The Voyage

First, sorry I'm a pain in the ass. 

Second, happy July 10th!  I hope you have a coffee and are reading this in bed or at least on the couch.  Since the last update I've gone from 205.2LBS to a more manageable 192.5.  Ninety days to make up the last 17.5LBS.  Not bad.  

I know, I know, I know.  We've done this.  Multiple times and multiple routes, what other stories are there to tell.  I'm not going to lie, I struggled with this one a lot.  Ultimately, I thought I'd go back in time to civil war times.  

First off, the Canadian leg of the trip, from Tottenham to the Queenston Lewiston Bridge in Buffalo.  Buffalo was one of the major crossings for the Underground Railroad.  There are estimated to be between 30 and 40 thousands refugees who crossed into Canada via the Underground Railroad.  The railroad actually ended in Owen Sound and I've been to the museum there.  Sad but cool.  

Our objective is to leave home at 6:30 PM on Thursday October 7th.  

First stop in the US, at approximately 9pm October 7th will be Buffalo New York, of course. This was the home town of General Daniel Bidwell who fought for the Union army and was subsequently killed in the battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia.  Cedar Creek is barely a speck on a map these days, however it was the bloodiest battle in the Shenandoah Valley.  It saw 5,700 Union and 2,900 Confederate soldiers killed.  We won't go through Cedar Creek on our trip, the closest we get is when we're in Morgantown West Virginia which is two and a half hours away. 

Next major stop on the list is Erie Pennsylvania.  We'll be arriving there at about 10:45 PM on the 7th.  Now you might not think a town that borders Canada would have much to say about the Civil War. But you'd be wrong.  First you have to remember that the British were friendly with the Confederates because they were still smarting from the War of Independence.  Any opportunity to make things difficult for this fledgling smart ass country that beat the vaunted British military was good news for the Brits.  There was intelligence that the Rebs were going to attack Erie by coming through Canada.  Because of that, the Secretary of War notified Erie that "a plot is a foot by persons hostile to the Untied States, who found asylum in Canada, to invade the United States."  Because of this, Federal troops were stationed in Erie to defend against a battle that never happened.  Of note, the US hasn't had a Secretary of War since 1947.  Also there's been no year since 1947 that the US hasn't been at war.  Weird.    

At about 12:45 AM on the 8th, we will have our final significant stop in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh.  Then, as now, Pittsburgh was a huge iron and steel producer which made it a critical city for making raw materials for weapons and ammunition.  The Rebels were well aware of the importance of Pittsburgh and planned to invade and take it over.  Confederate General John Hunt Morgan led a brigade through Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio before venturing into Pennsylvania.  He got within one days march of Pittsburgh before finally being repelled by Federal troops.  Disaster averted.    

And now we head to the real South.  At around 2 AM on Friday the 8th of October, our first stop will be Morgantown West Virginia.  Despite being in the South, West Virginia is the only state to declare independence from the Confederacy and join the Union.  Morgantown WV was named as the capital from 1861 to 1863.  It may have been the capital because the "Father of West Virginia" Francis H. Peirpont was in hiding there or there could have been a less cowardly reason.  Hard to say. 

Next up in West Virginia at about 4 AM on the 8th, is Summersville which is the site of the Battle of Carnifex Ferry.  The name of the battle is taken from a family name of one of the settlers of Summersville.  There were 5000 Union and 2000 Rebel troops at this battle and it was one of the lesser bloody battles of the War.  Despite the number of soldiers, there were only 17 killed and 170 wounded.  This battle barely ranks as a skirmish.     

Our last stop in West Virginia at approximately 5:30 AM on the 8th will be the town of Beckley.  This is during that stretch of road that has all the stop lights and fast food & gas places.  We always get gas in this area.  It's about 30 miles long and is the connection between HWY 79 and HWY 64 that bypasses Charleston. The town got it's name from it's founding father Alfred Beckley.  Alfred was a General in the Virginia militia during the Civil War and was one of 18,000 West Virginians to join the Confederacy.  An estimated 32,000 West Virginians joined the Union, so this state was quite literally brother against brother.  His wife was the daughter of the editor of the Pittsburgh Gazette which was decidedly Union, so these must have been excruciatingly difficult decisions.  Anyway, this West Point graduate died at the ripe old age of 86.

And now we venture into our first truly Confederate state, Virginia.  Virginia is the home of many famous soldiers (and Stephen Colbert), not the least of which was General Lee.   However at about 6:45 AM we'll hit the town of Wytheville Virginia.  Wytheville was the site of a minor battle called, wait for it, The Battle of Wytheville.  True story.  The Union Brigade had only 800 men and the Confederates only 250.  Still the battle ensued and saw 11 Union and 75 Rebels perish in the fighting.  With the quick take over of Wytheville the Union was able to wrestle away control of the railway to Tennessee and was instrumental in helping starve the Rebel army.  You'd think the Confederacy would have defended this town with more troops.    

And now our only stop in North Carolina which I've chosen as Statesville rather than the larger city of Charlotte.  We'll get to Statesville at approximately 8:15 AM on the 8th.  So this one is kind of sad and interesting.  General Stoneman of the Union army sent a message to Washington that he had, "destroyed more than 10,000 stands of small arms, 10,000 rounds of artillery shot, 70,000 pounds of powder, 100,000 uniforms, 160,000 pounds of bacon, 20,000 pounds of harness leather, 10,000 pounds of saltpeter, 35,000 bushels of corn, 50,000 bushels of wheat, $100,000 worth of medical supplies, four large cotton factories, and the hated prison itself."  While this might all be 'okay' during a war, the bad part is that he did this AFTER Lee surrendered to General Grant.   Dick move.  

It's not much of a drive to Rock Hill South Carolina which we'll hit at about 9:15 on Friday the 8th.  Rock Hill was a major depot on the Charlotte NC and South Carolina railway lines.  This was critical for transfering troops.  Because of that, people needed to be clothed and fed so this southern hub became the site of numerous cotton mills and food terminals.  Surprisingly there were no significant battles in the area but Rockhill has remained a textile hub in the south in addition to playing a large role in motorized transportation.  Neat, eh?

A little over an hour later at 10:15ish we'll be rolling past Columbia South Carolina.  Columbia, not Colombia.  Anyway, at the time of the Civil War, Columbia was the largest inland city in either of the Carolinas.  It was the site of one of the largest POW camps during the war.  Interestingly, there was no security at the camp.  It was outlined by planks of wood laying on the ground.  Strange strategy.  The American shame here is that Union General Sherman ordered Columbia burned to the ground during the Union occupation.  However, the city was resilient and bounced back.  Today it has a population of 135,000.

An hour and a half later at around 11:45 AM we'll be hitting Walterboro which is our last South Carolina stop.  This was the site of the battle of Broxton Bridge.  I can't find much about the importance of this battle and it seems kind of minor.  There were 5000 Union and 1200 Confederate troops.  There were 222 total casualties in this battle and there were no Generals or soldiers of note in this battle.  However, and I find this interesting, there has be 156 re-enactments of this battle in Walterboro.  The south takes this shit pretty seriously.  

We moved from South Carolina to Georgia now and we pass Savannah at about 12:45 PM on the 8th.  Savannah has a rich history in the Civil War.  At the heart of the city was Fort Pulaski which was declared to be impenetrable.   Of course, nothing is impenetrable and Pulaski eventually fell in 1862.  Savannah was part of  what became known as "Sherman's March To The Sea" which left a trail of devastation in it's wake.  City's were ravaged or burned en route with the one exception being Savannah which was said to be a "gift" from Sherman to Lincoln.  Savannah these days is thought of as a metropolitan city, but it's population is under 150,000. 

It's only two hours later at approximately 2:45 that we hit the first city of our last state.  It's then that we go through the largest city in Florida, Jacksonville.  So there's two things that I never think of when I think of the Civil War.  Number 1 is the state of Florida having any involvement.  Number 2 is the Navy being any kind of factor in the war.  Well it turns out that Jacksonville was the southern hub for hogs and cattle which was how they got meat to the soldiers.  It also turns out that for the duration of the war, the US Navy had a blockade on Jacksonville's ports so that they had to move all the meat by land which was long and labour intensive.  Eventually, the Navy overtook the Jacksonville batteries and landed there.  Union troops, securing a southern stronghold, were now able to attack inland at Olustee as well as forcing the Rebels to defend their bases for a potential southern attack.  Cool. 

About two hours later at 4:45 we'll roll into Seralago.  Kissimmee has no Civil War history.  And so ends the tale. 

Love you baby. xoxoxo