U.S. History

[The Analyst]

The anniversary of the 1st day of the battle of Gettysburg is just
ahead with the anniversary of Independence Day shortly thereafter. This really got me thinking about those periods of time in our history and the places I visited relative to the revolutionary war and the civil war, including Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, Antietam, Appomattox, Fort Sumter, Valley Forge, Bull Run, Vicksburg and Chancellorsville. There could be others but these came to mind right away. What battle sites have you visited and what were your thoughts about them?

 

[Golddollar]

The anniversary of the 1st day of the battle of Gettysburg is just
ahead with the anniversary of Independence Day shortly thereafter. This really got me thinking about those periods of time in our history and the places I visited relative to the revolutionary war and the civil war, including Gettysburg, Harper's Ferry, Antietam, Appomattox, Fort Sumter, Valley Forge, Bull Run, Vicksburg and Chancellorsville. There could be others but these came to mind right away. What battle sites have you visited and what were your thoughts about them?

My dad and I were both Civil War skirmishers, so we always had an interest in the Civil War. I live just down the road from the Gettysburg battlefield. All my life I heard about my Great Great Granddad who was there. Now I live here and I can see my ancestor's name on the Pennsylvania monument. Our family bought a brick in his memory and it's now in the sidewalk on US 30 in downtown Gettysburg.

 

[moosedog]

I've been to all on your list except Valley Forge and Fort Sumpter. I have two childhood friends who also share my Civil War / Military History interests and we usually take a road trip every year.
Been to Normandy Coast once, Gettysburg seven times now. It's addicting.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Visited wayyy too many to list, but never get tired of learning details of these events. Nearby our current home is Cowpens battlefield, a critical turning point of the revolution, and a decisive British defeat of forces under "Butcher" Tarleton.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

 

[sheepdawg]

I've been to Vicksburg. The anniversary of the it's surrender is I believe the same day as Gettysburg. Been to Shiloh, Fort Pillow, Bryce Crossroads, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain and the Memphis area has battlefields all over it. Also Andersonville, not a battlefield but still a pretty solemn place.

 

[max]

Valley Forge, Vicksburg and Gettysburg. I was at Gettysburg on the same dates as the battle.

 

[Chuck24]

Grew up in the “historic triangle” of Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown so kinda spoiled in that regard. Also our 7th grade trip was a train ride to Richmond to tour the battlefields in 1965

 

[31FordA]

I’ve been to Brandywine, Paoli, Valley Forge, Trenton, Princeton and Gettysburg. Also Fort Delaware, which served as a POW camp for Confederate’s. I’ve also been aboard the USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey’s flagship at Manila Bay, and the USS New Jersey.

Not too far from my house was the site of the “Christiana Uprising”, an early act of resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act in 1851. A group of free blacks and escaped slaves routed some slave catchers from Maryland, killing one. It, like the events in Kansas, was a prelude to the Civil War.

 

[Absalom]

From the Revolution:
- Only Boston, specifically Bunker Hill. I live on the wrong coast.

From the Civil War:

- Shiloh.
- Chickamauga, and Chattanooga.
- Glorieta Pass in New Mexico. Not much there, but the biggest Civil War battle in the Far West.

From a bit after the Civil War:

- Fetterman Fight (1866) and Wagon Box Fight (1867) in Wyoming, from Red Cloud's War.
- Lava Beds in Northern California, from the Modoc War of 1872/73, including the place where Gen. Edward Canby was killed, the only US general to die in the Indian wars.
- Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana, 1876.
- Big Hole Battlefield in Montana, Nez Perce War of 1877.

From World War II (related to US History):
- Omaha Beach and the American cemetary.

Oh, and the 8th Air Force repeatedly bombed the town where I grew up, and in April 1945 it was taken in three days of fighting by the 95th US Infantry Division. Obviously before my time. I guess that should count too

 

[Grayfox]

There are two Civil War battlefields fairly close to me that I've visited several times. Shiloh and Fort Pillow.
Fort Pillow is also a State Park with hiking trails and a campground I've used a few times.
Shiloh has a hike that we used when I was a Boy Scout leader than earns the boys a badge. It hits all the main points of the battle there and if I remember correctly its about 5-6 miles.
Both are wonderful history lessons.

Many years ago as a young troop, I spent several months at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD. That place is just one gigantic history lesson.

 

[jchodur]

Been to Gettysburg and Valley Forge. Gettysburg the town is very commercial but there was a museum worth seeing. Some of the sights around it are covered with monuments. The cemetery that is the site of Abe Lincoln's Address was worth the trip. I believe they told us there were 3500 combatants interred there and maybe twice that still out in the field who were never found.

Valley Forge seemed unspoiled, at least I did not see any massive monuments or souvenir stands there. There were little huts made from logs maybe six foot long and wide with a very low ceiling. Bunks along the walls on each side as you peered in the centrally located door. People of that era were either much smaller or slept very uncomfortably. Of course the six or eight people that close together would help keep the hut warm.

Can't help admire them for what they put up with, all in addition to risking their lives.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I enjoy those sights very much, but from what I have seen of the revisionist theories of those who follow us, those hallowed grounds are destined to be condos because of the perceived imperfections of those who fought there. Gettysburg is my favorite. Shiloh is a good afternoon. Let's salute them while we are here!

 

[Onomea]

I’ve visited the site of the Battle of Peleliu, now known as Palau, where, from September to November 1944 the 1st Marine Division and later soldiers of the 81st Infantry Division fought the Japanese. Marine casualties were over 6,500 men, over a third of their entire division.

It was a brutal, hellacious, battle: Battle of Peleliu - Wikipedia

My father, a Marine, was there.

I visited in 1988 with my then girlfriend, now wife, on a week’s romantic getaway to a tropical resort. Clearest ocean waters, most pristine beaches, I’d ever seen. We loved it.

When I told my father where I’d been, he commented, “Why would anyone want to visit that god awful place!” When he was there, he added, the place was so blasted to kingdom come with artillery fire that their boots would not last a week because of the exposed, shattered coral.

Our experiences there, on the that little island in the south Pacific, were quite different.

 

[Marshwheeling]

In 1962, a family vacation took us to Gettysburg, Antietam and Bull Run.

In 1984, I went with a law school buddy to both Bull Run sites, Antietam, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, Fredricksburg, the Wilderness Harper’s Ferry and Appomattox.
At Gettysburg we hired a guide and followed the movements of Joshua Chamberlain to the various locations around the battlefield where his units saw action.
Of course, we had to stop along Cemetery ridge to the place where on the second day, the First Minnesota regiment sustained 82% casualties in stopping a Confederate advance where they were outnumbered by an estimated 5 to 1. Places like this can only make you stand in awe and reverence for those men.

 

[Baggy Wrinkle]

Been to quite a few, both in the USA and abroad. Waterloo in Belgium was my first really memorable battlefield. The Normandy Beaches, Gettysburg and Little Big Horn are my top most moving. The saddest battlefield has to be Wounded Knee. The smallest battlefield is on San Juan Island in Washington State at the site of the Pig War where US and British forces exchanged gunfire in a dispute over ownership of a pig.

 

[johnt671]

I've been to Gettysburg a bunch of times and New Market VA. If I remember right, it's called the field of shoes. Or mud.

 

[VaTom]

Being born and raised and still in Va. have visited most in the state. Also Gettysburg and Antietam. Chancellorsville is one of my favorites as we can take the country road (gravel when I visited) that Stone wall Jackson took when his troops made the flanking movement on the Union.

The most significant for me personally was Fishers Hill in the Shenandoah Valley where my great-great grandfather was captured in September of 1864 when Union Troops under Phil Sheridan flanked the Confederates of General Early. Something like 1200 rebels were captured. He was in the 45th NC Infantry,Company H in Ramseur's Brigade holding the left of the CSA line.

Spent 9 months as POW at Point Lookout, Maryland. The 45th NC, Company H muster roll entry for him for October 1863 gives his status as "In the hands of the enemy". After the war he ran a general store and died in 1903 at age 70.

Point Lookout on the western shore of Maryland is a state park and has markers and such about the POW site. Visiting the battlefield where a relative fought and the site of where he spent time as POW was very moving. Found a picture of him and his wife taken in May 1863 in my mom's stuff years ago. His muster roll records correspond with the date written on the back of the picture as he was on leave in early May of 1863 before the Gettysburg campaign began. He was also at Gettysburg. The 45th NC was under command of General Euell and was heavily engaged in 1st and 2nd day.

 

[MRB1]

I have only been to Shiloh and Vicksburg. Both are solemn and heart wrenching. One irritating thing about the battlefields that I think distracts from the battlefields is the historical markers explaining the area and battles. The markers are all slanted toward the North, and always refers to the Confederates as the enemy. The Confederate graves and markers seem to be ignored, or shown little attention. I'm being picky, but whoever was the enemy back then depended upon what side you fought. I want to see Gettysburg, but that requires going in to "enemy" land.

 

[PALADIN85020]

Valley Forge seemed unspoiled, at least I did not see any massive monuments or souvenir stands there. There were little huts made from logs maybe six foot long and wide with a very low ceiling. Bunks along the walls on each side as you peered in the centrally located door. People of that era were either much smaller or slept very uncomfortably. Of course the six or eight people that close together would help keep the hut warm.

Can't help admire them for what they put up with, all in addition to risking their lives.

This is a picture of my wife and me when we visited Valley Forge in 1993. That's Washington's headquarters behind us.

John

 

[SteveA]

My father is an avid Civil War student of history. My mother's family lived and farmed close to Shiloh and as a child, we'd visit at least once a year. Corinth, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Perryville, Chickamauga, Murfreesboro, Franklin and Fort Donelson were also frequent visits as well as Atlanta and the battle sites remaining there. Out west about any Fort or battle site from Kansas west to Washington and Oregon has been visited. Spent three long years in law school in Lawrence, Kansas and Quantrill's raid area, as well as the remaining sites in Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. The Tennessee sites were always special due to my great-great grandfather's service in the 16th Tennessee. His regiment missed Shiloh as they were east at the time but was thereafter wounded at Perryville and continued through to the surrender in North Carolina. All of the sites are special to me though. They all are part of what formed our mongrel mix of peoples into a nation.