Legacy of Battlefields: The Civil War

Aug. 7, 2006 | republicanprofessor

[Republicanprofessor]

Someone suggested, before we take this trip, that I write up some ideas after I return. I hope to hear others' ideas of these (and other) battlefields. I found them entirely engrossing and affecting in so many different ways.

[Republicanprofessor]

Ping. If you know of any other military or history ping lists that might be interested in this essay, please let them know.

[vimto]

I'm a Brit who loves the Civil War history and I want to thank you for this post. I will download and read at leisure tonight,

God-bless you and yours.

[Republicanprofessor]

We are back now. Will you please ping the education list, because you probably have a more updated list than I do now.

Thanks.

[sticker]

That was the War of Northern Aggression

[Republicanprofessor]

Well, this is not the typical art appreciation/education ping, but you might want to know what I've been up to and thinking over this summer.

In a couple of weeks, we'll get back to regular, fun art pings. But maybe this will spark some thoughts of your own.

I'm still figuring out how to create my own abstract works that convey the power of the past of these battlefields with the beauty of the present, park-like state.

[Moose4]

I'm glad you had a good time visiting down here and seeing the history. Did you get a chance to make it to Richmond or Petersburg, out of curiosity? The folks here in Richmond are doing their damndest to forget that we were ever the capital of the Confederacy, unfortunately, which is too bad considering the amount of tourism dollars WBTS tourism can bring in.

Stainless, here's a WBTS thread with (hopefully!) no flames and some excellent pictures.

}:-)4

[Republicanprofessor]

That was the War of Northern Aggression.

So I felt when we were in the south.

How different would the country be today if the south had succeeded and seceded?

Would Spain have taken us over? (I heard they were waiting in the wings for the Confederates to win.) What would have happened then?

[stainlessbanner]

'Ol Dixie Ping

[Shuttle Shucker]

Notice the red states / blue states electoral breakdown among the states nowadays? Is the South not ready to take charge of its own destiny once again? 2 catalysts that I foresee playing a role:

*President Clinton returns to the White House in 2008;
*The national debt keeps reaching record levels even as baby boomers are about to retire in droves:

http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpenny.htm

[stainlessbanner]

Thanks for the ping Moose4.
Thanks for sharing Republicanprofessor - great pictures

[Republicanprofessor]

Yes, we passed through both cities. I had seen them before, so we saw the Crater in Petersburg and Cold Harbor on this trip, but as we had just left Appomattox and were on our way to Williamsburg (in the same day), we did not have a great deal of time.

The tunnel to the crater was neat. As was the Yankees reaction when they got through to the blown-up camp of the Confederates...."what do we do now?" and then the Confederates counterattacked and the Yankee advantage was blown. I guess that scenario happened a great deal.

Yes, both cities should triumph their past and educate the tourists.

[stainlessbanner]

ping

[stand watie]

NICE PIECE!

you should do an article for one of the scholarly journals, based on your trip.

free dixie,sw

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Thank you for your post. :o)

We visited Gettysburg, DC, Williamsburg etc, a couple years ago and are going back in November. This time we're adding battlefields in Virginia. Your post will help tremendously!

[sticker]

Honestly, I do not know. All I know is that if my grandmother(father's side) had been alive when I started dating my wife 37 years ago, she would have disowned me( my wife's parents are from MA) to her the correct term was damnyankee. I have done some work at Carter House and you do feel something when you are there

[stainlessbanner]

Your piece can help the preservation cause. Getting this published would be great.

Battlefields are hallowed ground.... "By the end of the trip, I could almost hear the men loading their guns or cannon or stabbing at the enemy with their bayonets or rifle butts."

[Pelham]

A very nice essay, thanks for sharing it with us.

[Sam Cree]

Welcome back, RP, what an eloquent writer you are!

"Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees."

[Republicanprofessor]

I am working up a real itinerary to post on tripadvisor.com, where I got many ideas for this trip. Someone there wanted to know exactly where I did go, stay, etc.

I will try to post it today under many of the southern states, just FYI. We stayed in some wonderful B&Bs, as a rule, and all the places we saw were awesome. I just wish we'd have even more time; the trip could have been 3 months instead of 5 weeks.