US East Coast 2018: Tides of War

We cannot visit the southern state of Virginia without understanding its role in the Civil War. After all, it was here in Virginia, in 1865, at the famous Appomattox Court House, where the top Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union forces, led by General Ulysses S. Grant. This act of surrender was considered by many as the closing act of the Civil War, and Lee's surrender effectively meant that the North had won the war.

While it was too far for us to drive to the town of Appomattox, we instead decided to visit the town of Harrisonburg. Stopping by the Visitor Center, we realised that the town was at the crossroads of two major highways, the Valley Turnpike and the Rockingham Turnpike. And because the entire region was one of the most prosperous agricultural counties in the country, it was known as the "bread-basket of the Confederacy". Whoever controlled the region controlled the food source for the South. There were therefore many historical sites related to the Civil War there, and we did a drive-by of several prominent sites - Confederate hospitals, prisons, courthouses etc, and soaked in the atmosphere from each of these historical places.

The Woodbine Cemetery was where we stopped to visit. It was where some 270 Confederate soldiers were buried. A particularly poignant plague read “The Southern Soldier Died for his Country. Success is not Patriotism. Defeat is not Rebellion.” As a historian this was especially interesting given the notion that history is normally written by the victors, and that most people perceive the southern states’ secession from the Union to be an act of sedition. However, as we have been telling our boys, there is no right or wrong in war, and that both the Union and the Confederate States fought for their way of life and what they believed to be the right thing to do.

As we ended the day, we took a drive to the Port Republic Battleground Site. This was a major site of the civil war, and was where the Union army was repelled by Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson in June 1862. It was a significant point in the war as the Confederate win secured for them the Shenandoah Valley, which was a major source of resources for the South.

"Historical Re-enactment" of the Battle of Port Republic.

Historical marker at the Port Republic battle site depicting the victory of "Stonewell" Jackson and the Confederate Army.

The Previous Page - Of Bushels & Pecks - An Adventure with Apples. Read here.
What's Next? The American Dream. Read here.

From the Beginning - Start reading the record pages of our US East Coast Travel Adventure here.

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