On the drive from Springfield to Lansing, we stopped at Cabela's to stretch our legs. Below are a couple of their stuffed animal scenes.
And so our family history tour came to an end. Many thanks to DH for instigating and arranging it all.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Pictures of April 8
Monday, April 8, 2013
On the drive from Springfield to Lansing, we stopped at Cabela's to stretch our legs. Below are a couple of their stuffed animal scenes.
Note the musk ox baby in the center.
And so our family history tour came to an end. Many thanks to DH for instigating and arranging it all.
On the drive from Springfield to Lansing, we stopped at Cabela's to stretch our legs. Below are a couple of their stuffed animal scenes.
And so our family history tour came to an end. Many thanks to DH for instigating and arranging it all.
Pictures for April 7
Sunday, April 7, 2013
At breakfast the four of us got to talk with one of the previous day's speakers, Michael DuMont. He himself was a prisoner of war for 4 days in Viet Nam. He had been trained as a Para Rescue Jumper, and went in to help two wounded men whose airplane had crashed. After a few hours, the three of them were attacked and captured by Viet Cong, and DuMont was shot in the chest during that attack, with 3 ribs being broken. Because he could still walk, and the other two men could not, he was separated from them. (The other two were later rescued by US forces.) After four days DuMont was able to escape his captors, and swam in the ocean about three miles (!), where he was rescued by using his watch to make moving reflections in order to be noticed.
After breakfast we went to the service at the Salisbury National Cemetery. There were flags, a widow impersonator, a three volley salute, and a cannon firing, in addition to songs and speeches.
After the service, Michiganders had a little quality time with their state flag.
Then we left for Springfield, Ohio, arriving before dark. When dropping off WE, we got to see 5 darling kittens (anyone want a kitten?)
At breakfast the four of us got to talk with one of the previous day's speakers, Michael DuMont. He himself was a prisoner of war for 4 days in Viet Nam. He had been trained as a Para Rescue Jumper, and went in to help two wounded men whose airplane had crashed. After a few hours, the three of them were attacked and captured by Viet Cong, and DuMont was shot in the chest during that attack, with 3 ribs being broken. Because he could still walk, and the other two men could not, he was separated from them. (The other two were later rescued by US forces.) After four days DuMont was able to escape his captors, and swam in the ocean about three miles (!), where he was rescued by using his watch to make moving reflections in order to be noticed.
After breakfast we went to the service at the Salisbury National Cemetery. There were flags, a widow impersonator, a three volley salute, and a cannon firing, in addition to songs and speeches.
Flower petals were scattered on the site of the grave trenches where so many Union prisoners of war from the Confederate Salisbury Prison were buried.
After the service, Michiganders had a little quality time with their state flag.
Then we left for Springfield, Ohio, arriving before dark. When dropping off WE, we got to see 5 darling kittens (anyone want a kitten?)
Pictures for April 6
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The 16th Annual Salisbury Confederate Prison Symposium met on Saturday at Catawba College, Ketner Hall. There were beautiful flowering trees on the campus.
Dr. Freeze gave the opening talk, as he always does. Next Bob O'Connor talked about "The U.S. Colored Troops Prisoners at Salisbury Prison". After a short break, Ron Nichols talked about "A Post-Civil War Mortality View of Salisbury Prisoners from Wisconsin". After lunch William Marley told about "The Attempted Outbreak of 1864". Then Michael Dumont talked about his relative, "Ira Tewksbury: A Brother Captive Who Didn't Survive". Lastly Dr. Gray Bullard spoke on "Veterans' Pensions in the Civil War: The Experience in the South".
After the Symposium we went to the Hall House. Dr. Josephus Hall was a doctor who helped care for the prisoners during the Civil War, and he had a lovely home and grounds.
A portrait of Dr. Hall's first wife, and the Hall piano.
A reproduction of wallpaper found in the house.
On the Hall House grounds is one of the two cannons that were used to intimidate the prisoners of war inside the Salisbury Confederate Prison. Both cannons were fired during the attempted outbreak in 1864 (as we learned from one of the Symposium lectures).
From attending the symposium during previous years, I know an owner of property that is where the prison grounds used to be. It is now thought that the Dead House was at least partially on her property. Several years ago I had given her a forsythia from my property in Michigan; that forsythia is still alive, and is the yellow-flowering bush to the left in the below photo. I like to think that bush is a celebration of life in a place where there was so much death.
Descendants of Ferd very close to the (presumed) site of the Dead House on the Confederate Salisbury Prison grounds. I like to think that Ferd would be happy if he knew a few of his descendants would honor him by taking time to go to and learn about the place where he experienced such misery.
The 16th Annual Salisbury Confederate Prison Symposium met on Saturday at Catawba College, Ketner Hall. There were beautiful flowering trees on the campus.
Dr. Freeze gave the opening talk, as he always does. Next Bob O'Connor talked about "The U.S. Colored Troops Prisoners at Salisbury Prison". After a short break, Ron Nichols talked about "A Post-Civil War Mortality View of Salisbury Prisoners from Wisconsin". After lunch William Marley told about "The Attempted Outbreak of 1864". Then Michael Dumont talked about his relative, "Ira Tewksbury: A Brother Captive Who Didn't Survive". Lastly Dr. Gray Bullard spoke on "Veterans' Pensions in the Civil War: The Experience in the South".
After the Symposium we went to the Hall House. Dr. Josephus Hall was a doctor who helped care for the prisoners during the Civil War, and he had a lovely home and grounds.
From attending the symposium during previous years, I know an owner of property that is where the prison grounds used to be. It is now thought that the Dead House was at least partially on her property. Several years ago I had given her a forsythia from my property in Michigan; that forsythia is still alive, and is the yellow-flowering bush to the left in the below photo. I like to think that bush is a celebration of life in a place where there was so much death.
Pictures for April 5 Appomattox
Friday, April 5, 2013
Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union General Grant in the parlor of the McLean home at Appomattox Court House in April, 1865.
This house was torn down once with plans to move it, but eventually was rebuilt at this site; in the meantime the wood had deteriorated during the time the house was torn apart, so pretty much just the bricks are from the original house. The person showing us the house said the McLeans did own slaves, and Mrs. McLean was 46 years old and pregnant when Lee surrendered to Grant in their parlor. An amazing coincidence is that at the First Battle of Manassas, in 1861, the McLeans had a home in that area, and General Beauregard, commanding the Confederates, had his headquarters on the McLean property there. Apparently Mr. McLean was fond of saying the Civil War started in his yard and ended in his parlor.
At breakfast in the motel we had met an impersonator of General Lee, so we stopped by the place where he and his wife were planning to do a re-enactment that weekend. He offered to take the time to put on his Civil War uniform for our taking pictures, but we did not want to trouble him to do that since he was busy building a road at the site when we stopped by.
After leaving the Appomattox area we drove on to Salisbury, North Carolina, and the symposium began that evening with a Friendship Banquet at the Landmark Church. I forgot, as I was writing the blog, to mention that the four of us descendants of William Ferdinand Bowdish each won a door prize! WE chose a fire extinguisher, LM chose a book (BUTTERNUT TEARS, written by Arlene Showalter, the speaker for the banquet), DH chose a tee-shirt, and AR chose a Hickory Farms box of goodies. Sue Curtis, Symposium Chair, said our family was having such good luck, we should play the lottery.
Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union General Grant in the parlor of the McLean home at Appomattox Court House in April, 1865.
After leaving the Appomattox area we drove on to Salisbury, North Carolina, and the symposium began that evening with a Friendship Banquet at the Landmark Church. I forgot, as I was writing the blog, to mention that the four of us descendants of William Ferdinand Bowdish each won a door prize! WE chose a fire extinguisher, LM chose a book (BUTTERNUT TEARS, written by Arlene Showalter, the speaker for the banquet), DH chose a tee-shirt, and AR chose a Hickory Farms box of goodies. Sue Curtis, Symposium Chair, said our family was having such good luck, we should play the lottery.
Pictures for April 4, Petersburg area
Thursday, April 4, 2013
During the siege of Petersburg, Ferd was in the Battle of the Crater. At a point where the Union and Confederate lines were quite close, the Pennsylvania miners dug a long tunnel underground, put in dynamite under a Confederate fort, and blew it up. Despite the initial success of the operation, the day unfortunately did not end well for the Union.
Present-day appearance of the doorway to the tunnel.
Diagram of the miners' system for ventilating the mine with fresh air.
Appearance of the crater now.
DH read out loud a fictional but very entertaining story about how the timbers were obtained for building the tunnel.
An example of abatis used in the siege of Petersburg, as well as a mortar.
As Grant extended the siege line around Petersburg to capture railroads supplying Richmond, Ferd was captured at the battle of Weldon Railroad in August, 1864.
Today the railroad is in the distance behind where we are standing.
During the siege of Petersburg, Ferd was in the Battle of the Crater. At a point where the Union and Confederate lines were quite close, the Pennsylvania miners dug a long tunnel underground, put in dynamite under a Confederate fort, and blew it up. Despite the initial success of the operation, the day unfortunately did not end well for the Union.
As Grant extended the siege line around Petersburg to capture railroads supplying Richmond, Ferd was captured at the battle of Weldon Railroad in August, 1864.
Pictures for April 3
I can't believe all we saw on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg where the Seventh Michigan came across to chase out the sharpshooters in the town buildings so Burnside could get a bridge built across the river, allowing his army to make it across.
In Fredericksburg, DH interviewed a Confederate descendant about the Civil War.
Battle of the Wilderness (spring, 1864) area in which Ferd's brother Lucius lost an arm, and Ferd's brother Corridon/Corydon received a fatal wound.
In May of 1864 Ferd wrote in his diary about fighting at Spotsylvania Court House. He mentioned building breastworks (earthworks), remnants of which are still present (I am "hiding" in one above).
DH guided us to a monument marking where Ferd's regiment (27th Michigan as well as the 17th Michigan, and many others) fought at Spotsylvania Court House.
A few miles away we saw the building in which Confederate General Stonewall Jackson died.
In Richmond we toured the Confederate White House. This is the rear, looking toward the White House from the garden.
Also in Richmond we walked on a pedestrian bridge across the James River to Belle Isle, where Ferd was held prisoner for about 6 weeks before being shipped on to Salisbury.
We found the area where thousands of prisoners of war were held. It was surrounded by a "dead line", which if a prisoner came too close to, he risked being shot. In an act of affirmation of life, we lit there a birthday candle (for the birthdays of DH on April 2 and LM on April 4). This candle played the "Happy Birthday" tune over and over until we located the wire from the battery and WE snipped it.
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