Antietam

Lauris announced that “it was the bloodiest day of the Civil War.” I had to look it up, because somehow it seemed that Gettysburg held that title, but Lauris was right; the bloodiest one day battle in American history occurred at Antietam, with 23,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of combat on September 17, 1862. (In comparison, Gettysburg involved the largest number of casualties in a single battle, however, those 46,000 - 51,000 were casualties during three days of battle.) The Battle of Antietam ended the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's first invasion into the North, and led to the issuance of the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln.

The Antietam Maryland Monument

As common with the National Battlefields, the Visitor Center is a good place to start your visit. In addition to securing a map of the driving tour of the battlefield, the exhibits and movies provide a needed refresher for those of us who last discussed Antietam in high school some twenty years ago. Plus there’s a good view from the second floor, providing a sort of bird’s-eye-view of the immediate vicinity of the Cornfield & West Woods, and Bloody Lane. The latter also has an observation tower, with a different perspective and a slightly different view.

Titled: miniature cannons behind a large cannon

The self-guided 8 ½ mile auto tour features 11 stops, and begins at the Dunker Church. Built in 1852, this German Baptist church became a focal point for Union attacks the morning of the battle. We stopped at the North Woods where Union Gen. Hooker’s men spent the night before the engagement at Poffenberger farm. We paused at the Cornfield, 24-acres that saw over 60% casualties for some brigades. And then the West Woods, where in 20 minutes over 2,200 Union soldiers were killed or wounded.

Cornfield

Such incredible numbers, and so hard to comprehend with blue skies overhead, green grass underfoot, the first spring roadside flowers blooming.

Recently Lauris asked “why do we only visit battlefields?” I reflected and realized we have spent considerable time at historical sites such as Richmond, Petersburg, Chickamauga and Chattanooga, even though interspersed with parks and scenic areas. This surprised me, as I’m really not a history buff; I prefer unique geological formations, impressive views, and bird/flower/nature-watching over signs about events that unfolded years ago. After thinking about it, my answer to his question was, that I'm trying to provide each family member with engagement during our travels (history for Roberts, nature for me, education & exercise for the boys). The emphasis on battlefields has been unintentionally heavy recently, but in my defense the battlefields often contain a bit of everything, including the nature & solitude that I'm craving. I’ll have to think about his point on future trips – I want a healthy balance, and it might be time to give the battlefields a rest.

Near the Roulette Farm

At Mumma Farm and Cemetery we took a hike. The easy, 1 mile Antietam TRACK trail loop features interpretive exhibits about the Mumma and Roulette Farms as it traverses the fields, streamside, woodland and pond habitats. The boys enjoyed a small break from more serious discussions to enjoy the quiet of the countryside: the small creek, a stone wall, the cows.

Roulette Farm

Back on the driving tour you’ll pass the stop where the Union armies advanced, and soon you’ll reach Bloody Lane. Once known as Sunken Road, this is the spot where 2,200 Confederates held off nearly 10,000 Union soldiers for three hours before falling back to the Piper Farm.

Crossing over Highway 34 the tour continues to Lower Bridge and the scene of the Final Attack, before ending at the Antietam National Cemetery. At first the Union dead were buried where they fell on the battlefield, but later they were re-interred on this hill along with soldiers who died in hospitals or combat in the region. Confederate soldiers were buried in Hagerstown & Frederick MD, and Shepherdstown VA (now WV).

Mumma Cemetery

Back to September 17, 1862; the battle ended about 6pm with no major shift in the lines of battle. Of the 100,000 troops involved, about 23,000 lay dead, wounded or missing. Late the next evening Gen. Robert E. Lee forded the Potomac to Virginia, and ultimately, the field was left to the Union Army.

The surrender at Appomattox Courthouse wouldn’t come for another 2 ½ years….

The confluence at Harpers Ferry

View from Jefferson Rock

Harpers Ferry is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers - the Shenandoah mirroring our trip up Interstate 81 from its headwaters in the mountains of Virginia, and the Potomac tracing a more easterly route through West Virginia on its journey to the Chesapeake Bay. However, it isn’t only the rivers that converge in this corner of WV; state lines, national parks and trails, and American history collide for an intense experience that has all the hallmarks of the perfect spring break destination.

St. Peter's Catholic Church

We started our morning closer to Interstate 81, where we had arrived late the previous evening after a day spent in Appomattox Court House and Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia. The short drive didn’t net the boys any new state lines crossed; it was only another mile east of Harpers Ferry (after our visit) that we re-entered Virginia from WV in order to access the bridge across the Potomac and into Maryland. This means the total # of states traversed that day was 6; we would still venture into Pennsylvania and cross New Jersey on our way to New York that evening.

View across Arsenal Square

Despite seemingly being at the center of everything, Harpers Ferry has an isolated feel to it. We utilized the large parking lot at the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park Visitor Center and then took the free bus 2 miles into town as there isn’t really any public parking in what is termed “Lower Town”. Once there, we realized that the rivers effectively cut the town off from everything except the rest of West Virginia – and as it is the furthest, most northeast corner of the state, the town seems remote as you’re trying to get there. The seclusion is somewhat of an illusion though, as we soon found ourselves on Shenandoah Street with a network of roads and trails leading every which way, one of those being the Appalachian Trail. As it winds through the mountains from Maine to Georgia, the AT crosses the Potomac from Maryland utilizing the Potomac Railroad Bridge, skirts the original site of John Brown’s Fort, and then cuts right through the heart of town. Deciding to start our Harpers Ferry experience by getting a lay of the land, we started up the stone steps on the AT and worked our way up to Jefferson Rock.

Ruins of St. John's

Steep steps led past St. Peter’s Catholic Church and the ruins of St. John’s Episcopal Church, one of the five earliest churches in Harpers Ferry (1852). Although Jefferson Rock is only ¼ mile from the fort, it is an ascent in elevation, which is what makes the rock a worthy destination.

“On your right comes up the Shenandoah, having ranged along the foot of the mountain a hundred miles to seek a vent. On your left approachs the Patowmac, in quest of passage also. In the moment of their junction they rush together against the mountain, rend it asunder, and pass off to the sea… This scene is worthy a voyage across the Atlantic.”

This is how Thomas Jefferson described the view during his visit in 1783. The uppermost slab of Jefferson Rock originally rested on a narrow base that threatened to crumble from the weight of weather and tourists. Sometime around 1855 four pillars were placed under the corners of the slab, and today it is illegal to walk on, climb, ascend, descend or traverse Jefferson Rock or its supporting base rock.

John Brown's Fort

Having descended we made our way towards John Brown’s fort. In October 1859, determined to arm slaves and spark a rebellion, John Brown and his followers seized the armory at Harpers Ferry along with several other strategic points. The raid failed, and most of the men involved were killed or captured. Brown was tried and executed, and the nation took several large steps towards Civil War. Today the fort stands between Arsenal Square and the original site of the fort, and visitors can experience the raid at the John Brown Museum through film and interactive exhibits. (See this article for an interesting read on the “Second Raid on Harpers Ferry”)

Footbridge to C&O Canal and Maryland Heights

From there we headed to the Point to see where the Potomac and Shenandoah converge. This natural corridor where the Potomac cuts through the Blue Ridge Mountains has seen traffic for centuries: first American Indians, then European settlers. Robert Harper started a ferry across in 1747, and the rushing waters inspired George Washington to locate the US armory here some years later. Further downriver the bridge connecting Virginia to Maryland can be seen, and a train trestle that still is used by trains crosses towards the Harpers Ferry tunnel. In addition to the Potomac Railroad Bridge now carrying foot traffic and the Appalachian Trail, the ruins of the old Baltimore & Ohio (B & O) railroad bridge are still present. Once a majestic wood covered bridge that spanned the Potomac River, this was the bridge used during John Brown’s raid across the river. When Virginia seceded in April, 1861, the bridge remained a physical connection to the Union, one that would be rebuilt and destroyed nine times (four times by war, five times by floods).

View from footbridge back towards the Point

From the Point we descended the stairs to reach the trails along the Shenandoah River. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (the aforementioned C&O) National Historical Park stretches all the way from Washington DC to Cumberland in Maryland, and for the section in Harpers Ferry, the Potomac Heritage Trail follows the C&O Canal Towpath as well. This developing network of hiking and water trails extends all the way from western Pennsylvania to the Chesapeake Bay. On our visit the floodplain was awash with bluebells, and while there are trails to bring visitors back to the Visitor Center, we opted to return to the shuttle stop to save our strength for the next leg of our trip.

On the banks of the Shenandoah

There remained much of Harpers Ferry that went unexplored; from the Civil War battlefields at Bolivar heights, to General Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 battle line at Schoolhouse Ridge, to the panoramic views of the town and river from Maryland and Loudoun Heights. The 4,000 acres includes 20 miles of trails ranging from easy riverside strolls to four-mile hikes across Civil War battlefields to eight-mile adventures into the mountains; the best place to start planning your trip to Harpers Ferry is the National Parks website. For us however, this portion of the adventure came to a close – we crossed the two rivers, several state lines, and hundreds of years back into the present, and headed north to the site of the bloody Civil War battle, Antietam.

Note: not Jefferson Rock

Natural Bridge State Park, Virginia

From Appomattox Courthouse we headed west, past Lynchburg and through a mountain pass. We were en route to Interstate 81, which would take us north between Shenandoah National Park and George Washington & Jefferson National Forest all the way into West Virginia. While crossing over the ridge it was tempting to hop on the Blue Ridge Parkway (and Skyline Drive) and follow the ridgeline north through the Blue Ridge Mountains, but in interest of saving some time we continued along the James River down into the valley. Right before hitting the Interstate we reached our next destination: Natural Bridge State Park.

The Monacans are an eastern Siouan nation that has occupied Virginia for up to 10,000 years. Four centuries ago the tribe could be found as far east as the Falls of Richmond, where John Smith and his Jamestown settlers first made contact with the tribe. Legend has it, that the Monacans were fleeing from a band of enemy warriors when they came to a deep, wide chasm. With no way across, they closed their eyes and prayed. When they opened their eyes, a narrow rock bridge provided them escape across the gorge. Once women and children were across, the braves turned to face the enemy with newfound courage, emerging victorious to tell the story that has since been handed down through dozens of generations. The Monacan people call this sacred place Mohomony, meaning ‘Great Mystery’ or the “Bridge of God.” About 1,400 Monacans still reside in Virginia, primarily in the Bear Mountain region near Lynchburg. Within the State Park, the Natural Bridge Monacan Indian Village has been recreated to offer insight into Monacan life in the region in the 1700s.

On July 5, 1774 Thomas Jefferson purchased this piece of land from King George II of England. A frequent visitor, Jefferson was passionate about preserving the awesome natural formations in this corner of Virginia for future generations, as well as making it accessible for all to appreciate. Among visitors to the site during this time are three presidents (James Monroe, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren), John Marshall (Fourth Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court), Henry Clay (Kentucky Statesman) and Daniel Boone. Legend also has it that George Washington helped lay out the 157-acre plat that Thomas Jefferson later purchased. For ten years the land was leased to Patrick Henry, and upon Jefferson’s death in 1826 he left the parcel to his family.

That white rectangle in the upper left corner supposedly holds George Washington's initials

Starting with 1811, nitrate (used for making gunpowder) was mined in a cavern beneath the Natural Bridge, evidence of which can still be seen in the Saltpeter Cave just beyond the Monacan village. The bridge was also used as a shot tower for making musket balls for the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Molten lead was dropped through a copper sieve from the bridge, the holes in the sieve controlling the size of lead shot. Surface tension and the cooling of the molten droplet as it fell created a round ball, and the final dunk in the cold creek waters finished the process. During the Civil War both Union and Confederate troops made detours from their marches to see and cross the Natural Bridge.

The fence can be seen in the distance, the only visual reminder that you're crossing Cedar Creek

The Indian footpath over the bridge gradually evolved into US Route 11. The highway still crosses the bridge today, although safety fences block the view; if you don’t know it’s there, you might never realize the chasm you’ve just crossed. In 1827 a mule trail was built along Cedar Creek & under the bridge, to allow access all the way to Lace Falls.

In 1830 guests could pay $1 to be lowered from the Bridge in a cage accompanied by violin music. The “Drama of Creation” light and sound extravaganza first started in 1927; President Calvin Coolidge throwing the ceremonial ‘first switch.’ The light show still runs today, beginning after the Park closes in the evening. The Natural Bridge was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1998. About 2 years ago a real estate investor donated a portion of the acreage that included the Natural Bridge to the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund, who then deeded it to the State once remaining debt had been paid off. Natural Bridge is the newest state park in the state, only 7 months old (September 2016).

The arch is composed of solid grey limestone, and is 215 feet high, 40 feet thick and 100 feet wide. The rocks that form the bridge are about 500 million years old.

This ancient eastern arborvitae was the oldest and largest in the world before its death in 1980, according to a sign at the site. The 56 inch-diameter evergreen is estimated to be more than 1,600 years old.

If you visit in the spring (as we did), you will be treated to a fantastic display of wildflowers, all visible from the trail. The Natural Bridge was definitely a highlight of our trip north; what a treasure for the Virginia Park Service! To reach the Natural Bridge, proceed to the intersection of Highway 11 and Highway 130, parking in the designated parking lot. After entering the Visitor Center and paying the entrance fee, proceed outside and down the stairs to the Summerhouse Café. From this point it is 450 feet to the Natural Bridge, 1,800 feet to the Monacan Indian Village, 0.4 miles to the Salpetre Mines, ½ mile to the Lost River, and a little less than a mile to the Lace Waterfall. Admission is $8/person, $6/ages 6-12.

from left: Dutchman's breeches, star chickweed, large-flowered bellwort, spring beauty & Greek valerian

from left: golden alexander, wild geranium, green & gold, squawroot and wild blue phlox

from left: an aster?, ?, trillium, redbud and wild columbine

Appomattox Court House

We stood on a country lane in Virginia, the sound of musket-fire and cannons bringing history to life as reenactors told the tale of the events that took place precisely 152 years previous. I enjoy putting effort into planning our family vacations, but even my attention to detail neglected to notice that our visit to Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park would coincide with the anniversary of the day in 1865 that General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in what signaled the end of the Confederacy.

Mikus and General Robert E. Lee on the steps of the McLean House

First of all, Appomattox. It’s pronounced ap-uh-mat-uh ks.

Fanning the flames

A second fact that I learned is that Appomattox Court House is the name of the village. None of the events of the surrender took place in the actual courthouse, but are instead named for the village. What was a stop along the Richmond-Lynchburg Stage Road became the county seat with the formation of Appomattox county in 1845. The county courthouse was built in 1846, burned in 1892, was reconstructed in 1964, and today houses the visitor center and museum.

Appomattox county courthouse center, county jail on right

The Battle of Appomattox Court House was fought on the morning of April 9, 1865 and was the final engagement of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Lee had abandoned the Confederate capital of Richmond after the ten-month Siege of Petersburg. Retreating west, he hoped to join his army with the Confederate forces in North Carolina but instead were pursued and cut off by Union forces.

Meeks stable

The surrender took place in the parlor of the McLean House. The terms asked that the Confederates pledge not to take up arms against the United States; they would not be imprisoned or prosecuted for treason, officers were allowed to keep their sidearms, the men were allowed to take home their horses and mules to carry out the spring planting, and food rations were provided for the starving troops. Custer and other Union officers purchased the furnishings of the room Lee and Grant met in as souvenirs. In 1893 the house was dismantled by a private company in preparation to move it to Washington DC as a war museum, but the piles of bricks and lumber were never moved. In the 1940s the National Park Service used plans and archaeological evidence to rebuild the house on its 1848 foundation, and today the reconstruction is open to the public as it would have looked at the time of the surrender.

Parlor of the McLean house: Lee sat at the marble table on the left, Grant at the wood table on the right

A few of the original village structures have survived, including the Clover Hill Tavern (1819) and its kitchen (now a bookstore). On the morning of April 12, 1865, about 5,000 Federal troops lined the Richmond-Lynchburg State Road to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. After the Stacking of Arms (weapons, flags and other accoutrements), the Confederates were given passes (paroles) that allowed the soldiers to return home; the Tavern was where these parole passes were printed. At the surrender ceremonies 28,000 Confederate soldiers passed by and stacked their arms. 26,300 of those are listed on the Appomattox Roster lists, while an additional 7,700 who were captured at Sailor's Creek three days earlier were treated as prisoners of war.

view of courthouse through Clover Hill Tavern

The surrender didn’t immediately end the Confederate States of America, but the terms set at Appomattox Court House governed the surrenders of all the other Confederate armies: Johnston’s army in NC, Taylor’s army in Alabama, and Smith’s army in Texas. The end of the war (and of the Confederacy) was final only after Edmund Kirby Smith surrendered on June 2^nd.

Nearby Longacre Bed and Breakfast

A few spots associated with the events of the surrender lie outside the village, including Lee and Grant’s headquarters sites, a small Confederate cemetery and the North Carolina monument. Three miles southeast is the town of Appomattox; the closest restaurants, stores and accommodations are located here. We spent the night at Longacre Bed and Breakfast, an English Tudor built in 1933. Located on two ½ acres of secluded gardens, the B&B features 5 guestrooms in the main house and 1 carriage house all with private bathrooms. The breakfast and hospitality couldn’t be beat; I highly recommend booking at Longacre if you’re looking for unique accommodations on the doorstep of Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

Great Dismal Swamp

The name alone stimulates the imagination – Great Dismal Swamp. What turned out to be the last stop in our coastal Virginia exploration, the National Wildlife Refuge attracted my attention due to the proximity to Norfolk as well as the reputed abundance of wildlife within its confines.

Straddling the border between North Carolina and Virginia, the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge contains over 112,000 acres of forested wetlands and the 31,000 acre Lake Drummond at its center. It is the largest intact remnant of the habitat that once covered more than a million acres in this region, and with 200 species of birds, 100 species of butterflies and one of the largest black bear populations on the east coast, the area has significant ecological importance.

Evidence of human presence in the Dismal Swamp dates to some 13,000 years ago. The name Great Dismal is thought to come from Colonel William Byrd II’s expeditions into the swamp in the early 1700s to draw the state line between Virginia and North Carolina. George Washington visited the swamp in 1763, and having organized the Dismal Swamp Company, he proceeded to drain, farm, and log large portions of the swamp. Then with the approach of the Civil War the swamp gained a new significance: as a stop on the Underground Railroad on the way to the port of Norfolk, and of home to ‘the maroons,’ those choosing to remain in the relative safety of the swamp. The Union Camp Corporation donated 49,100 acres of the swamp to The Nature Conservancy in 1973 (who passed it on to the Department of the Interior), and the following year the refuge was established and the site officially designated as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

It would be hard to cover more than a portion of this immense area in a day (especially without a boat!), and with this knowledge in the forefront of our minds we chose to concentrate on the area around the Refuge Office. The office itself was closed on what was a federal holiday, but nearby are a few hiking trails and the only road leading to Lake Drummond that allows vehicle traffic. We started at the Washington Ditch parking area and set off on the ¾ mile boardwalk trail to get a feel for the swamp. The elevated wooden Dismal Town Boardwalk Trail meanders through a representative portion of swamp habitats before emerging out on the Washington Ditch to return to the parking area. This was the spot used by Washington and company as their Dismal Swamp headquarters.

setting off on the Dismal Town Boardwalk trail

The five-mile Washington Ditch leads from the western boundary of the refuge to the north end of Lake Drummond, and was dug by hand by slaves for the purpose of transportation. The hike from the parking area to the lake is 4.5 miles, the main reason why we elected to skip it in favor of the auto tour route a little further south; we wanted to see the lake, but with cloudy skies and tired boys a 9-mile hike wasn’t an option.

Washington Ditch

The auto tour route begins just south of the Refuge Office. For rules and regulations (as well as to print out a permit) please visit the FWS website, although that information is also available on site. The road heads east along Railroad Ditch, then south along the West Ditch and finally west along Interior Ditch until it reaches the southwest shore of Lake Drummond. Along the six mile route there are several trails that take visitors out into the marsh and to several other interesting points, including a bald cypress that may be up to 800 years old.

The enormous lake in the center of the swamp was only ‘discovered’ in 1665 by colonial NC governor William Drummond. The largest natural lake in Virginia was formed about 4,000 years ago after a wildfire burned away several feet of peat soil. The peat is also the reason behind the lake’s dark brown color; it is stained dark as tea as it seeps through the peat, and this extended filtering also renders it incredibly pure.

foam stained brown

Although there are no alligators in the lake, it is home to many species of fish. In the winter the lake provides a resting area for thousands of migratory birds including Tundra Swans and Snow Geese, and during the summer visitors will see Great Blue Herons and egrets. On our January visit we spotted at least one Bald Eagle soaring overhead.

Tundra swans?

I had certainly expected a damp, ‘dismal’ visit on this rainy winter day, however our tour was anything but… On a hot, muggy summer’s day the swamp will provide a completely different experience (bug spray!), but this winter morning was a perfect time to explore a small portion of this amazing ecosystem, even with a slight drizzle. As we navigated the ditch roads back to civilization at least one boy drifted off to sleep before we even hit the pavement; I imagine his dreams to have been about the bears and eagles getting back to the business of the swamp upon our departure…

Where Neptune greets the sea

It’s the most populous city in the state, but covering a total of almost 500 square miles Virginia Beach feels like more of a suburb than a city. Together with the nearby towns of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News (where we visited the Mariners’ Museum), Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk, the area is known as "America's First Region.”

Within Virginia Beach boundaries are First Landing State Park, Fort Story and the Cape Henry Lighthouse, and Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. However, the city may be most famous for its 3-mile boardwalk that stretches along the oceanfront and is lined with hotels, condos and boutiques. There are separate paths for inline skating and biking along the ocean, and the wide beach offers plenty of space for sunbathing and barefoot walks in the surf.

Here, where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic, it is only appropriate to find a statue of Neptune. A counterpart to the Greek god Poseidon, Neptune is the Roman god of the sea and freshwater.  The bronze Neptune of Virginia Beach stands 34 feet tall at the entrance of Neptune Park on 31^st Street.

please caption this photo

The 12-ton statue has a 12-foot tall rock base which is surrounded by octopus, fish, dolphins, lobsters, and other sea creatures. Neptune rises over visitors, a trident in one hand and a loggerhead turtle in the other. The mighty god was attracting a fair share of curious visitors, even on a windy, overcast January afternoon – I can only imagine the crowds on a sunny summer day.

The Virginia Beach boardwalk was not a planned stop on our itinerary, and so it was a short stop – only long enough to admire the god of the sea and enjoy an ocean-side walk before warming up with some hot chocolate and coffee. A real exploration will have to wait for another time, possibly during a warmer season… Any suggestions on places we ought to see?