My family has spent Memorial Day weekend in the greater Washington DC area. One of my sons is deployed to DC. We came to visit my son. We planned to visit some of the major battlegrounds and interesting parts of DC.
Antietam
We stopped at Antietam on our way to Gettysburg. One of my relatives fought with the 8th Ohio which fought in most of the major eastern battles. We planned to stand where he stood during the battles.
The 8th was at the sunken road, Bloody Lane, at Antietam. Three hour battle over 800 yards of road. 13,000 men fought each other with 5,600 casualties. Sullen place.
In the middle of the bloody lane was the monument to the 8th Ohio. The 8th fought in the middle of the lane. The unit fought until it ran out of ammunition and was scrounging from the dead.
We did a driving tour of the rest of the battle.
Dunker Church
Gettysburg
Our main stop for the trip was Gettysburg. Wife and I have been a few times each but the kids have never been before. I hired a licensed guide to give us a tour. He drove our car and went over the battle for two hours. He gave us a master’s degree on the battle. The amount of information and descriptions he gave us was incredible.
As part of it we stopped at the 8th Ohio position during Pickett’s Charge. The unit was in a forward position on the North flank of the charge. It had been placed there the day before the battle to harass confederate skirmishers firing at cemetery ridge. Interesting perspective. The 216 men captured 3 Confederate battle flags, 300 prisoners with 103 casualties during the battle.
After the tour the boys and I walked Pickett’s Charge. The walk is an interesting perspective. There are dips that help partially obscure you during the walk. The walk is about 3/4s of a mile and is a much shorter walk than you’d want it to be if you were attacking. Boys and I discussed how we’d each take the walk if part of the attack.
Confederate view from Lee’s monument.
Calvary reenactment
We spent a couple days in DC. Interesting town. Lots of rats at night and I’m not talking about the politicians!
Final battlefield day boys and I went to see Fredericksburg and Spottsylvania Courthouse.
Fredericksburg is hard to see. The town has grown over most of the battlefield. I can get a general idea of the battle and stood in the confederate sunken road. The 8th Ohio was in The first wave attack. They were stopped short of the sunken road. They spent the rest of the battle pinned down by confederate gunfire.
We then drove the short distance to the battle of Spotsyvania Courthouse, specifically the Bloody Angle.
The Bloody Angle was part of a muleshoe salient inadvertently created by the Confederates. The battle was fought while confederate forces created a secondary line to eliminate the thumb.
20,000 Union forces attacked 5,000 confederate forces. The battle lasted 22 hours in pouring rain. Ownership of portions of the bloody angle went back and forth between the forces. It was mostly hand to hand combat. There were 17,000 casualties including my relative who was killed there. Boys and I stood in the general area that he attacked and died. He had 5 weeks remaining on his three year contract. He had survived almost three years of brutal fighting.
At Fredericksburg, we visited the Union cemetery for the forces killed in the local battles. He’s buried there in an unmarked grave.
Great family trip leaving us with a lot to think about.
Antietam
We stopped at Antietam on our way to Gettysburg. One of my relatives fought with the 8th Ohio which fought in most of the major eastern battles. We planned to stand where he stood during the battles.
The 8th was at the sunken road, Bloody Lane, at Antietam. Three hour battle over 800 yards of road. 13,000 men fought each other with 5,600 casualties. Sullen place.
In the middle of the bloody lane was the monument to the 8th Ohio. The 8th fought in the middle of the lane. The unit fought until it ran out of ammunition and was scrounging from the dead.
We did a driving tour of the rest of the battle.
Dunker Church
Gettysburg
Our main stop for the trip was Gettysburg. Wife and I have been a few times each but the kids have never been before. I hired a licensed guide to give us a tour. He drove our car and went over the battle for two hours. He gave us a master’s degree on the battle. The amount of information and descriptions he gave us was incredible.
As part of it we stopped at the 8th Ohio position during Pickett’s Charge. The unit was in a forward position on the North flank of the charge. It had been placed there the day before the battle to harass confederate skirmishers firing at cemetery ridge. Interesting perspective. The 216 men captured 3 Confederate battle flags, 300 prisoners with 103 casualties during the battle.
After the tour the boys and I walked Pickett’s Charge. The walk is an interesting perspective. There are dips that help partially obscure you during the walk. The walk is about 3/4s of a mile and is a much shorter walk than you’d want it to be if you were attacking. Boys and I discussed how we’d each take the walk if part of the attack.
Confederate view from Lee’s monument.
Calvary reenactment
We spent a couple days in DC. Interesting town. Lots of rats at night and I’m not talking about the politicians!
Final battlefield day boys and I went to see Fredericksburg and Spottsylvania Courthouse.
Fredericksburg is hard to see. The town has grown over most of the battlefield. I can get a general idea of the battle and stood in the confederate sunken road. The 8th Ohio was in The first wave attack. They were stopped short of the sunken road. They spent the rest of the battle pinned down by confederate gunfire.
We then drove the short distance to the battle of Spotsyvania Courthouse, specifically the Bloody Angle.
The Bloody Angle was part of a muleshoe salient inadvertently created by the Confederates. The battle was fought while confederate forces created a secondary line to eliminate the thumb.
20,000 Union forces attacked 5,000 confederate forces. The battle lasted 22 hours in pouring rain. Ownership of portions of the bloody angle went back and forth between the forces. It was mostly hand to hand combat. There were 17,000 casualties including my relative who was killed there. Boys and I stood in the general area that he attacked and died. He had 5 weeks remaining on his three year contract. He had survived almost three years of brutal fighting.
At Fredericksburg, we visited the Union cemetery for the forces killed in the local battles. He’s buried there in an unmarked grave.
Great family trip leaving us with a lot to think about.
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