At Antietam, Mannie made the point; he tossed his clipboard with battlefield map onto the floor and said, 'We can look at a 2-dimensional map and wonder why generals were stupid; on the ground, you see how the commanders and the troops encountered a 3-dimensional world, couldn't see over horizons or around corners, faced chaos rather than a bird's-eye view.'
So true. For that reason alone, I cast my unequivocal vote for restoration of battlefields to period viewsheds. Standing above Burnside's Bridge and looking across to the other side, seeing a now open slope where Union troops charged down into the maelstrom, makes clear that they didn't come running up parallel to the stream and make a quick right turn over the bridge, nor did they emerge from the cover of forest just yards from the bridge, as I had previously misunderstood. The full magnitude of what they faced, and did, now comes into full display.
Similar thing at Fxburg. I'm glad one can stand on the west bank of the Rappahannock and see where the 7th Michigan crossed. It would be so much more effective if the NPS closed off the River Road to traffic on the opposite side (as there are other better roads around Chatham), carved out a small parking lot on the side of that road, and allowed people to walk to a small clearing on the riverbank near where the actual crossing began. It's one thing to see across to where they came from; it's altogether another to stand in their shoes, looking across the river, up into the town, while comparing the viewshed today to a contemporary photo showing structures down to water's edge, getting a truer sense of what it was like for real people to volunteer for and fulfill such a mission.
A further note: the ranger at Chatham said we should go to the stone wall at Marye's Heights, but we didn't have time. Next time, we should. For he said the road's been closed off and restored to a condition similar to December '62. Here's proof, from the NPS site showing what the Sunken Road looks like today. Thirty years ago, as proven by a Kodak moment I have in my possession, cars approached a Yield sign on that road. Today, it appears as a dirt road with only pedestrian traffic.
If it can be done here, it ought to be done below Stafford Heights.
And, for that matter, it ought to be done at Manassas. While we stayed in Williamsburg, we were joined by a couple from church; he's a Civil War buff also. They visited Manassas on the way down and were struck by the amount of traffic at the battleground. I submit that the NPS should close US-29 and Virginia-234 other than to visitor traffic, and regrade the road to gravel status, thus yielding conditions closer to '61-'62. Seen the CWPT pamphlet on threatened battlefields? Noted the cement mixer and line-up of vehicles on US-29 there? Enough.
Comments