Michigan Civil War Blog

MiCW Tour opportunity

Rec'd this but unfortunately (rats) have conflicts on both dates so pass it on:

Please join me on Saturday, May 30 or June 13 for the first ever Glory, Valor & Sacrifice Southeast Michigan Civil War Remembrance Tour. The tour pays homage to the local people, places and events that played prominent roles in preserving the Union and shaping our Nation. I've booked the best guest narrators who will bring to life the stories of the people who valiantly fought and sacrificed on our behalf. 

Details:

http://hometownhistorytours.com/upcoming-tours/

Sign up before May 15 and SAVE $26.

Karin Risko

At Antietam

The final edition of this past week's trip account, in re a storied field of honor and storytellers.

Awoke Sunday morning in Berryville VA to clouds and cool and rainy prospects. HES suggested we dispatch our plans and drive home to Michigan. I replied, 'let's!' We had arranged a rendezvous at the Antietam VC and needed to do that first.

Coming thru Sharpsburg on the Shepherdstown Pike, one is struck by how many structures are period, and it immediately puts you in the right frame of mind. You make a left in town, curve around a non-vintage partystore, and drive up the hill towards the Dunker church, turning into the VC parking lot.

Let me interrupt with an editorial: National Park Service, do not--I repeat, do not!--redo the Antietam VC. It's made of beautiful stonework; it calls up great memories of past visits; it has its own historicity; it is just fine, thank you.

Walking in, I immediately recognized our host, but since he was occupied with another guest the other ranger on duty greeted us. I was very pleased to meet John Hoptak of fame including this blog. When Mannie (this blog) freed up, he was most gracious; I know this for fact as HES was taken with his friendly demeanor. We chatted and then adjourned to another location where Mannie provided some requested materials on Michigan units. Had a good discussion, which will form a forthcoming post. Then we emerged into the atmosphere and took our poses by the 'bloggers' cannon':

BTW, I'm the one with the shirt-tail out.

Bade each other fond farewells. Per Mannie's suggestion, we drove to two locations, yielding pics from the observation tower (look closely in the left of the cannon photo for it in the background) and overlooking Burnside's Bridge:

Some of the horses weren't willing to stand still while the talk went on; perhaps they could still sniff something in the ground...

We didn't make it to any specific Michigan locations due to time and weather. For one site, here's an excellent post with a beautiful picture of the Michigan State historical marker on the 17th Michigan "Stonewall Regiment": Antietam on the Web.

A short but worthwhile visit: meet two compatriots, revisited familiar hallowed ground, saw vistas that provide insights traversing a century-and-a-half. Will go back for a tour and reacquaintance with our fearless ranger/s. Oh, and Michiganders, alumnus Mannie said to tell you "Hi!"

Michigan (and more) at Fredericksburg

Your reporter and His Esteemed Spouse (credit to Civil War Interactive) passed thru Fredericksburg on a beautiful Saturday after time on the Peninsula (my thoughts and prayers to tornado victims in Virginia y'day). The town was buzzing, Mary Washington U. students everywhere. Given our limited time and a desire to please both yours truly and HES, we lunched, shopped (more about that below), and then drove across the Rappahannock bridge to Chatham. Our last visit in the mid-70's was almost contemparaneous with the owner's donating it to the Nation. Now it's open, park HQ, and a great visit.

These signs tell the story:

Three presidential reviews of Union troops occurred in this field:

I loved this depiction, showing the house on Stafford Heights across from town:

These gardens were quite impressive to HES, who knows gardens. Done in the 1920's, their beauty masks wartime use as a temporary burial ground for Union soldiers who died in the house during use as a battlefield hospital.

On the river side are war-witness catalpas and black locusts:

Is this the tree Walt Whitman mentions (NPS) as the location where the pile of amputated limbs accumulated?

With this my first visit to the Heights, I learned: this pic reveals a dramatic descent to the river that can't be imagined:

A diorama inside the house vividly demonstrates how Union engineers encountered terrain issues in constructing a river crossing:

This nearby sign, adjacent to a lifesize pontoon, portrays the crossing challenge faced by Union troops at water's edge:

The location, according to the ranger, is yards upriver from the vantage point of the photos. We drove by it later on the River Road to see/imagine the spot where the 7th Michigan bravely crossed, but the river is yards away, vegetation covers the ground, and no parking is available. Little did I know that staying on the west bank would have yielded a marker: scroll down to bottom NPS 2.

While shopping I found several booksellers and looked for something unique. Found a slim thing entitled Gettysburg Cyclorama, essentially pictures, for a few bucks, pub'd around the Centennial if my sense is accurate. Can't find it on Amazon; will have to take pics and do a later post.

We did not tour the battlefield. Not our goal; wanted to see something new since our last visit in the 70's. Had our eyes opened as if we had been on battleground.

Berkeley and the Civil War

Back home after no wi-fi the past couple days so able to pick up with the traveblog. It will have a most interesting conclusion (in a few days).

Berkeley plantation is situated on the north bank of the James River. In addition to its fame as the home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence and two U.S. Presidents, it's the site where the Army of the Potomac cloistered after the Seven Days' Battles in '62. "Taps" was composed here. It was known then as Harrison's Landing after the signer (Benjamin V) and first of the two Chief Executives (William Henry).

Here's the landing:

Couple more Presidential connections: this is where Lincoln stepped ashore to confer with McClellan after the Seven Days; and Bush issued last November's Thanksgiving Proclamation from these grounds--Virginians cite it as where English colonists first held a Thanksgiving over a year before the landing of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts.

The house would have made an impressive HQ for the Army's top general:

The A/C unit is not period.

Here's an artifact from Stuart's attack on the base via Pelham's horse artillery:

It's quite a beautiful setting and strange to imagine tens of thousands of troops refreshing here for a campaign that resumed by evacuation:

Like all good tourist hosts, Berkeley has a gift shop--with several Civil War items. For $6.30 I came away with John Coski's 1989 The Army of the Potomac at Berkeley's Plantation: The Harrison's Landing Occupation of 1862. (Whew, the title is almost as long as the monograph.) Good little book; period pictures that make a mind's eye comparison more than just fanciful; notes and bibliography. Nice treasure, along with photos from the visit.

Tomorrow: Fredericksburg.

Jamestown and the Civil War

Today's edition of the travelogue is from Historic Jamestown. Wait a minute, you say: isn't that a century or two before the Civil War?

Yes, but to my amazement there are Confederate earthworks just steps from where James Fort was located and is today marked by a stockade. Here are a couple shots:

Because the 17th century site was thus covered by 19th century dirt, archaelogists onsite (and the rest of us) benefit today from that inadvertent protection. A note about archaelogy: there have been so many discoveries since the mid-1990's, the whole place is much different. I have a Kodak shot from the mid-70's and all there was, as I recall, was the church building and historic bell tower and some foundation stones. Now, the entire complexity of the village is evident--the full story is being told--the visitor center is much, much better--and there's a new structure portraying the archaelogy story itself.

Definitely worth a visit. And the drive on the Colonial Parkway is its own experience. There's also a drive past the VC out onto Jamestown Island, very naturalistic, and markers describe the location of a Confederate fort there.

One final Civil War note: the famed John Smith hailed from Lincolnshire, England. Clearly he was a man of Union sympathies.

Monroe postscript

Until reorganizing my desk over the past couple of days and sorting out the piles, I had forgotten a side benefit of the trip to Monroe. Several CW volumes suddenly made their reappearance.

I first encountered a book-buying opportunity on the way to the museum at the "Book Nook" on South Monroe Avenue, making several purchases including Eric Wittenberg's (Rantings) At Custer's Side: The Civil War Writings of James Harvey Kidd. Looking forward to reading it soon, since his other works are top-notch. Also found Generals in Bronze, which had been on my wish list. Then, had to be selective in the museum shop given the many choices available there, finally settling on several items including the reprint of Asa Isham's 1892 history of the 7th Michigan Cavalry. Looking forward to it as well.

So, does heritage tourism produce any real economic benefits to a community? Call me as a witness, for I can attest to the impact my wallet felt from only a few hours one day in the historic community of Monroe MI.

Lincoln and (New) Buffalo

OK, so the title of this post is misleading to the speedreader and mystifying to the careful. Simple explanation, but a surprise is included.

Yesterday, my bride and I drove across Michigan to see some shops, sample a bistro or two, and enjoy the beach at...New Buffalo. It's just inside the border with Indiana at the far western corner of this State. Great experience and beautiful country, all the way there. Here are pics of our late afternoon reward, a dip in the cool clear waters of Lake Michigan.

The Lincoln connection? Well, on his trip to the Inauguration, he passed through Buffalo in New York. Never made it to New Buffalo MI. But he did make one appearance in Michigan, as a stump speaker for Fremont in the '56 presidential campaign. On our trip yesterday, we reached the point where an unplanned stop at a rest area became necessary. We pulled into the one near mile marker 85 on I-94, got out, and (reminder of Perryville's astonishment) there stood a State historical marker. At a rest stop on an interstate?! Yup. A CW connection? Yup, and reading the text will finally yield linkage.