F@#$ Tredegar Iron Works, Yellow Tavern, Cold Harbor and Grant's James River headquarters

So I left off with us failing to find the North Anna Battlefield.  We did find Patrick Henry's house.

"Slavery built that"

Not part of the Overland Campaign so that can F@#$ right off.  Doswell is also a particularly uninteresting part of Virginia too.  Farmhouses, a post office and a coin laundry.  Maybe I feel that way because I saw everything 4 times.

I digress.  South on Highway 1, the Jefferson Davis Expressway till we find an I-95 on ramp.  Onto I-95 to Ashland.

Mistake #4:  Thinking that an information center would be easy to find.  Ok willing to bet that every Virginia town has a historical visitors center, so perhaps the sheer volume of them stopped the tourism boards from placing them in convenient places.  This probably cost us another half hour.

So between the late start, the scenic route, HMDB.com shenanigans and Ashland, we are probably 2 hours behind were we should be.

We are thoroughly disoriented and need to reset, so onto Richmond.

Mistake #5:  Also more of a choice.  Diversion at Tredegar.

The Tredegar Ironworks was the South's biggest foundry, and one of the reasons why the capitol was moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond.  It looks wicked cool and we succumbed to temptation.

 

The museum was really good too.  Gettysburg is better, but come on, it's Gettysburg.  This one gave 3 different view points, North perspective, South perspective and Slaves perspective.  We didn't dally, but I did catch the end of the causes of the war video playing, and since we took a tangent on the trip, my blog will take one too.

The tail end said something along the lines that although the majority of soldiers on both sides primary motivation wasn't slavery, it is hard to imagine this war occurring without that 'Peculiar Insitution'

Thank you nameless actor/historian/narrator.

The most frustrating thing about my research, and I use that term loosely (If you can call reading Shelby Foote and Bruce Catton's anthologies research, than I have done research aplenty.) is the Lost Cause revisionist history.

The war was about slavery.  

Because preserving the Union was about slavery.  The South seceded because an Abolitionist President was elected.  Lincoln, at the time  was about as moderate of an abolitionist as you can get, but still an abolitionist.  Lincoln did not favor emancipation.  Lincoln favored stopping the expansion of slavery.  For slavery to work as an economic system, new slave territories needed to be opened, and blocking slave state expansion guaranteed that slavery dies on the vine.

States Rights was about slavery.  The supremacy of the state government over the federal government is so abstract that no average person really gives a rats ass.  But give a law maker that wedge, and they will use it.  And what was the issue the South used States Rights for?  Survey Says "SLAVERY!  Number one answer."

The war was about economics, but that too is directly related to slavery.  A strong case can be made that, as a region, the South resented the Northern States Ascendency. But their answer to that problem?  MOAR SLAVERY!  Shelby Foote lists Southern designs on Cuba and Mexico for Slavery expansion.

Or as Sean put it, if one side is fighting to free the slaves, and the other side opposes them and does not free the slaves, then the war is about slavery.

/end tangent.

So Tredegar was cool, but we saw too little of it.  Just got enough to make sure that if I ever go back to Richmond, I know I need to spend several hours there.

Mistake #6:  Yellow Tavern

Again, more of a choice.  Yellow Tavern was the culmination of Sheridan's first raid, and the big event is that J.E.B. Stuart was killed.

Sheridan convinced Grant that he could beat the hell out of Stuart if he would just let him.   So off on a raid he went.

A raid implies a darting fast thrust.  This did not happen this raid.

See Sheridan and Grant both had some good insight.  The goal was not Richmond.  Richmond is an important city, both politically as the CSA's capital and because of industry.  But capturing Richmond doesn't end the war.  Defeating the Army of Northern Virginia does.

Sheridan went out to pick a fight.  His troopers 'raided' at the walk not a trot or gallop.  His goal was to get the Reb cavalry into a place where they had to fight.  Yellow Tavern is on the outskirts of Richmond, and Stuart had to respect the threat.  Even if the Federals can't hold Richmond, a raid can still really mess things up.  So Stuart made a stand at Yellow Tavern and died there.  After defeating the Confederate cavalry, Sheridan returned to Union lines.  He didn't even try for Richmond, knowing he couldn't hold it.

Mistake #6:  Various wrong turns.  Ok this was to be expected.  But it really seemed to happen a lot on the way from Yellow Tavern to Cold Harbor.  We ended up skipping lunch.  We were both hungry, but its like 2:00 already, we meet Liz in 4 hours.  So fatigue and road map eyes really starts to set in.  I am looking for places to turn around lots.

Mistake #7:  Actually NOT A MISTAKE AT ALL, but I got a theme here, ya dig?  Battlefield at Cold Harbor.

The visitors center is actually really really cool.  The best on the battlefield trail for Grant's campaign.    They have an LED map, that lights up with Union and Confederate troop movements and shows the clashes with accompanying narration.

A quick recount of the battle.  Grant has once again moved southeast to Richmond.  He has some early success, takes encouragement and orders some more frontal assaults.  A frontal assault against a dug in position has the same results here as it did everywhere else on the campaign.  Grant lost 4,000 men in a matter of hours on June 3 1864, and around 10,000-15,000 for the entire engagement.  Lee lost 2500-5000 total.

Sean and I did the walking tour and neglected the auto tour.  Burning daylight after all.  

  Civil War trip.  No such thing as too many canons.

 

 More of the bridge over earth works.

 

and some more ditches.  These are the most impressive so far, they actually look like fortifications and not storm water drainage.

Mistake #8:  Eyes bigger than our stomachs.

Next stop, Grant's crossing sight.  MOAR wrong turns ensue

 

So that's the route now. 

We get to about here.   That's another 20 miles on back roads, and we have to double back anyways because there ain't no bridge.

Murph, wisely cuts this short.  We'll just cross the James, we don't have to go to the exact point for the sign.

It is however disappointing, because this is the moment of the Overland Campaign.  Grant has fooled Lee.  Lee doesn't have a clue where he is.  He thinks either Grant has withdrawn or he's making another short swing around to the southeast.  Cold Harbor is only 10 miles from Richmond after all.

More importantly, Grant sees the whole board.  The key to Richmond is the Army of Northern Virginia.  The vulnerability of the Army of Northern Virginia is supplies, and the supplies rely on the railroads.  If Grant can capture Petersburg, a junction of 5 railroads, Lee can't hold Richmond.

Mistake #9:  Also not a mistake.  We make it to Grant's HQ in Hopewell.  On the above map just north of the W in Hopewell is where he made his headquarters.

                                                 This is the actual cabin Grant had built to stay in.  It was moved to  Philly then moved back here for a restoration project.

                                                                                          Me and a Civil War Pose

Mistake #10:  Too many F@#$ing campaigns in Virginia.

Next Stop Fort Harrison

 

Fort Harrison is kind of on the way to Richmond so really kind of a minor one.  But it had only a passing relation to Grant's Overland Campaign.  The Overland Campaign was just one of 4 thrusts Grant planned.  He wanted simultaneous campaigns in the Shenandoah, against Atlanta, and up the James river here.  Unfortunately the James River campaign was commanded by General Butler, as incompetent Union commander as you can find.  Fort Harrison was one of the many places he was stymied.

So only 10 mistakes not 12 like I said.  These all added up to probably 3 or 4 hours lost time.  Time that we could have spent on the first part of Petersburg.  So a week removed, no longer a big deal.  The story is probably worth more than the experience of doing it without a hitch.  But I do have vivid memories that last Sunday was way too much windshield time and not nearly enough getting out and walking around time.

So we met Liz Chesterman in a closed K-Mart parking lot so we could all go to dinner together.  She took us to Hickory Notch in Oilville, or 20 miles west of Richmond.  Hickory Notch was DELICIOUS.  All's well that ends well, a good meal and a trip up I-95 back to F-Burg.

F@#$ North Anna. That is sincere and not just an amusing title

Where to start?

This may come out like a bitch-fest but I didn't start getting grouchy until about 3:30, after Sean and I finished the Cold Harbor hike.  We still had 5 hours ahead of us, so yeah not our best day.  We started snapping at each other.  Nothing that hurts feelings, just the kind of remarks that let both of us know that the day didn't go well.

There wasn't a single catastrophic mistake.  There were a dozen little ones that robbed us of a half hour here, an hour there.  Compounded together, those conspired/ensured that we didn't accomplish nearly as much on the day that we could have.  And you can't really even consider most of them mistakes (although I will label them as such).  They are more accurately portrayed as choices.

Mistake #1:  Not leaving till 9:00.  This one was more of a choice.  WE ARE ON VACATION.  We shouldn't need to worry about schedules.

Most of these are completely hindsight too.  But an hour less at the Best Western that morning would have really worked to our advantage.

Mistake #2:  The Scenic Route. 

The red circle is King's Dominion amusement park.  The directions for the North Anna battlefield marker actually start 5 miles north of here, but its a good landmark.  The blue scribble is our approximate path instead of I-95.

 This again is more of a choice, and not exactly wasted time.  The scenery is great and we stop for some Instagram Moments.


The first 3 are all at the same place.

 remind me to photoshop Murph out.

 I.
Don't.
Even.
Know.

 Grant slept near a church here for a night.  Got a really good stink eye from a lady pulling out of the parking lot.

So these are the signs I am constantly referencing and not posting pictures of.  Hopefully now you see why.





Mistake #3:

Not actually our mistake.  The interwebs lied to us.

So North Anna actually gets more than a sign, they get an exhibit.  NOT my photo.

and there's this cool website that lists a bunch of historical markers HMDB, and gives directions on how to find them.

Location. 37° 52.897′ N, 77° 29.947′ W. Marker is in Doswell, Virginia, in Hanover County. Marker can be reached from Doswell Road (Virginia Route 685), on the right when traveling west. Click for map. Marker is in the parking lot of North Anna Battlefield Park, near the trailhead. Marker is in this post office area: Doswell VA 23047, United States of America.

Clear as mud right?  Except that Doswell Road is Virginia 688.

 

685 is in the ballpark,

but clearly not Doswell Road.  We travel 688 back and forth, even going to the far side of I-95 without seeing the marker.  Then we look for 685, back over 688, find 685, drive that for 10 miles give up and turn around  back the way we came and headed back to Highway 1.  Four times on the same stretch of 688.  See that river marked by the red line?  Pretty sure that's the North Anna River, which we crossed 4 times.

Anyways battle of North Anna.  Grant split his forces across the river, and Lee had a chance to attack and defeat the larger army in detail.  Lee fell ill; varying sources describe wildly different maladies.  Anything from explosive diarrhea to a heart attack.  Doesn't matter, Lee's legacy has already been enshrined.  The important thing is that he was bedridden and unable to coordinate the attack and at this point had leadership problems with his corps commanders.  A.P. Hill was also sick.  Ewell was a disappointment, Longstreet was recovering from getting shot in the neck a month ago, and his replacement Gordon was too inexperienced.  By the time Lee recovered, Grant had consolidated the Army of the Potomac once again.

More Sunday mistakes to follow.

F@#$ The rest of Spotsylvania and Generica

So when I last finished off, Murph and I were finishing the Bloody Angle Hike.  This was actually stop #2 on the car tour.

Stop #1 was Upton's Attack.

 

Emory Upton was a young colonel who had a clever idea on how to assault the Confederate breastworks.  

Previously, during attacks, the Union would march up to within musket range and trade shots with the Confederates till one side had enough.  The battle lines were long and thin because you wanted the most coverage when you traded shots.  So digging these ditches was important.

Upton's idea was to limit the exposure of his brigade.  Instead of attacking on as broad of a front as he could, he narrowed his focus trying for a local break through.  He massed his men, and no one stopped and fired during the assault until the Yanks got into the Reb earthworks.   The problem with a local attack, is that its vulnerable to a counter attack.  You can take the position but you can't hold it.

This was thought of, and a division was assigned to 'support' this attack.  Support in this context means if/when Upton's brigade met his objective, the support division is supposed to march up and help.  Support him if you will.  Tactical labels aren't named to fool you.

The support division formed up in range of the Confederate canon telegraphing their intentions.  Of course this drew fire.  This drew so much fire that the new division was forced to retreat.  Upton's attack failed, but it was a close thing.

So a couple pics from the  Upton sign

Grant's persona was generally optimistic.  He didn't really need a whole lot of encouragement to keep up a fight.  He's known to have said on Upton's assault (paraphrased) "A brigade today?  A whole corps tomorrow"  (read 15,000 men instead of 1,500).  Grant actually delayed a day, wanting some extra time to properly prepare for this fight.

Lee took that delay, and some other reports to mean that Grant was about to move again, probably withdrawing.  It wasn't an awful assumption; Grant and Lee had clashed for a week this point, 2 days in The Wilderness and 5 days at Spotsylvania  Courthouse.  And Lee had gotten the better of Grant both times.  He withdrew his canon from the salient in preparation of moving to meet Grant again.


It was however a mistaken assumption.  This assault succeeded beyond the imaginations of the Union generals, and by the time they organized reinforcements, the Confederate's had regained their balance.  This started a 20 hour engagement.

Those of you have seen me in real life since I returned, you know that I have not stopped whining about a 16 hour train ride.  A train ride, where I did nothing more strenuous and stressful then sitting in an airline chair next to a pretty girl with a pierced tongue (totally out of range based on the half plus 7 rule).  I've led an easy life, and this battle is so outside my comprehension I can't even imagine it.

 Long story short, Lee rallied his troops and the counter attacks bought him enough time to build new entrenchments more aligned with his main battle lines.  Here's some pictures from stop #3 the east salient, which is where the Union massed for this attack.
 

So couple more spots on the car tour.

Heth's Salient faced attack after the Bloody Angle several days later.  No worthy pictures taken here.  This part of the park is a road and trees.

Fredericksburg Road was the route Grant used to redeploy to the southeast.

So Spotsyvania Courthouse off our list.  Sean and I head back up the road to Todd's Tavern.

This was an important moment in Grant's Overland campaign.  Chronologically for Grant it happens before the battle I just devoted this blog post too, but current time frame for Car Ramrod.

Marching down Brock Road, the Army of the Potomac KNOWS that they are going to turn left here.  It's been that pattern for 2 years.  Some general tries an attack, gets beat, then limps back to their proper side of the Rapidan.  Except they didn't turn left towards retreat.  They kept on going. 

The sight of this intersection is known as Todd's Tavern.

Jury is still out but this is an early contender for best snap shot I took.

So now, a babbling rant on Generica.

Sean wanted a car charger from Best Buy, so we headed towards Central Park, Fredericksburg

So I get Generica.  I've shopped at most of these places myself.  But this place was over the top.  This strip mall was as big as the Fredericksburg downtown, which we spent some time in, and we got lost in a strip mall TWICE, once looking for Best Buy and once looking for Target.  The point is, that I didn't travel 800 miles east to eat at Ruby Tuesday's.  And that's difficult to do at a lot of destinations.  Fortunately, Fredericksburg has a great downtown.  So Saturday night we ate at FoodE'

It's a neat place.  They serve meals with 'fresh' food, no long term storage.  So when they run out of something, that's it for the night.  Their menu had all but 2 entree's crossed out.  They had one pork chop left and some vegetarian dish.

Not a big deal.  I can't eat the pork chop after giving the finger to low sodium this afternoon at the Courthouse Cafe, so I get the chef salad.  Murph doesn't like pork chops so gets grilled cheese.  The salad was among the best I ever had.  Thanks FoodE'!

So anyways, end of Car Ramrod's day 1.