Yet Another Great Preservation Opportunity

It has been a busy year for the Civil War Preservation Trust. On the docket are Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Appomattox, and now Malvern Hill. North Carolina Troops were heavily engaged at Malvern Hill, and suffered terrible casualties in the process. North Carolina native and Major General D.H. Hill said of the assault against McClellan's heavily fortified line, "It was not war, it was murder." Once again, please join the Civil War Preservation Trust. They do an excellent job at preserving the land that these men fought over. Here is the link to the Malvern Hill opportunity:  http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/malvernhill/malvern-hill-2009/

Next Weekend

Next weekend I am going to make a much anticipated visit to Fort Anderson in old Brunswick Town, N.C. I have lived in North Carolina my entire life and there are still so many historic places I have never been, and this is one of them. My great-great grandfather was at the Battle of Fort Anderson, February 18, 1865. After the fall of Fort Fisher, Fort Anderson, located on the Cape Fear River, was one of the last defensive positions protecting Wilmington. Find out more here: http://www.nchistoricsites.org/brunswic/brunswic.htm

Early Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?

This is from a collection of letters in the N.C. Archives, written by J.F. Shaffner, Surgeon of the 4th N.C.T. His fiance's cousin Alf had been wounded severely in the arm and was home on furlough. Date is September 13th, 1864.

I had a letter from your cousin Alf a few days ago, answered it yesterday. He complains of having occasional “restless spells”, and proposes a visit to the Army is palliative. 

I wonder if his spells of restlessness were because he could'nt adjust back to civilian life, or even being away from the army. Alf's thinking that a visit to the army would help maybe verifies this. Or he possibly had that feeling that is read about in personal accounts of World War 2 soldiers, the feeling of not wanting to be away from buddies, not letting them down, etc. Anyway I thought it was interesting. "Restless spells", possible PTSD?

Happy Veterans Day

Whether you agree with any war, which, other than two, I don't, we should still honor the men who fought and died for whatever cause they believed. They saw things that will stick with them forever, good and bad. So here's to my:
Dad
Chief Petty Officer, USN
Vietnam

Grandpa
Cpl. 141st Military Police Co., US Army
WWII

Great-Great Grandfather
Company F, 3rd North Carolina Artillery (40th State Troops)
1863-1865

And to all the 30+ relatives of mine who fought during the "Late Unpleasantness". Thank you.

Great Preservation Opportunity

There is a great preservation opportunity afloat to purchase some core battlefield acreage at Chancellorsville. Also, with the unfortunate arrival of yet another Wal-Mart in the Wilderness, Fredericksburg area, some acreage is available along Rte. 3 that appears to me to be a nice little buffer against future development on said highway.
 http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/chancellorsville/chancellorsville-2009/