Part 5

Ok, more pictures from our fun trip... after our stay in the bed and breakfast we went and took in some civil war sites. I went through a "civil war buff" period as a teenager, so that added some interest to this for me!

The first battlefield we toured was Wilderness, which really took place over a period of a couple days and at several different locations. We toured the Saunders field part. One of the significances of the Wilderness battle is that it was the first time for Grant and Lee to meet in battle, after Grand was put in-charge of Union forces. There was a historian who did a great job giving a walking tour of Saunders field.

Looking toward confederate lines inside the tree line.


Looking toward the direction Union troops came from.

Union forces advanced through this area toward confederate lines up in the trees.

The confederates briefly left the tree line in order to see the union troops who had advanced, but were down in a low spot on the field. The confederates then faked a retreat back into the trees where, unknown to the union forces, they had earth works. Some of those earthworks survive to this day:

Fighting also went on on the other side of the turnpike... still a major road today.



Down around where you see that clump of trees (behind Stephen and Clara), two union canon had been positioned and were being fired towards our position. After causing the union to retreat, the confederates chased the retreating Yankees... until they reached the canon. Two or three different confederate units, chasing different Yankee units, arrived at the cannons at different times. In the end the confederate units got into a fist fight about which unit had got there first and who the canons therefore belonged to!!! The confederates still up at the tree line started cheering for which ever unit they wanted to see win! Meanwhile the union forces were able to reform and make a counter attack!!! We thought that story was sooooo funny!




Gun safety lessons.... :-)




After taking in the wilderness battlefield, we went to see a home called Ellwood. Ellwood is significant for several reasons. One being that it was utilized as a hospital for awhile during the war. Also, for a time, it served as the headquarters of General Warren. Another significance is that "Stonewall" Jackson's arm is buried out in the family cemetery. "Stonewall" was injured by friendly fire during Chancellorsville and, as a result, his arm was amputated. His chaplain brought the arm to Ellwood, home of some of the chaplain's relatives to be buried. "Stonewall" later died due to pneumonia contracted during recovery from his injuries. As a side note, if you would like to learn about a great man... look into the life of "Stonewall" Jackson. I would recommend both the movie "Gods and Generals" and the book "Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson To His Wife".

Family pictures we took on the grounds:



Ellwood


Room arranged similarly to how it would have looked when it was General Warren's headquarters.













On our way back...




And before moving on... we had a pit stop to make. Clara didn't think this was too cool.