WASHINGTON Part 3 - The Civil War Battlefields

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We have completed four fantastic days in and around the Civil War Battlefields region. An area steeped in history and I have a new appreciation for the war that cost an extraordinary amount of lives during five long years in the 1860s. I do not feel that I could do justice to the event itself in this blog – one could write a book. Of course shelves are full of books written on the Civil War and I am now reading one of the books I found in a bookshop in Harpers Ferry; called April 1865 The Month that Saved AmericaI have wanted to read it since seeing George W. Bush with a copy after the events of 9/11.



It was also my first experience of driving in the US and after an interesting start it got better. Thankfully the first piece of good news was that the 10 seater van parked outside Avis was not the car we were going to be using – we ended up with a Kia Sedona. We did make a few laps of Washington on our first leg out of the city with our GPS lady getting more and more frustrated with having to say “recalculating” over and over. To head south we actually went through the northern suburbs, which was not that bad as areas like Georgetown are nice. Once we were out of suburbia we had a relatively pain free trip to our first stop at George Washington’s Mt Vernon home. Narelle and I had been to the house before so we pointed JD and Max in the right direction for the house tour; it was a beautiful afternoon, which meant the crowds were out and about. I could not remember the house being quite so busy the last time we visited. They have also opened a new shop and food area, which has made it quite the tourist attraction.



As I said in the last entry we are trying to retrace some of the steps that JD’s Great Grandfather took with the Massachusetts 22^nd. He had joined up to the Union cause soon after arriving from France. Over the days we ticked off everything that John had hoped we would – even finding the Mass. 22^nd Memorials near Gettysburg. I was staggered by the amount of memorials there were around that region – in and around Gettysburg they must run well into the hundreds.



Our first experience of an actual battle site was at Manassas. It is pretty easy to find as the road now goes straight through it. Set amongst an agricultural area I found it quite similar to the First World sites in France. It was a deceptive piece of land that undulated and as we walked around the periphery it was quite easy to see that the natural landscape made it perfect for keeping men unseen. The guns on the far side of the fields were completely hidden from our view. Manassas was also my first lessons on the artillery used – both the Confederate and Union armies had them. I think that after the last four days I could also identify the difference between a Parrot Gun and a Napoleon Gun. I know a lot more about the famous Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson. His statue towers over this site and over the days the importance of this one individual to the South’s cause was very easy to see. In fact you could say that his death through friendly fire hasten the end of the war due to the massive sense of loss in morale. President Lincoln certainly felt that Jackson’s death was a positive although they were stunned he had died. General Lee said that he had lost his right arm man.



We visited Jackson’s home in Winchester. This was a war that was fought over many years but with harsh winters the two armies would take a hiatus from fighting during those months. It was also a war that saw Generals live within small communities so Jackson had a home to retreat to. The house had much of the original furniture and we were shown around by a lovely lady in period costume – I am not sure I have ever experienced a more personal tour. We went in every room; each piece was identified and explained to us. With it being Jackson’s home sympathies still lay with the South – the large Confederate flags on the walls did not disguise this fact. Winchester was a beautiful little town, which we all said we could move there – maybe if we win the US$173m in the lottery we will! Although I have already told JD that if we win the money I will donate a million to build a statue for Josephin Cresp.



The death toll from the war is staggering. Over the campaign around 625,000 people lost their lives. This is a far greater toll than the US lost in both World Wars. Perhaps more scary is the figure when compared to population. If a similar war was fought with today’s population then the death toll would be over 6 million. Generations were wiped out and if you think it was countryman on countryman the numbers seem unreal. To put the war in very simplistic terms it was the Northern based Union fighting against the Southern States that had broken away to form their own nation – called the Confederate Nation of America, with their own President. The south felt that they were not getting their fair share of the economy and that the north were making too many of the decisions. All the arguments for or against slavery were paramount and the desire of the President Lincoln to free the slaves was seen as a decision that the south could not accept. In hindsight it remains the biggest test to the United States and one that could so easily have gone the other way – in fact many commentators believe that the South had the better commanders but they lacked the numbers to fight the war. With a high percentage of fatalities and wounded they could not sustain their fighting forces to the point where attrition and loss of morale became their worst enemies.



I guess the first thing I really noticed was the distance to Washington. You never really travel that far away from the capital. One of Lincoln’s great fears was that Washington would be attacked – the city’s defence was an overriding ideal. Here was a city that was being transformed itself, including the building of the Capitol. To lose the city to the South would have been the end. To highlight this we travelled south, south west and north of the capital but were never more than 60 -70 miles of Washington, DC.



President Lincoln is a man that the more I hear of him the more I admire him. If “Stonewall” Jackson was the inspiration for the South then Lincoln’s efforts to defend his nation need to be highlighted too. I have said before that he has become like a father figure for the USA and his memorials in and around Washington back this up – this was the city he saved so he watches over it for evermore. We visited the cemetery in Gettysburg to see the site of his famous address; in two minutes he summed up the feelings of the nation and left an indelible message for the future. It was quite the gamble to speak at this time as the war was not over rather it had moved away from Gettysburg after a convincing win by the Union. It was a bloody battle that had horrific casualties. His words were never recorded on audio but the sound of them is no less – at the Visitor Centre in Gettysburg they have recreated his speech so you can listen to it. I sat there and read the words while they echoed about me – it is quite the speech and to think that it was all over in two minutes. Succinct to the core; many a modern day politician could only aspire to deliver a message so quickly and so eloquently.



Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.



But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.



Gettysburg is an area where you cannot remove yourself from the history of war. Dotted through the countryside are some 1300 individual memorials to individuals, battles or regiments. I really enjoyed this area. We stayed at a hotel on the site of General Lee’s Headquarters – in fact the small house he lived in is now a museum. Just 500 meters from our accommodation there is a road lined with statues – little did we know as we spied them for the first time that they were just the tip of the iceberg. We drove along them and soon realised that if we followed them we would find the memorial to the Massachusetts 22^nd in an area near the Wheatfield. And that is how we found ourselves standing next to it slightly off the beaten track but surrounded by beautiful parkland – JD’s pilgrimage had succeeded. What had only been photos in a book was now real and our link to Josephin was complete. The countryside does not display any of the characteristics of what it would have been like all those years ago; it is a peaceful and sombre land dotted with many others retracing family members from both the north and south.



Back at the Visitors’ Centre there was a Cyclorama of the area. This was painted in the 1800s and took a year to complete. You stand in the middle of the room as the story is told about the Battle of Gettysburg and you could nearly believe that you are looking out onto a photo. The detail and perceived depth is amazing. A modern spin has been put on it with the introduction of lighting and noise but the painting does not lose out. It is quite stunning. It is over 8 meters high and 109 meters in circumference hanging all around you so it gives the effect of looking out over the battle. I guess today it could be compared to what we see on Google Earth when a car with cameras going in all directions capturing the scene around it so that you get a complete picture. The Google thing sounds easy as I would not have known where to start with the painting!



For our old mate Peter Martin (formerly Josephin) his fighting took place in and around Fredericksburg and the Wilderness. We managed to get a feel for where he would have marched and also where he would have had to cross over the river. With high banks either side of the free running river water this cannot have been an easy task. Although his time in the field was limited due to the fact he ended up in the Union Navy he would have had to endure some very ordinary conditions both through the weather and the fighting. I have never felt that I would have had the stomach or fortitude for war but I guess no one really does – you adapt to your conditions. So I have to take my hat off to these soldiers – on both sides who did what they were instructed to do. One of the Rangers explained to us that groups of men would march into battle five or six times a day – each time knowing exactly what they were to expect. With bodies littered about them they did not waiver from their task but sadly the number returning each time was less. With ANZAC Day nearly upon us it seemed a poignant time to remember them.



Narelle and I feel very lucky to be doing this trip but it is days like these that make it really special. To see John’s face as he saw first-hand the sites, memorials and of course got a feel for his Great Grandfathers long trodden footsteps was a memory I will cherish. His grin was apparent for all to see. I feel I have learnt a lot by listening to his explanations and from his questions to museum staff and the rangers. He has also aided the local Civil War community from his purchases at many a gift shop – he will need bigger lapels for his pins!



I cannot put the aspect of Civil War memorial into any better words than this from the Eternal Flame Memorial: Peace Eternal in a Nation United. As President Truman said when he spied these words – “that is what we want, but let's change that word (nation) to world and we'll have something.”

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