150th Anniversary of the Civil War

2011 is the 150th Anniversary of the begining of the Civil War and it is a great opportunity to visit some of the battlefield parks.

One hundred fifty years ago and for four bloody years the battle raged between the south and the north. This conflict that pitted brothers against one another killed two hundred thousand men and left close to half a million wounded. In the battle of Gettysburg alone the casualties are superior in three days of battle than all the American soldiers killed during the Vietnam war. The slave question is but one of the factors that started this conflict.

Today as you visit these battlefield it makes you realize the scale of the massacre, the markers and monuments are a reminder of real people who gave their lives for their vision of a country. I am interested by history and the civil war in perticular so it was interesting to go visit a few of the sites with my nephew who is very knowledgeable on history and the civil war, we went to Fort Sumter, Fort Pulaski and Gettysburg on this trip we took in january. He also enjoyed it I think.

Fort Sumter

When the first real battle of the civil war started on april 12, 1861 by a mortar fired from Fort Johnson east battery by Capt. George S.James signaling the beginning of the bombardment. Fort Sumter located at the entrance of Charleston harbour was just finished a few weeks before,most of the canons were in the courtyard and not yet installed in their battery position and the garrison was a fraction of what it should had been . The confederates started a bombardment that lasted 34 hours before the federals surrendered and the confederate flag was raised. Eventualy it would change hand again but not before being almost destroyed. the fort was rebuilt after the war and used until the end of WW2.

Fort Pulasky

Located at the mouth of the Savanah river Fort Pulaski was finished building in 1847 a mere 14 years before the beginning of the civil war. At the time it was built to defend against all the weapons in existence. The fort was captured by the confederates with no shots fired before the events a Fort Sumter the folowing april. I was easy for the confederates to take since the fort was occupied and defended by only 3 individuals. The retaking of the fort by the Union forces that started on april 10,1862 and with a bombardment that lasted 30 hours. At the time new experimental rifled canons and shells instead of canon balls were used and prooved that the improoved range and accuracy of these weapons would mark the end of massonry fortifications. The batteries on the fort that were of a very big caliber but without the new technology did not have the range to engage the attacking artillery, when the Union guns collapsed the east side of the forts and that a few shells came pretty close to the gun powder magazines the Confederates had to capitulate.

Gettysburg July 1,2 and 3 1863

This important battle was what is called a "meeting engagement" a type of battle where it starts with a small clash that draws in troups from both sides until you have two huge armies one in front of the others, in this case 95,000 Union troups facing 75,000 Confederates soldiers.

Although sparsely populated Gettysburg was a hub of more then 5 roads and even if it was not the target of an attack by the South it is not a big suprise that the clash started there. That summer of 1863 General Lee and his army were on their second invasion of the north and in the farmlands to feed his army. The position of Gettysburg made it a possible path to attack Washington by the north possibly gaining support trough Maryland who were on the fence at the beginning of the conflict and who had been forced into colaboration. The first day was a victory in the eyes of Lee having removed the yankees from the town of Gettysburg, In the eyes of George Meade the newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac it was a good day since that his foward troops having occupied the rebels in town long enough for the rest of his army to assume the defensive position from Culp Hill to Big Round Top. History would prove him right, although to a modern observer the attack from the south seems like suicide Lee had a strong plan that could have succeded, furthermore at this point in the war he had never lost a battle so his confidence was very high and prone to take risky moves. The result of the whole engagement was the near destruction of the Confederate Army of Northen Virginia and it put them on the defensive for the rest of the war. It was the fight that tipped the balance in favor of the north for the rest of the war. I was the site of the Gettysburg Adress by Lincoln and the point were it became official that this was a war against slavery. The cost in human lives was astronomical even in the prespective of the time.

Today it is a great site to visit, first you can do the auto tour where you drive to one spot, park, get out, take pictures and discuss the history of it with your history buddy, in my case my nepew prooved to be quite knowledgable and interesting in his prespective of it. Inside the main building there is of course the famous Diorama a 360 degrees scaled for prespective model of the battlefield with the walls covered with the remaining  view of the battlefield. The visual of it combined with the presentation give a very detailed and comprehensive view of the battle. A flashback to the nineteen century to be experience by anyone intersted in history.