Question of the Week: 8/5-8/11/19
What “lesser-known” battle site are you planning to visit (or have visited) this summer?
Yes, the North Anna Tour yesterday at the ECW Symposium counts! Let us know what you learned on site.
What “lesser-known” battle site are you planning to visit (or have visited) this summer?
Yes, the North Anna Tour yesterday at the ECW Symposium counts! Let us know what you learned on site.
I found all the presentations at the Symposium quite interesting. The next location I HOPE to be able to visit is Ft. Stevens. That the Union armies under Grant in Virginia were well on their way to maneuvering Lee into his ultimate destruction (though that would take the better part of a year!), and that they seemed to have enough momentum and especially resources to see that through, yet a Confederate force could accomplish so much in hazarding Washington, DC at that time is flat-out amazing.
Wilson’s Creek is also now on my list!.
Picacho Peak? It is in Arizona, outside Tucson. In March there is a reenactment, or at least a fairly large gathering of historical interpreters. Some of the remains are now buried at the San Francisco Presidio.
Williamsburg! While there’s at least a little bit left to see.
“The Battle of Franklin’s Crossing”, which took place near Fredericksburg, Virginia on June 5, 1863. Located not far from the “Slaughter Pen Farm” ABT property…many historians believe that the small fight was the first action in the Gettysburg Campaign.
St. Albans Raid.
Earlier this summer I was privileged to tour Perryville and Munfordville, Kentucky, twice each. Perryville is considered by many to be the high water mark of the Confederacy in the West and a brutal fight featuring many native KY troops defending their home state. Munfordville saw several actions including the Battle for the Bridge, a dramatic clash involving train tracks crossing a high bridge over the Green River that resulted in 4000 Federals and their supplies being captured. Maybe all the battles in Kentucky could be considered lesser known, especially in the Eastern Theatre, because next month I’ve scheduled a tour for myself @ Mill Springs. Never heard of it? Well, it’s the first decisive Union victory of the war to many.
North Anna. I have to thank Bert Dunkerly and Chris Mackowski for a great tour of the North Anna battlefield. It is easier to understand the battle after seeing the terrain. The only sad part of the tour was the story of General Ledlie and his attack against orders. This is the same guy that would attack at the crater, while his men paid the price, again. Ledlie was drunk during both attacks. I had to check Chris’ book on the North Anna, that helped me understand the attack, especially the map. I, also, visited Perryville on the way to the symposium. It is a pristine battlefield, but the trails are not well marked, hard to follow. Great speakers at the Symposium, loved it.
Because I am OS this summer, thought I might relate my story of a visit from a few years ago…
As anyone who has been to Pensacola knows, one of the four forts constructed to guard the entrance to the bay is no longer there: Fort McRee, an unusual wing-shaped structure, was blasted to bits during the Gunnery Duel of 22-23 November 1861 by Union-held Fort Pickens, with much damage inflicted by U.S. Navy ships in the Gulf of Mexico. Having driven to the end of Perdido Key to confirm nothing was there, I convinced a friend (who owned a boat) to go scuba diving with me. We hired tanks and cruised to the tip of Perdido Key on a beautiful Friday morning at slack tide. But, while donning our gear, I realized my air tank was missing its O-ring, without which a connection to the breathing regulator could not be made. And my partner did not have a spare. Another boat was anchored nearby, and when I observed the passengers getting on their scuba gear, I dove into the bay, swam to that boat, and found a fellow diver willing to part with their spare O- ring (which I placed in my mouth and swam back to my friend’s boat.) And we made our dive.
What did we expect to find? Bits of brick, parts of a cannon or two, maybe even a cannonball. What did we find? Nothing.