Appomattox, Virginia – Where our Nation Reunited
Sunday April 15, 2018
As a Civil War history person I have always been fascinated with how the war played out on so many fronts throughout the South. There were different campaigns with General Sherman’s “March to the Sea” from Chattanooga to Savannah including the Battle of Atlanta where I searched out the different markers or monuments in my youth learning their history then going to the old Cyclorama then in Grant Park to see where different battles were fought then going out in the city to explore the area depicted in the diorama inside the Cyclorama. The battles of Kennesaw Mountain and Peachtree Creek were my favorites but the story of “The lone confederate soldier” in the Battle of Stone Mountain still gives me great laughs. (Lewis Grizzard – look it up on YouTube).
Arriving in the general area of Appomattox, Virginia you can start to sense the history there. The many open rolling hill fields where battles were fought give the impression of horses, cannons, and troops from both sides being in these fields. The actual site of the Appomattox Courthouse was a mini-village with a handful of houses scattered about the grounds. There was a small general store, lawyer’s office and a tavern making it the county seat. General Grant took made his headquarters to the west about a mile up the road next to a stand of trees.
General Robert E. Lee’s surrender bringing an end to the Civil War on April 9, 1865 including his Farewell Address, also known as General Order No. 9 to his Army of Northern Virginia. The day after he surrendered the Confederate army to Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Lee's surrender was instrumental in bringing about the end of the American Civil War. The text of the order, which were written and drafted by Col. Charles Marshall, edited and finalized by Lee, was issued as follows:
Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia, 10th April 1865.
My friend Terry Edwards recites this speech in the band Cullowhee’s song American Trilogy, a touching and moving piece of American history.
General Order No. 9
“After four years of arduous service marked by unsurpassed courage and fortitude, the Army of Northern Virginia has been compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources.
I need not tell the survivors of so many hard fought battles, who have remained steadfast to the last, that I have consented to the result from no distrust of them.
But feeling that valor and devotion could accomplish nothing that could compensate for the loss that must have attended the continuance of the contest, I have determined to avoid the useless sacrifice of those whose past services have endeared them to their countrymen.
By the terms of the agreement, officers and men can return to their homes and remain until exchanged. You will take with you the satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of duty faithfully performed, and I earnestly pray that a merciful God will extend to you his blessing and protection.
With an unceasing admiration of your constancy and devotion to your Country, and a grateful remembrance of your kind and generous consideration for myself, I bid you an affectionate farewell.” — R. E. Lee, General, General Order No. 9
Skyline Drive – Shenandoah Valley
I am sitting on a mountaintop in Big Meadows campground tonight as a squall line of thunderstorms roll through towards the coast. This is a no hookup facility so all I have is the battery power in my laptop and a flashlight to write by. Almost like the olden times. Driving up the Skyline Drive I would like to say it’s really pretty with many overlooks and stopping points to look off the mountain to either the east or west but about a mile from the southern entrance the road climbed into the clouds and fog so there was no distant vistas to see or standing in awe to look over and see.
It was a pretty drive like driving through an enchanted forest as there were ghost trees on either side with their branches and limps hanging over the roadway. Visibility was down to just several car lengths as the road made its way up, down, and around the mountaintops. The fog rolled in over the trees and through the gaps alongside the road racing their way down and vanishing in the mist.
Coming around one curve there was a single red brake light which we discovered was a motorcyclist slowly making his way through the fog on the curvy road. He was hugging the center-line and wiping his visor every thirty seconds or so trying to maintain his lane in the roadway. We followed at a distance till there was a passing area and cautiously made our way around him in the fog.
Skyline Drive is the only public road through the Shenandoah National Park, the only national park in Virginia. The road has a north/south direction and is 105 miles long that stretches from Front Royal on the north end to the Waynesboro-Charlottesville area at the southern termination. It takes about three hours to travel the entire length of the park on a clear day but with the many overlooks and stopping places I would plan for it to take a little longer. The maximum speed limit is 35 mph. There are deer, black bear, wild turkey, and a host of other wildlife that call Shenandoah home and regularly cross Skyline Drive. Watch carefully for these animals, which may dart across your path without warning. They were at the edges of the roadway and did not move as the RV drove past. They were usually in groups of two to four every mile or so until we pulled into the campground since it was almost sundown and in their feeding time.
Mileposts along the side of the road help you find your way through the park and help you locate areas of interest. The mileposts begin with 0.0 at Front Royal and continue to 105 at the southern end of the park. These were harder to see than the Blue Ridge Parkway markers so you had to pay attention to not miss them if you needed them.
There are 75 overlooks that offer stunning views of the Shenandoah Valley to the west and the rolling Piedmont to the east. Wildflowers put on a show all year long - in early spring, look for trillium peeking through the grass. June’s display of azaleas is spectacular. Cardinal flowers, black-eyed Susan’s, and goldenrod keep the color vibrant right into fall, when the leaves begin to change and put on their own fall foliage show.
It was a shame that you couldn’t see anything off the mountainside with the fog but after this front passes and the thunderstorm/tornado warnings are over hopefully the road north tomorrow will be a little more scenic.
Traveling Life’s Highways in northern Virginia, a wet stormy goodnight before my battery runs out. Goodnight all, I hope it is a wonderful evening for you! I plan to listen to the sounds of popping corn on the roof of the motor home during this rain.
Monday morning, 4-16-18 – 7:30 am
I got my wish to hear the rain on the roof of the camper as it rolled in strong about sunset but did not gain its full fury until later in the night. The park ranger knocked on the door just after midnight to alert us there were tornado warnings for this area and the bathroom was the best shelter. The weather turned pretty nasty for the next several hours as the rain pelted the camper, lighting flashed and the sound of thunder could be heard. Luckily it was in the distance as the sound was at least eight to ten seconds after the flash of lightning.
The rain continued to four in the morning or so and now a slight foggy mist covers the campground. The tent campers must have had a pretty miserable night as one close to us moved their tent up by the restrooms while others bailed out of the tent and back into their car.
There is no cell service here and my laptop battery is almost dead so that is the update until later.
Brennen’s Campground, Pennsylvania – 10:07 pm
The drive finishing the upper half of the Skyline Drive was a crazy mixture of snow, fog, and some rain. Mainly it was light snow along the crest of the Blue Ridge and quit when we drove off the parkway in Front Royal, Virginia. As the drive over the many foothills in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania were beginning to wear me down it was punctuated with the hills filled with wind generators spinning away in the blustery afternoon. It was hard to maintain your driving lane with tractor-trailer trucks speeding past with both of us trying to maintain our lanes in the howling winds.
As we drove down the winding road leading to campground the ice/snow pellets were starting to fall once again. Started the day snowing and will end it the same way. What a contrast these last 48 hours from the pleasant heat around 75 degrees to the rainfall, the winds and tornado watch, waking up to it snowing, and then driving in the snow/fog on the mountaintops.
Drove through the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania today, one does not think of Maryland stretching across west to West Virginia and was surprised to discover that. One typically thinks of Maryland along the Chesapeake coast or around the Washington DC area not the foothills around West Virginia.
Anxiously awaiting new discoveries tomorrow; from rural Pennsylvania, Goodnight.