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 Moultrie, on December 26, 1860 the garrison there was withdrawn to Ft.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.

Beautiful, Historic Virginia

For some time, we had looked forward to our time in Virginia. Penny had lived in Lynchburg until she was eight, and had always had an unrequited love for the area. Many of her ancestors had also come from here, so she was eager to do some genealogy. I had only been in the state on business, and was eager to see the area in greater depth. We weren't disappointed.

One of the first things we noted were these huge, well manicured estates in Northern Virginia. All seemed to have these neat black, not white, painted wood fences around them and beautiful horses in the pastures. The black paint makes them look richer.
During our travels, we spent some time in Coastal Virginia. Here, a ferry carries a school bus between the Northern Neck and the Middle. These are the fingers that extend south from DC and are divided by the Rappahannock and James Rivers. These fingers are almost a world unto themselves with strong regional pride. Penny's maternal grandparents lived all around this area.
Of course, any visit to this part of the country would be incomplete without a trip to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Here, we're looking south down the James River, the lowest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway at 649 feet.
The experience of the Blue Ridge is a spiritual one. The vistas are breathtaking. Here, we look at some of the foothills from the White's Gap overlook.
This view is from Terrapin Mountain, the highest point on the Virginia portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway at 3980 feet.

We were there just before autumn colors came into their full glory, but some trees were showing their stuff.

In Virginia, beauty and history seem to be so entertwined as to be inseparable. One of the must-sees is Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson was his own architect. It is a magnificent estate in a beautiful setting, only a couple of miles from the James Monroe estate, and about 30 miles from the Montpelier, home of James and Dolly Madison. These presidents were friends and visited each other frequently. Earlier, we had visited the home of John Adams in Massachusetts. He and Jefferson were bitter political enemies who became friends later in life. Both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The visit to Jefferson's estate felt like a complement to the visit to the Adams home.

Here is something you wouldn't have seen in Jefferson's time, the front entrance to Monticello with no people gathered there. It was a beehive of activitty until shortly before his death.

As you approach the front door, two things you see are a clock over the door. The clockworks are inside with a shaft going through the wall to this face. In the ceiling is a compass face. If you look back at the previous photo, you'll see a weather vane. It is attached to a pointer on the face of the compass which shows the wind direction. Jefferson was a great gadgeteer, inventor, astronomer, meteorologist, and accomplished horticulturalist. President Jimmy Carter, when hosting a group of Nobel laureates in a small dining room in the White House, once commented that there hadn't been so much brainpower in that room since Jefferson dined there alone. He loved anything that would help him record statistics. Umm, Penny thinks that I would like him, whatever his politics.

This promenade runs between the main house and a small accessory house where Jefferson's son-in-law had an office. The two chimneys were above the smokehouse and a laundry room.

Beneath the promenade, were several other amenities. This is the Monticello beer cellar. There is also a wine cellar and an ice house on this side of the mansion.

This is the fish pond. Freshly caught fish were kept here until it was time to eat them.

As you might have noticed from some of the other photos, there were beautiful flower gardens around the estate. The bees were quite busy putting supplies away until the last minute. Very Jeffersonian.

Not far from one of our campgrounds was Jamestown. While it was a somewhat successful settlement, it was horribly situated. These marshes were, of course, full of mosquitoes. During times of low water flow, the water became brackish and unfit for consumption. While winters were tough for settlers, many sickened and died during late summer due to communicable diseases.

For years, it was thought that much of the original Jamestown was somewhere in the middle of the present day James River. You may have seen the wonderful documentary on TV. Recent archaeological efforts have found that this assumption was incorrect. These palisades have been reconstructed right over the original.

We thought this method of palisade construction was quite clever.

These are the remains of the second church constructed in Jamestown. The first church on the same site was where the first democratic election on the North American Continent was held.

Jamestown is still the site of much archaeological activity. To this fellow's right, covered by a tarp is the original Jamestown well. When it was abandoned, it was used as a trash dump. The resident archaeologist was licking his lips over what he may find there. Penny wanted to jump right in and help. Archeology has always been an unrequieted loved for her.

This is one of two statues at Jamestown. It is John Smith, without whom, it is likely the colony would have failed.

The other, as you might have guessed, is Pocahontas, who married John Rolfe and became a celebrity in England. That is where she is buried.

From Jamestown, we went to Williamsburg. Much has been restored as it originally was, thanks to one of the Rockefellers. It was really a very well done

trip back in time that costs about $70 per couple. We chose to wait until after 6:00 pm when access to most of the town was free. We saw enough re-enactment to satisfy. If you've been here and gotten the whole experience, you may think we were too cheap. The $70.00 bought the better part of a very nice dinner the next evening. There are many re-enactors. Here a carpenter is walking down the sidewalk to join some friends in casual conversation about issues of importance during the late 1700s.

There were several horse carriages. For a fee, you could get a ride around the town in one of them.

I found this ox wagon more interesting. The oxen simply followed their driver with no additional urging.

There were a few breaks in the maintenance of the time period, such as this bicycle in the midst of several men in period dress - almost whimsical.

The re-enactments of events were very well done. Here, in front of the recreated Virginia Capitol building, in what we thought was probably a closing ceremony every night, is a reading of a petition in favor of declaring independence. The declaration was read, and put to a vote of the crowd which was, of course, overwhelmingly in favor. The man in the gray coat was Patrick Henry.

At the close of the reading of the declaration, the Union Jack is brought down, and the first American Flag is run up the Capitol flagpole.

Next on our list was Yorktown. Here is a recreation of George Washington's staff headquarters tent. Next to it is the original tent in which Washington slept - amazing that it has survived.

Artillery was critical to the American victory at Yorktown. Here are some American artillery pieces. Starting at the the front are two mortars, then a howitzer, and four 10-pounder cannons. Many rounds were pumped into the British compound, an average of more than one round per minute, twenty four hours a day.

This is the artillery piece that the British couldn't match, a 24-pounder siege gun. It had twice the range of the British 10-pounder cannons, and far more hitting power. These cannons couldn't have been brought overland, but were delivered by the French ships that facilitated the American victory.

This British cannon, located inside the visitor center is a dramatic example of American firepower here. The round, black spot above the carriage, behind the wheel, is a mark left by an American cannonball. It destroyed the original carriage, putting the cannon out of action. Lafayette returned many years later to this battlefield and identified this weapon by that spot.

Also inside the visitor center is a reconstuction of the British warship Betsy. She was sunk by fire from American shore batteries. These cannons were recovered from the bottom of the James River years later.

The lighting for this shot was not very favorable, but it was an important part of the American Victory. This is Redoubt Number 10. It was taken by the Americans under the command of Colonel Alexander Hamilton. The French took Redoubt Number 9 about a hundred yards away. The taking of those two redoubts allowed the Americans to move their lines much closer to the British, thus forcing Cornwallis into an untenable position. It was in this Redoubt that George Washington signed the Articles of Capitulation.

This is the Moore house where the Articles of Capitulation were worked out.

This is the road down which the British walked to lay down their weapons in the field to the left.

There is a small pavilion at the surrender field at which is displayed some of the ordinance surrendered here. Note the engraving placed there after the surrender. This was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.

Our expectations for our trip to Virginia were high. What we saw exceeded them. We will have to return to Virginia soon. We barely scratched the surface of that state's rich environment and heritage. There is much left to see and do, including lots more genealogy research for Penny.

Technology

While not absolutely necessary, a little technology makes this mobile lifestyle a lot easier and more fun.

Of course, being the nerds we are, we must each have our own computer. We found this out in spades when we visited the British Isles and only took one. You can do almost anything online, and being able to order our prescriptions, check our accounts, buy Christmas and birthday gifts is great.
This is one of our latest upgrades. The small device on the right is Verizon's MiFi. It provides cellular broadband internet and acts as a secure wireless ethernet within the coach. It replaces and outperforms the pile of stuff on the left. That pile was pretty state of the art when we bought it three years ago. Wish I had all the stuff that I used for the first wired ethernet that I put in our house about ten years ago for comparison. Of course, we want to stay in touch with family and friends, and this webcam helps us do it. This is for my computer. Penny's computer has a built in camera.

Over the past year, we've both become crackberry, excuse me, Blackberry addicts. We get instant internet access, but we can check the weather, get gps directions, find business or other services, and much more. It's a lot of fun when we're traveling to be able to look up something we see by the side of the road, or instantly answer a question that comes up in conversation. Of course, Penny has her calendar and to-do list always at the ready.

Not exactly high tech, but if you travel extensively in the Northeast, you must have one of these. Even though it says Pennsylvania Turnpike on it, it will get you instantly through the toll booth on any of the Northeastern, Illinois, or Indiana tollways. On some, you don't even have to slow down as you pass the tollgate. It also gives you a discount. All you have to do is go online every now and then and make sure you have enough money in your account to pay the tolls you anticipate. It sure beats scrambling for money when the sign telling you how much finally comes into view, especially for a vehicle the size of ours.

Of course, we both have to have our ipods. This is my ipod touch. It will hold books on tape, or up to 200 music pieces. I also get free podcasts from The History Channel, Nova, PBS, and the British History Magazine. Makes a long bicycle ride or a walk on the beach much more fun. Penny has a newer, more powerful one.

Neither of us can do without books, but they take up space and weigh a lot. In this lifestyle, that's a big deal. With the help of our daughter Erin, Santa brought Penny this Kindle last Christmas. Books are easy to read on it, and you can set the type to any size you want. It can hold many books, and costs far less than purchasing the print versions in most cases. For example, you can get 200 works of Charles Dickens for $0.99. Several other titles are available for a similar price. Newly printed books are often available before they hit the stands for a price of $9.95. You can download books directly in a few minutes. You can also get several newspapers and magazines delivered to your Kindle. Amazon will store the books you've read and wish to remove from your Kindle for nothing. I'm hoping that Santa remembers me with one this year.

This is also a recent addition. When we bought our coach, it had a satellite dish on it, but after three years of service, it developed a malfunction that was going to cost too much to fix, so we decided to upgrade. We did a lot of research and this one was very highly rated. It quickly finds your satellites, can lock on to three at the same time, and is capable of receiving high definition broadcasts. When you're ready to travel, push the button and it folds into itself and extends only nine inches above the roof of the coach. The hard part is trying to get DirecTV to understand that just because we're in one place today, doesn't mean we'll be there when they're ready to bring out our HD receiver, and we want our snailmail correspondence delivered to an entirely different place. Wonder what wonderful new piece of technology will be next?