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Mundane

As I think I’ve mentioned before, I read almost exclusively non-fiction books.  I also tend to read slowly because I like to “fill in the blanks” as I’m reading.  I’ll look up locations on Google Earth.  I look up people and events to fill in the details.  It’s more of a study than a read. 

Currently I’m reading Lee’s Lieutenants by Douglas Southall Freeman.  I’m just wrapping up volume 2 and moving into volume 3.  At the end of volume 2 is the battle of Chancellorsville and the death of General Jackson.  As is my habit, I have spent some time combing through the battlefield online.  Here’s where Jackson was shot by his own troops:

Doesn’t it seem so mundane?  How many people drive past that spot of woods and never know what happened there?  For that matter, thousands of men bled and died in the woods around there.  Now it’s just a road and a clump of trees.  Huh.

Posted by Owen at 2024 hrs
Culture

1. I’ve walked a few of those overgrown battlefields, and they are awesome places to put things in perspective.  I’ve climbed hills that turned out to be earthworks that are still in place 145 years later.  Over battlefields, where you could actually see your enemy, and weren’t just lobbing bombs from 25 miles away. 

   And there is no more holy ground than the unmarked broken cement crosses that litter some of those battlefields.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 21, 2010 at 1552 hrs
   
   
   

2. The house that Jackson died in is nearby. It’s a neat place to visit for Civil War buffs. Still has most of the original furnishings.

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on February 21, 2010 at 2000 hrs
   
   
   

3. And don’t forget The Burial Site Of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson’s Left Arm

   Posted by Tom McMahon on February 21, 2010 at 2141 hrs
   
   
   

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