A Day to Learn About the Civil War


Saturday, May 18, 2019

What a difference two days can make.  Two mornings ago, we sat and had our porridge and coffee with toques and gloves on as the temperature hovered just above freezing.  This morning we sat with shorts and t-shirts enjoying the same.  The temperature hit 33 today.

We visited Lynchburg today, a city that in its’ prime was made wealthy due to its’ proximity to tobacco plantations.  In the late 1700’s and well into the 1800’s, it had the 2nd highest per capita wealth in all of the US.. Thomas Jefferson, among many others, had several plantations in the area.  Lynchburg is located on the James River.  This river was one of the leading east-west trading routes of that era.  Many (hundreds) of the old houses/estates have meticulously been restored to their pre-Civil War glory.  It is apparent that the city still has a fair share of wealth!

Today was a day to learn a little bit about the Civil War, of course from the point of view of the Confederate side.  Lynchburg played a pivotal role in the Civil War in the supply chain of the Southern/Confederate Army.  As the war dragged on though it became even more important as it housed most of the Confederate Army’s injured and dying.  At one point over 30,000 injured men were being treated in old tobacco warehouses that had been converted into makeshift hospitals.  From one battle alone, 10,000 injured arrived.

Tomorrow we will move further south.  Once again, we are not sure of our destination.  At this point, no schedule is working out well for us.

Distance Traveled = 89 km.  (You would think we were on our bicycles!)  Wildlife Sightings = Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures, Pileated Woodpecker, Chipping Sparrows, Robins, Canada Geese, Eastern Bluebird, Cliff Swallows, Cedar Waxwings, Groundhog.

P.S.  Hope everyone had a good time at the cottage opening.  We wish we could have been there…Civil War History vs. cottage cleanup…maybe Lynchburg wins every time!!!


James River


Battery Creek Lock built in 1848


Wild Rhododendrons in bloom in Otter Creek Campsite



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