I have been to Antietam Battlefield, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg and Shiloh in my life. Any folks here visit the battlefields?
Civil War buffs
- Thread starter 53' Stude
- Start date
Been to Wilson's Creek MO and New Market VA;
On a side note, i once attended a reenactment of a battle; the reenactment was in Madison CT at Hammonasset State Park; A man walked the rope line between the soldiers and spectators and narrated as the battle commenced As the battle continued a light rain began to fall and it appeared no more soldiers were being shot. When we asked the narrator why no one was falling down after having been shot he replied "Do you know how much those uniforms really cost?"
On a side note, i once attended a reenactment of a battle; the reenactment was in Madison CT at Hammonasset State Park; A man walked the rope line between the soldiers and spectators and narrated as the battle commenced As the battle continued a light rain began to fall and it appeared no more soldiers were being shot. When we asked the narrator why no one was falling down after having been shot he replied "Do you know how much those uniforms really cost?"
Last edited:
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2021
- Messages
- 2,587
Have you heard of the Battle of Okeefenokee, Sarsaparilla Creek, Olive Garden?
A prominent Civil War reenactor by the name of Jedidiah Longtree (Conan O'Brien) will tell you the story.
A prominent Civil War reenactor by the name of Jedidiah Longtree (Conan O'Brien) will tell you the story.
Last edited:
South Mountain (State Park in Maryland), Hanover Junction in PA, Manassas VA, Harpers Ferry, and not a battlefield, but visit Ft Delaware anyway.
Chickamauga twice. My great great grandfather was wounded there.
Pickett’s Mill Battlefield once.
When I was stationed at Ft. Eustis VA (1978) I remember going to Williamsburg and Yorktown. The place I went to in Yorktown was from the American Revolution war though, at that time they still had the mounds of dirt lined up where the canons were placed in between them facing out into the York River, very cool from what I can remember. As for the other battlefields/places I went to I don't remember if they were from the American Revolution or the Civil War but either way I enjoyed it. I became friends with a local guy that was a big history buff and knew all about it and he insisted I tour these places since I was in the military.
I’ve been to many of the Civil War battlefields. One of the benefits of living in Virginia.
I have a particular fondness for Gettysburg. I did the three day tour as a Boy Scout. My three times great grandfather, Captain William Barr, was in the 101st Pennsylvania in that battle. In the battle, he was a 1st Lieutenant. He was promoted on August 1st, 1863. I imagine there were many promotions in the Union Army that day.
His men presented him with a cavalry saber on that occasion. It’s displayed in a case, here in my library.
I have a particular fondness for Gettysburg. I did the three day tour as a Boy Scout. My three times great grandfather, Captain William Barr, was in the 101st Pennsylvania in that battle. In the battle, he was a 1st Lieutenant. He was promoted on August 1st, 1863. I imagine there were many promotions in the Union Army that day.
His men presented him with a cavalry saber on that occasion. It’s displayed in a case, here in my library.
I did a walking tour of Gettysburg for a trip in high school with our history teacher as our guide. It was an extracurricular type trip, so not a ton of students went, maybe 10 or 15 of us. He was incredibly knowledgeable and it was a really great experience.
I've visited most of the major eastern battlefields listed above. Also, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Winchester. And a few that are pretty much just marked with plaques, like Cedar Mountain, Thoroughfare Gap, Haymarket and Rappahannock Station. Although much progress in preservation has been made at Cedar Mountain since my last visit.
When I realized that records existed to the extent that in many cases I could walk in my gggf's footsteps, I've done so in a few cases. He survived some pretty horrible things, including capture and wounding.
I've been captivated by this picture since as a child I first saw it on my great uncle's wall. It's now in my home, in a bookcase he made with his own 1-1/2 hands after the war. Gggf pictured here as an artilleryman, sometime after April 1863 and before September 19, 1864. He, and many others from his infantry regiment were re-assigned to an artillery battery to replace the 25% casualties suffered by the battery at Chancellorsville. Much of his right hand was lost when wounded at 3rd Winchester in 1864. Since we can see most of his fingers, we know the picture was taken before then.
When I realized that records existed to the extent that in many cases I could walk in my gggf's footsteps, I've done so in a few cases. He survived some pretty horrible things, including capture and wounding.
I've been captivated by this picture since as a child I first saw it on my great uncle's wall. It's now in my home, in a bookcase he made with his own 1-1/2 hands after the war. Gggf pictured here as an artilleryman, sometime after April 1863 and before September 19, 1864. He, and many others from his infantry regiment were re-assigned to an artillery battery to replace the 25% casualties suffered by the battery at Chancellorsville. Much of his right hand was lost when wounded at 3rd Winchester in 1864. Since we can see most of his fingers, we know the picture was taken before then.
My kids and I did reenacting in Oregon. We were Company A of the 20th Maine for regular Civil War reenactments and Company A of the 1st Oregon Volunteer Infantry when we did activities with the National Park Service at Fort Vancouver. Taking in the cost of musket, cartridge box, cap box, bayonet, canteen, other leathers, cap, etc. the uniform was actually quite inexpensive. Doing it in Oregon meant getting shot in the rain was not all that unusual. It is a great activity to engage in with kids, both sons and daughters.
It is also a great way for the kids to learn a LOT of history. It is also a lot of fun to teach history with it. I spent an afternoon at the local high school in uniform, with musket, teaching Civil War to two of my youngest daughter's high school history teacher's classes. I think it took about a month to work out bringing my musket, the school resource officer carried it from my car to the classroom. The kids in the classes were thoroughly engaged.
I don’t have any photos. My great great grandfather was Private John C. Cotton 17th Regiment Georgia Infantry Company G. He was part of Benning’s Brigade.
History of the 17th Georgia Infantry Regiment in the Civil War
History of the 17th Georgia Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, with timeline of important events, battles and movements.
civilwarintheeast.com
I forgot to mention a visit to Andersonville National Cemetery. I need to visit again. It’s not very far from my home.
Gettysburg and a few around Atlanta for obvious reasons.
Now if you also have a hobby in metal detecting you can travel to Flat Rock NC and search for rumored confederate gold. The first Sec of the Confederate Treasury was the orphaned German immigrant Christopher Gustav Memminger (Charleston SC). He along with other wealthy individuals from Charleston SC built summer homes in Flat Rock in the early 1800's. His home eventually became the home of Carl Sandberg (US Poet). Rumor is that he had a chest of gold buried in the area.
Now if you also have a hobby in metal detecting you can travel to Flat Rock NC and search for rumored confederate gold. The first Sec of the Confederate Treasury was the orphaned German immigrant Christopher Gustav Memminger (Charleston SC). He along with other wealthy individuals from Charleston SC built summer homes in Flat Rock in the early 1800's. His home eventually became the home of Carl Sandberg (US Poet). Rumor is that he had a chest of gold buried in the area.
Yes. I've been to all of those except Shiloh. I was in Gettysburg for the 150th anniversary.
If you want to learn about the Civil War and get a good laugh in the process, check out Oversimplified's 2 part video on the Civil War.
If you want to learn about the Civil War and get a good laugh in the process, check out Oversimplified's 2 part video on the Civil War.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
I been to a few. Last one was Look Out Mountain - The Battles Among The Clouds.
Chattanooga | Lookout Mountain | Nov 24, 1863
The American Battlefield Trust’s downloadable map of the November 24, 1863 Battle of Lookout Mountain, one of the battles for Chattanooga, Tennessee
Experience Chattanooga’s Civil War Sites | Battles for Chattanooga
Battles for Chattanooga features a three-dimensional map with 5,000 miniature soldiers and 650 lights. Begin your tour of Chattanooga Civil War sites here!
www.battlesforchattanooga.com
I did a tour of Antietam on July 3 1986. Saw several of the important places with the last stop being the visitor center. We were asked..."Are you coming back tomorrow for the concert?" We did come back on July 4 to see many people spread out on the grass somewhere near the Dunker Church while a symphony orchestra played period music. It ended with the 1812 Overture punctuated by real cannons firing at the end, with the smoke drifting over the battlefield. I can still hear them and thought this is as close as I will ever get to these sights and sounds.
SammyChevelleTypeS3
$50 site donor 2023
You know it has been said of the Confederates opening round of cannon shots the 2nd day of Gettysburg that some of the cannon crews had ears damaged pretty badly from the continued fire of so many guns all at once. Some reported chest pains from the vibrations. They have stated that when the CSA opened fire with so many guns as close as possible all at once that until that time it was the loudest sound ever heard by folks on the continent.
Similar threads
