each company of soldiers as they passed.

This is the Harper house on the edge of the Battle of Bentonville, NC. It served as a field hospital for both Union soldiers and Confederate soldiers who fell into Union hands. It was the last major battle of the Civil war with more than 4,000 casualties. In yet another ironic twist, the Harpers, owners of this house, were fourth generation descendants of the Harpers who were the namesake of Harper's Ferry, site of John Brown's raid.

This is the Harper Family cemetery. The bodies of several confederate dead are buried within the rail fences to the rear of the stone monument. Because this battle occurred only a couple of weeks before Lee's surrender, it has received little notice or attention.

I've been asked why I'm so fascinated by Civil War history. It was an incredibly sad and terrible time. A few months back, I got into a conversation with a Scottish gentleman at the Culloden battleground near Inverness. Culloden was a horrible battle that is viewed by many as the final battle of the Scottish civil war. He felt that many great nations seem to require a civil war of some type in order to become a united people. In reviewing my limited knowledge of history, it's difficult to refute his contention. Our Civil War was, arguably, one of the first steps that we, as a people, needed to resolve issues that had been festering since before the founding of our nation and allow us to move into the future.