Posted on 08/07/2006 8:54:36 AM PDT by Republicanprofessor
I was not a Civil War history buff; my nine-year-old son John was the motivation for our tour of southern battlefields this summer. This essay is about how that trip to twenty Civil War battlefields in ten southern states changed my view of the Civil War and, in more subtle ways, my life
We drove 6,000 miles, from New England down to Maryland and Virginia south to Atlanta, Vicksburg, Shiloh and back to the north again. Throughout the trip, I listened to almost twenty-four hours of Civil War history from Prof. Gary Gallagher of UVA (through the Teaching Company CDs). My son constantly quizzed me from his Civil War cards. I gained an idea of how each battle was planned, but my knowledge is shallow; I do not know which division from which state was where. I admired the monuments from many companies and states that line the battlefield routes at Gettysburg and Vicksburg and others. I know a fraction of what there is to know of the Civil War. I respect all of those who have studied much more than I, and I hope to hear from them in reply to this essay. My approach to this essay is more as an artist than as an historian; please forgive me the liberties I take here.
Hearing dry history is one thing; walking the very fields where the soldiers fought and died is quite another. It took me a little time to really feel the power of these battlefields. I think I was overwhelmed in Gettysburg. We had arranged to be there for the re-enactment July 1, but due to the torrential rains of late June, the re-enactment was postponed for a week, so we missed it. But there were many in uniform that weekend, and it was still an exciting time to be in Gettysburg.
Perhaps my emotional turning point in this trip was at Stonewall Jackson’s shrine. It is in Fredericksburg, a bit down Guinea Station Road, seemingly centuries away from the nth development of shopping centers and new home construction in that area.
In fact, Yankee that I am back generation upon generation, I wondered if I could feel anything for the “enemy” Jackson who had died May 10 in that white frame building after being shot by his own men, the 18th North Carolina. Whether it was the wise tour guide, or the effective simplicity of the small white building, then a “farm office” on the Chandler plantation called "Fairfield” near Fredericksburg (around which four major battles raged, two in 1862, two in 1864), I did indeed develop a deep empathy for this great hero shot by friendly fire. (He had been ahead of his troops on an evening rally on May 2, about 9:00 p.m. when the North Carolina 18th regiment fired upon him and others on horses. Despite the cries of “Don’t shoot your own men,” Jackson was shot in hand, arm, and shoulder. His arm was amputated, but then he fell ill of pneumonia and died within a few days, but not before his saw his baby daughter for just the second time.)
It is indeed moving to see the bed and room in which he died. (The bed had been stored for several decades down the road in the plantation B&B in which we were staying.) The setting was so simple: the Fairfield plantation home torn down decades ago, just a few plain buildings beside meadows and railroad tracks. I had truly begun the emotional journey of the Civil War.
Fredericksburg was near the beginning of our trip, after Gettysburg, Antietam, and Harper’s Ferry. I was only just beginning to see how each visitor’s center handled their information. We got our itinerary down pat: at each battlefield, the first stop is the Visitor’s Center. Then we saw the movie, often about twenty minutes. Then we checked the canons and monuments near the center, before heading out for the battlefield auto tour. In many parks, there were bike trails that one could ride. Often horses were welcome.
These battlefields are beautiful places. The contrast is striking between the blood of the past and the present appearance of rolling hills, stretching meadows, or beautiful woods. Perhaps a couple of the more affecting places were the Wilderness and Cold Harbor, where the very trenches of hand to hand combat of 1864, rose on either side of us. It was almost eerie; we could easily imagine the combat around us as we walked. 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.
Sometimes it is the smaller areas that were more affecting, perhaps because they were more intimate. Franklin, Tennesee had two areas of battle importance: the Carter home where one could still see extensive bullet damage, and the Carnton Plantation. At the Carter home, the guide brought the battle to life with his commentary, but what remains of the battlefield has been limited (by city development) to just a few acres around the house.
The nearby Carnton Plantation had been used as a field hospital, and beside it was a small Confederate cemetery. Small rectangular stones were neatly laid out, row after row of unknown soldiers. A few larger monuments said “18 killed at Franklin Louisian” “6 killed at Franklin Kentucky.” No names were known, just their courage. (Later, at Cold Harbor, soldiers would write their names on paper and pin it to their uniforms, so they would not buried as unknown soldiers.)
At the Carter home visitors’ center, there were photographs of those killed. Young faces look out from old photographs; a generation of men who never married, never had children, and yet who marched into battle beside their brothers to defend their homeland (most of these Confederate soldiers did not own slaves.) There is a new book of fiction about the Carnton plantation and about its mistress, Carrie McGavock, who cared for the wounded then; she later oversaw the moving of the confederate dead to the plantation’s private cemetery, which she cared for daily until her death in 1905. Although it is a novel, it uses fact to capture the death, waste, and valor of the Civil War. It is called Widow of the South by Robert Hicks.
We saw many battlefields, each of them unique in terms of strategy and terrain; each of them heartrending for all the young who marched into war. We had a relative killed in Cold Harbor, and we sought his named grave outside of Richmond
From Manassas to Fredericksburg, from Vicksburg to Shiloh, from Chattanooga to Kennesaw Mountain, there is a minefield of history to learn and feel about the Civil War. Most of all we feel the courage of these men, young and old alike, who were so dedicated to their cause. Yes, some deserted; and more died from disease and dysentery in camp than on the battlefield. And yet they came when called, they fought and died for what they believed in. And you can see where they fought: the places where Chamberlain turned the flanks for a bayonet charge on Little Round Top at Gettysburg (even more exciting after one has seen the movie), the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania, the cornfield of Antietam. It is indeed quite stirring to walk through these heroic sites of history.
Little Round Top, Gettysburg and the Bloody Angle
Nowadays, there is a new battle going on in Fredericksburg: a battle between those who love and respect history and those who instead value commerce and development.. They are building shopping centers and housing developments where the battlefields have been. They already have neon strips on route 3, but now they need more malls only a few miles away on route 1 (the Jefferson Davis highway). People are moving from the city hassles of Washington D.C. to “get away” from it all in the country. But they are making the beautiful fields into what they are trying to get away from.
I am not against a few shopping centers. But how many malls does one city need? Perhaps when one’s life is defined by shopping centers to the detriment of other values, we need to look again. In other locations (Vicksburg, Antietam, etc.), the battlefields were beautiful parks: with bicycling, hiking, and walking in addition to their historical value. I believe that several years ago there was a similar fight to save the Manassas battlefields from developers, and I believe that commerce won. All I know is that we saw very little as we drove through Manassas to Washington.
Perhaps nowadays we value comfort and convenience too highly. When we returned from our trip in early August, we were in the midst of another heat waves moving across the country. Temperatures in the nineties are rare for northern New England, but I was as hot after my return from the south as I was walking through any of those battlefields. In the south, air conditioning is ubiquitous; not so in northern New England. We have fans to cool us down for the few hot weeks per year. But I was most amused in late July when we visited a zoo south of Nashville, TN. I overheard one young boy complain that he was sweating. ! Is this what our lives have become, when we visit a zoo in the south in July with temps in the high eighties, and we complain because we sweat? Are we that sheltered that we are reluctant to sweat, or to work hard, or to struggle for what we believe is right?
During this trip, my son often wore a newly-purchased wool confederate jacket and hat. I was sweltering, but he wanted to feel what the soldiers felt during their battles, rattling off the temperatures and dates of battle. Perhaps we all need an impetus to become aware of the true sacrifices that have been made for our country. Perhaps we all need to visit a few battlefields. During the Civil War, 620,000 men were killed, from a population of 31 million. During Gettsburg’s three day battle, 51,000 men were killed. In Vietnam, 58,000 were killed during the fourteen years that we were involved.
The men and women who fought in the Civil War gave their all for their beliefs. Who would do that today? Which of our politicians is so firm in basic values that they would rather die than renounce their values (as did Socrates in 399 B.C.)? I think of our brave men in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I thank them for their dedication and sacrifice. I fear that too few Americans value such loyalty today, and I think that we can all learn more about courage and devotion to principle by visiting a few battlefields of the Civil War.
There were so many routs on both sides in the Civil War. Strategy had not caught up with technological developments. Rifles could now hit accurately at 300 yards, instead of 100 yards, so it was a much more deadly war.
In the Revolutionary War, they complained of a 500-800 being killed. The worst battles of the Civil War were over 10,000 dead, sometimes that many per side.
It was on the hill at Point Park, Nashville that the canons did not work well. The slope down which they aimed was so steep that the canon balls just rolled out before they were lit.
We saw one true canon demonstration at Vicksburg, and several soldiers in attire talking about their life as soldiers. Such events were very effective.
This NH resident/Mass professor has to get her rearend to the Boston area to see those battlefields as well as the Adams presidents homes and tombs. Ah...I guess a 90 minute drive is too easy to procrastinate. But soon, we will do so.
What amazed me about Shiloh was how you could really visualize both sides of attackers around the Hornet's Nest: with the Yankees in the road, with the jagged fence, and the longest line of Confederate canons just across a (beautiful) field.
Well, I guess I'll get a voucher for next year if I send in the Gettysburg tickets that I had. But I'm not sure we'll be in the US that summer.
But now that my taste-buds have been whetted, so to speak, we will definitely have to go to a larger re-enactment in the next few years. And I'm sure I'll get a good deal more out of it than when it was the very first battlefield on our list.
The cotton gin was patented in 1794. It was one of the things that revitalized slavery, by making big cotton plantations economically viable.
Thanks for the reading recommendations. I always find I spend more time in the car than sitting and reading, and that's why audio CDs are great. It's good to find someone else who listened to Gallagher. I know I need to listen about three times through the series to even begin to get some of it, and your critique of if is right.
I'll have to see if I can find Foote's book in audio. Same with Ken Burns' series; hard to watch while driving.
The Federal Hornet's Nest on the left, and across that field, the longest line of Confederat canon (of which this image is only part).
While touring Gettysburg we stayed at Hickory Bridge Farm B&B and thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Very comfortable and relaxing. www.hickorybridgefarm.com
Mark for later
Thanks for the ping. Good read.
Hi...
free dixie,sw
I don't know what exactly you had in mind regarding publishing (magazine, journal, etc.) but perhaps the folks at the Sons of the Confederacy or United Daughters of the Confederacy could help? A local chapter of the UDC runs the Texas Civil War Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas and they have a wonderful selection of books and pamphlets.
United Daughters of the Confederacy
Your article is very moving. I wish you luck in publishing it, as it should be shared with as many people as possible!
ping
Outstanding write up professor. Our travels last Summer to various CW battlefields pale in comparison to your "marathon". Should the Lord tarry we hope to visit many more.
Here are some pics, et al of one of our visit to Sharpsburg, MD and the battle of Antietam. While Sharpsburg does not get the frequency of visitors that Gettysburg or Manassas might, this place had a charm and country flavor that enhanced our visit. We were told that the battlefield looks about the same it did on Sept. 17, 1862. Much of the area is still private farming.
The morning phase of Antietam (6am to 9am).
Here at “The Cornfield” the 1st, 4th and 5th Texas Brigades helped blunt the attack of Mansfield's Corps almost alone. The Texas Brigades sealed a threatening gap in the cornfield line and in so doing the First Texas Infantry suffered a 82.3% casualty rate the greatest loss suffered by any infantry regiment north or south. 850 less 550.
Midday Phase (9:30AM to 1PM).
The Sunken Road (Bloody Lane). The Unions 2nd Corps appear atop the ridge. Longstreet's Corps of Georgians, Alabamians and North Carolinians occupy the road. For nearly 4 hours Union and Confederate infantry contested this sunken country road, resulting in over 5000 casualties.
Afternoon Phase (1PM to 5:30PM).
The Lower Bridge (Burnside’s obsession). The fighting here was a key to McClellan’s failure at Antietam. 500 Georgian and South Carolinian riflemen kept the entire Union 9th on the far side of the bridge for 3hrs. Note the weed infested original rifle pit above.
From the Union position . . . Burnside would eventually take the bridge and march across.
As you so eloquently stated there is a daunting feeling standing upon certain hallowed ground. At Gettysburg, I walked the 500 yards of "Pickets charge" and was nearly out of breath from the shear presence of what took place. But standing amongst those short corn stalks in the "bloody cornfield" where my ancestors fell was emotionally exhausting.
But the most emotional to me was Shiloh. Such a bloody battle fought in such a small space. It was the battle where both sides realized this war would not be won or lost quickly, and it would be very, very bloody. I just felt an overwhelming sense of sadness there, feeling what our Republic would go through after Shiloh.
"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?"
No, Spain was not powerful enough to take over either the USA or the CSA. By the end of the Civil War, the USA and CSA, with their massive, modern-armed armies and their dual monopoly on ironclad vessels of war were in fact the world's number 1 and number 2 land and sea powers, respectively.
A couple of Monitors, or the CSS Virginia and Shenandoah, would have made driftwood out of entire British Navies thrown at them...let alone Spanish. The qualitative difference between ironclad vessels of war of North and South and the wooden ships-of-the-line that everyone else in the world had at the time was about the same as the difference between German Panzers and those brave Polish cavalry. NO amount of cavalry could defeat tanks. NO amount of wooden sailing vessels, however brave their British (or French, or Spanish) crews could defeat ironclads. The wheel of technology turned and gave an absolute advantage to the ironclad ships.
The advantage on the ground was a bit less, but the Union, especially, was armed with breach-loading repeating rifles; and the Confederates were incredibly battle-hardened and experienced. Also, compared to European Armies, the Union and Confederate armies were HUGE. There were literally MILLIONS of men under arms. The British Army - the whole thing - of the period had perhaps 60,000 - 80,000 effectives; the French army perhaps four times that - and they were the best Europe had to offer. The COMBINED might of the British and French land forces would have made an interesting week's work for one wing of EITHER the Confederate States' Army or the US Army...and that's assuming that the Europeans could get their wooden ships-of-the-line past either Union or Confederate ironclads.
They couldn't.
Had the Confederacy survived the war, there would have been no danger from any European states. They were too small, and far too weak compared to the two American behemoths.
However, that would have not been true in 1918. A divided America would have been a neutral and mutually suspicious America in World War I (or, less likely, a NORTH that sided with Germany, while the SOUTH sided with England). Result: German victory in the First World War, and Imperial (not Nazi) Germany would be the primary world power today.
There is an organization called “The Civil War Preservation Trust” (CWPT) which is interested in saving battlefield sites. They also have a program every summer which lets teachers travel to conferences for free. Their website is www.civilwar.org
Also, HistoryNet.com publishes several history magazines that might be interested in battlefield articles-American Civil War, Civil War Times, Military History and American History. www.historynet.com
I hope that these links might help you.
Thank you for your post. But, my family calls it "The War Between the States." Because, as one of my aunts is fond of saying, "There was nothing 'civil' about it."
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