Tuesday Tour: battleground

History is one topic of special interest here in Mama’s Empty Nest.  If you’ve been a long-time reader of this blog, you may recall that Papa (Mama’s husband) is a history buff.

He loves delving into that subject and visiting historical places and has passed that interest on to one of our daughters. As an ex-military man, Papa also enjoys extensive reading about war-time battles, particularly the Civil War. Our family once attended a Civil War re-enactment that Papa relished.

So, it was apropos and not surprising that our daughter presented something historical to Papa as a gift last Christmas – a framed map of the major battles of the American Civil War. It promptly found a spot hanging on the wall of our home office where Papa’s other favorite items are displayed.

During his time as a traveling sales representative, my husband briefly visited three Civil War battlefields in Virginia (which was part of his sales territory): Appomattox, Fredericksburg, and Cold Harbor.  Unfortunately, he did not have a camera with him or a cell phone with camera capabilities in those days, so we don’t have any photos from his visits.

But on our road trips, we have stopped and viewed three other Civil War battlefields, the subject of my Tuesday Tour today.

For those who aren’t familiar with American history, this war was fought between the northern states, called the Union, and the southern states, known as the Confederacy, between 1861 and 1865.

It was horrible, bloody, and the deadliest war Americans have ever fought – and we fought ourselves. Brothers against brothers, south against north, family members against family, friends against friends.

A gigantic divide that killed an estimated 620,000 people (some historians believe the number was actually higher) was bitterly waged all on our own American soil.

The toll on our country was horrendous and we should remember and learn from that terrible time, so we never repeat it.

That’s why it’s so important to know and understand history. Learn a vital lesson from it and don’t repeat the same mistakes. And importantly, teach our children history.

Our first stop on today’s battlefield tour is Antietam in Maryland. In 2003, Papa, two of our children, and I took a self-guided tour of that battlefield where 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing after engaging in 12 hours of combat in September 1862. Approximately 4,800 of them are buried in the National Cemetery there.

Located on the National Park Service grounds are 96 monuments honoring soldiers, regiments, and states who fought there.  The battle began on that September morning around a small, stone building which was the Dunker Church.

The photo below of that church isn’t the best quality since it was taken with a 35 mm film point and shoot camera and light somehow interfered in the shot, but you can view the building that was surrounded by conflict.

Even though the victors of the Antietam battle were deemed inconclusive, the fighting there was important because it ceased the Northern Virginia Confederate Army’s first invasion into northern states.  This battle also led United States President Abraham Lincoln to issue a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, promising freedom for those held in the bondage of slavery.

On our way back from a trip to Alabama in the fall of 2010, Papa and I stopped at Lookout Mountain, part of the Chattanooga Civil War Battlefield located in Tennessee and I took a number of photos with a digital point and shoot camera while there.

As we walked around the area, we marveled from that vantage point where we looked down on Chattanooga, known as the “”Gateway to the Deep South.” Nearly 150 years after the battle fought there, it wasn’t difficult to realize why the Union and Confederate armies fought for control of the city in 1863.

Southern troops had won a battle at nearby Chickamauga, Georgia in September of that year, but Union troops became victorious gaining control at Chattanooga during three days of fighting in November.

Historians call the Union Army’s victory one of the most dramatic turnarounds in American military history since they pushed Confederate troops back into Georgia. That success paved the way for Union General Sherman’s troops to “march to the sea,” destroying Atlanta and Savannah on the way. 

Our final stop on this tour of Civil War battlefields is in Gettysburg, located in south central Pennsylvania. The photos from this trip were taken (with my current DSLR camera) in early fall 2017 when our daughter and first grandchild traveled with us.

On that trip, we paid for a self-guided audio tour taken in our own vehicle and it was well worth it as we could stop at our own pace, exit our car, and walk around the sites we wanted to investigate further.

The audio tour lasts 3-5 hours depending on how often you stop and how much time you spend at each stop. Listening to what took place there as we viewed the sites was a sobering experience.

The entire Gettysburg Battlefield is quite large at just under 18 square miles end to end. Within the Gettysburg National Military Park, there are approximately 1,328 monuments, markers, and memorials.  So there is much to observe.

Fought during the sweltering days of July 1-3 in 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the war and resulted in the largest number of casualties, an estimated 50,000.

Out of 120 generals who were present during the battle, nine were killed or mortally wounded. More than 170,000 soldiers fought at this site and it is considered the largest battle ever fought on the North American continent.

This Civil War battle became a major turning point in the war as Union Major General George Meade’s Army of the Potomac defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, successfully stopping invasion of the North.

There are many Civil War battlefields that Papa would still like to visit. And even though I’m not quite as interested in history as he is, I learn something each time we stop to view one historical spot or another.

One of the aspects that has become so evident to me is that we Americans cannot let differences divide us creating another “civil war.”

I found some noteworthy quotes made by famous Civil War participants that perhaps will give us food for thought and serve as reminders to us all:

“Don’t bring up your sons to detest the United States… Recollect that we form one country now. Abandon all these local animosities and make your sons Americans.” ~ Robert E. Lee, who served as Commander of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War

“There never was a time when, in my opinion, some way could not be found to prevent the drawing of the sword.” ~ Ulysses S. Grant, who served as Commanding General of the United States, led the Union Army to win the Civil War, and eventually became the 18^th President of the United States in 1869

“The past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and its aspirations; before you lies the future – a future full of golden promise.”~ Jefferson Davis, who served as President of the Confederate States during the Civil War

The Civil War was a horrible occurrence in our country, but history tells us America, despite the hardship and suffering, recovered and reunified once more. Eventually we Americans enjoyed a “future full of golden promise.”

But it also reminds us that we must cherish liberty, fight to preserve it, and endeavor to never lose our freedoms. And that means being unified, not divided, as the United States of America.

The battle to retain freedom continues even today and we still seem to have battlegrounds. Time to remember our history lessons.

“America will not be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedom, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” ~ Abraham Lincoln, 16^th President of the United States during the Civil War

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