On the road again…
So I have been driving through Kentucky, Tennessee, a bit of Mississippi, and across Northern Alabama for the past few days. I spoke to the Louisville Civil War Round Table on Friday, and was ( I think—hope—) well-received.
Yesterday I began the day at Shiloh, where I spent a couple of hours visiting with old favorites and taking in a fine program led by Ranger Tim Arnold, dealing with the Hornet’s Nest.
Above: the “sunken road” (not really sunken) and W.H.L. Wallace’s mortuary monument.
The best part of the day, however, was spent at a site I have not been to before: Pond Spring, the post-war home of General Joseph Wheeler.
The house pictured above was built in 1870. The smaller house to the right and behind was the pre-war home of the widow Wheeler married in 1866.
http://preserveala.org/pondspringwheeler.aspx?sm=g_n
The house remained in the family until 1970, when it was donated to the State of Alabama. In fact, the family donated something like 17 acres, 12 structures and the entire contents, including clothing, books, and every imaginable family artifact. Only five items in the main house are not original to the family.
I spent a couple of hours at Pond Spring, so much time, in fact, that I did not have time to stop at nearby Decatur (see previous post, here.) Pond Spring is off the beaten path, but well worth the trip.
I ended the day on familar ground, at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; just outside of Chickamauga. Today I will be visiting another place new to me: the reconditioned Peeler’s Mill, where the battle of Chickamauga began. Peeler’s Mill has been moved from its original site, sits on a private estate in Flintstone Georgia, and is in a much different condition than it was at the time of the battle, but I am excited to see it nonetheless.
More tomorrow, time permitting…
That road across northern Alabama back to Chattanooga is full of little surprises – Coon Dog Cemetery – and beauty. When did Wheeler meet the widow? Maybe one reason for his boys to tarry south of the river away from Chattanooga in Sept ’63? 🙂 Thanks for the heads up on one of the intriguing ACW figures whose star shines on into the early 20th century.
Wheeler met his future bride in October, 1863, _after_ the battle of Chickamauga. He and his very battered command had just recrossed the river after their Middle Tennessee Raid culminated in disaster at Farmville.