Parks

[David]

chilidog

Registered to :Aug 22, 2001
Messages :100
From :Baton Rouge, LA USA
Posted 22-10-2001 at 22:41
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What makes a good battlefield park? Some parks have an advantage over others. Vicksburg has miles of forts and rifle pits. This makes it very easy for visitors to see what was going on. Chicamauga, on the other hand, was a meeting on the run. There was no time for earth works. The visitor has to do a little homework to see what was going on. The Port Hudson battlefield park is claimed to be very well perserved. This is mainly because it is buried in the woods and underbrush. There isn't much foot traffic on the actual works.
What is your favorite battlefield park and why?

chilidog


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Tamaroa

Registered to :Aug 21, 2001
Messages :35
From :West Haverstraw, NY
Posted 23-10-2001 at 13:26
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Well I have not been to that many. I have been to Antietam, Manassas, Fredricksburg, Harpers Ferry,Shiloh, Spotsylvania, The Wilderness, Richmond, Petersburg,Gettysburg, Williamsburg, Jamestown and Appomattox.

I suppose, I liked Antietam the best because it is still relatively free of monuments. You get an eerie feeling around the Sunken Road, Spotsylvania also is free from commercialism and it is not over run by monuments.

Gettysburg and Manassas are nice because they encompass large acreage and you get a better feel for the battle. Gettysburg's presentation of the area where Pickett's charge occurred is phenominal. When you stand at the Angle and look out toward Seminary Ridge taking in what the Confederate troops had to do.. well what can I say, it is an experience. It is much less commercial now that when I last saw the field 20 years ago.

Manassas was kept up very well and easy to interpret. Terrific guides and what a statue of Stonewall Jackson!

But I would have to say that my most favorite place of all is Appomattox.When I stood at the spot where Chamberlain accepted the surrender and looked down the road and across the river, shivers went through me. It was an overcast day just like April 12, 1865. I swear I thought I saw them surrendering before my very eyes. In fact my wife who was in the car had to yell at me to get out of the rain to break the trance.

Fredricksburg, Wilderness and Chancellorsville are losing the battle of civilization. The parks there are not in large plots but generally small strips here and there. FRedricksburg has a small piece of the original stone wall remaining. There are also some nicely preserved trench works along the Confederate right flank. However, your senses keep getting interrupted by the present due to the proximity of homes and commercial property.


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"Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug."


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Keith_Hixson

Registered to :Aug 23, 2001
Messages :445
From :Ellensburg, Washington
Posted 23-10-2001 at 22:54
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You gentlemen are fortunate. The Indian battles where basically on the run skirmishes. I haven't been to Little Big Horn. The Whitman Mission National Monument is interesting. Step Toe Butte Washington, Battle Mountain Oregon, etc show little signs of battle. We do have Forts to Visit, like Ft. Vancouver, Ft. Walla Walla, Ft. Spokane, all have parks. The most interesting visit out West of a historical nature is the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, Oregon. If you like history, visit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, it is awesome. Someday I'm going to get back East and visit those places of interest. I have a friend from Culpepper, VA. He tells me all about the Civil War Battle fields. Sounds extremely interesting.

Keith


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Tamaroa

Registered to :Aug 21, 2001
Messages :35
From :West Haverstraw, NY
Posted 24-10-2001 at 08:01
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Keith, I actually lived in the Culpeper area, I ran a shoestore in Culpeper at the Southgate Shopping Center in 1975-76. I went back there about 3 years ago and was disappointed in the way the area was being built up.

I used to like the fact that southerners cared about their history, now they are just as greedy as Yankees. When I went back, there was a shopping center built on the intersection of Routes 3 and 20 about half way between Fredricksburg and culpeper. That used to be vacant and was the site of a huge Confedrate field hospital during the Chancellorsville Battle. It was right near there wher Jackson's arm was amputated.

Needless to say, I was very upset.

I have three other places I really want to visit in the U.S. They are the Alamo, Little Bighorn and the Oregon trail. When I was a kid I read Francis Parkman's book on the Oregon trail. It was a fascinating read.

Regards,
Bill


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"Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug."


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chilidog

Registered to :Aug 22, 2001
Messages :100
From :Baton Rouge, LA USA
Posted 24-10-2001 at 11:38
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Bill, you better get your mind prepared before you go to the Alamo. Its not out in the desert wilderness like in the movies. You have to parallel park on the city street in front of one of the multi-storied buildings that surround the Alamo. When you are inside, you have to concentrate to tune out the traffic on the street. Its a sad sight, but of course, you have already seen this with Civil War battlefields.

chilidog


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chilidog

Registered to :Aug 22, 2001
Messages :100
From :Baton Rouge, LA USA
Posted 26-10-2001 at 10:51
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Bill,
I think I know the feeling that you had at Appomattox. I studied up really hard on Pea Ridge before we visited it. I recognized the terrain even before we were on the park property. I gave my family a guided tour. I knew where everybody was, where each commander fell, I knew where Watie's Cherokees ran from the "fire wagons." In my mind I could see the horse artillery setting up on Little Round Top; I could see the Confederate Infantry emerging from the trees in line of battle into the corn field at Leetown. I felt like I was entering that haze where you wonder if you are dreaming or if you are remembering something you really saw. That was a memorable experience. I'm glad that battlefield was preserved.

chilidog


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Keith_Hixson

Registered to :Aug 23, 2001
Messages :445
From :Ellensburg, Washington
Posted 26-10-2001 at 11:11
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Gentlemen,
My relatives came across the Oregon trail after the Civil War. The national interpretive center at Baker City, Oregon is the best and largest. Most of the Oregon Trail is called agricultural land or freeway. Very few places can you actually see the ruts. I hear little Big Horn, MT is also a great place to visit. I did get to visit some of the Revolutionary Battle fields when I was stationed at Ft. Devens.

Keith


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chilidog

Registered to :Aug 22, 2001
Messages :100
From :Baton Rouge, LA USA
Posted 26-10-2001 at 22:47
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Keith,
I don't know very much about the Oregon Trail. I never gave it much thought, but there must be a good story behind it. It must be like my Texas heritage. I always thougt that everybody knew about Juneteenth, the Runaway Scrape, and the Republic. Now that I live outside of Texas, I see how local it all is.

chilidog


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Tamaroa

Registered to :Aug 21, 2001
Messages :35
From :West Haverstraw, NY
Posted 27-10-2001 at 09:52
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Chili,
Find a copy of the Oregon trail by Francis Parkman. He was a writer who joted down his thoughts on the journey west way back around 1846 I believe. It makes for great reading.

I wanted to go on a vacation once where you would travel for a week along a part of the original Oregon trail, conestoga wagons, oxen and all. It was 800 dollars a person. My wife almost shot me when I suggested it so it never came to pass.




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Keith_Hixson

Registered to :Aug 23, 2001
Messages :445
From :Ellensburg, Washington
Posted 27-10-2001 at 23:00
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My Dad was born just outside of Baker City, Oregon just a few hundred feet from the Oregon Trail in 1900. I was raised on a farm in Eastern Oregon just a few miles from the Oregon Trail. I use to read all kinds of books and stories about the Oregon Trail. Both my wife's and my ancestors came across the Oregon Trail after the Civil War. So, I probably have more interest in the Oregon Trail than the average Oregonian. Now you must fill me in on Juneteeth and Runaway Scrape, etc. Because I'm not that familiar with Texas History. Walla Walla, WA is full of early Washington - Oregon History. The Oregon Trail and the Lewis & Clark Trail join in the Walla Walla Area. I was raise 12 miles west of Walla Walla on the Oregon side of the border. Umapine, Oregon. Nobody knows where it is unless you live there.

Keith


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chilidog

Registered to :Aug 22, 2001
Messages :100
From :Baton Rouge, LA USA
Posted 28-10-2001 at 20:16
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Bill,
I looked up that book by Francis Parkman. He was a busy rascal. He did more than jot down thoughts about the Oregon Trail. He wrote several books on everything from Indians to Jesuits and LaSalle.

Keith,
General (Emperor) Antonio Lopez Santa Anna marched into Texas with his Mexican Army. Hundreds of Texas settlers fled before the sweepig Mexican Army. They fled in such haste that they took very little belongings with them. Lots of folks, including some of my family, lost everything they had. That was the "Runaway Scrape." I guess it wasn't any different than any other refugees fleeing before any other army. You probably saw a lot of that yourself, and probably understand more than I do what my family went through.

President Abraham Linclon presented the Emancipation Proclamation, but it wasn't recognized in the southern states until after the war. It was officailly recognized in Texas (and Louisiana) on June 19th, 1865. June 19th became known as "Juneteenth." Things have changed now, but when I was a lad in Texas, it was a very celebrated holiday. The Houston Police would block the streets by Herman Park and the zoo. There would be parades and a huge picnic in Herman Park. Watermelon and red soda-pop were favored.

I would be interested in hearing some Oregon Trail stories, just be careful; we may have to come up with the $800 for Bill's vacation trip.

chilidog


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Keith_Hixson

Registered to :Aug 23, 2001
Messages :445
From :Ellensburg, Washington
Posted 28-10-2001 at 20:36
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To Me the most compelling story of the Oregon Trail is the saga of the Sager family. Went to School with some of the descendants. They came across the Oregon Trail before the Civil War. Mom and Dad died on the trail. The children carried on led by a teenage son. Finally arrived at the Whitman Mission just before winter. Only to have some of them killed in the Whitman Massacre a few years later. Several books and a movie made about the Sager saga.
A great story and great reading.

Keith


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Ashleigh

Registered to :Apr 05, 2002
Messages :5
From :Petersburg, Virginia
Posted 05-04-2002 at 16:13
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Dear Friends,

I am new to this site and have posted a couple new messages under Civil War. I hope they capture your interest.

Petersburg. "A visit is worth a thousand words" We need your input to the following information:

Please take a few minutes to view the following Web Pages. In the spirit of our
UCV-GAR veterans and others who dedicated their battlefield and National Park many years ago, our Northern friends from MA and RI, etc., are trying hard to honor our past veterans accomplishments "at Petersburg." Progress is what our CW veteran historians made when our National Park was dedicated -- "To be "preserved unimpaired for future generations." Should so called progress today continue to destroy their efforts?

The following updated Web Sites contain information which will help provide the public a graphic awareness to help preclude such things happening again and to enlist support for real progress today. -- as follows:

"A picture tells a thousand words" at --

http://www2.control.com/~emoore/p-burg
and
http://www.cwoodcock.com/firstmaine

The City of Petersburg's recommendations to the National Park Service have been with the NPS for close to 5 years now. This plan is supported by our city leadership, it's citizens, and significant endorsements. After what we have been through, I believe all the outside support Petersburg has received from all over the country and beyond to be very valuable. Your view and input is very valuable also, and will make a difference!
We can change the picture.

Please feel free to email me should you have any questions or want any detail.

As you know, enough advocacy on any issue is sometimes hard to get. This is one we care about!
This General Management Planning by the National Park Service is important for all of us. Please, contact your representatives in the spirit of our ancestor's struggles and accomplishments, and please send this message to all those you feel are interested and can help preserve it for the future. Heck, send it to everyone!
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ashleigh Moody
brickhouserun@cs.com