Remembering Our Soldiers

Text from the Texas monument in Vicksburg, Mississippi

Texas remembers the valor and devotion of her sons who served at Vicksburg and in other theaters of the War Between the States. "For those men believed in something. They counted life a light thing to lay down in the faith they bore. They were terrible in battle. They were generous in victory. They rose up from defeat to fight again, and while they lived they were formidable... the heritage they left, of valor and devotion, is treasured by a united country."
-John W. Thomason, Jr.

The Sealing of the Breach

At this location the lines of the Confederacy were broken and the Texans were called in to seal the breach. They not only accomplished their mission but captured a number of the enemy and seized their standards.

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Text from the Texas monument at the Chickamauga Battlefield, Georgia

Texas remembers the valor and devotion of her sons who served at Chickamauga

September 19-20, 1863

Here in the great Confederate breakthrough Texans vied with each other to prove themselves worthy of the fame won by their brothers on other fields.

The Vine that Ate the South

Nearly Everywhere

It's green. It's big. It's hungry. What is it? Kudzu. According to Internet research I've done, the vine often grows at a rate of a foot a day. As we traveled throughout the southern states, we saw it quite frequently by the side of the highway—a green blanket covering everything, trees, telephone poles, you name it. It's not a native species, in fact it originated in Japan and China. So how did it get here?

It all started at the U.S. Centennial Exposition in 1876, when Japan had a display including kudzu. From there the vine became quite popular, promoted as a forage crop and also for ornamental purposes. The Civilian Conservation Corps even planted it, and was considered a good cover plant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

However, years later, people finally realized that this amazing vine was actually taking over! It grew everywhere, and it wasn't until 1953 that it was recognized as a pest weed. Today they are trying to contain the boundless vine, and although we didn't see them there, I have heard that they are using goats to eat the kudzu foliage in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Sometimes it's said that southerners close their windows at night to keep the kudzu from growing in, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's true in some places. Other names for kudzu include "mile-a-minute vine," "foot-a-night vine", and my sister's favorite, "the vine that ate the south." It is certainly an unsightly plant, and hopefully something will be discovered soon that will remedy this problem.

After reading about this terrifying plant, aren't you glad it hasn't gotten to Texas yet? I was until I read this webpage.

For more information about kudzu, look at The Amazing Story of Kudzu.

Across the Smokies

Tennessee & North Carolina

The day was fairly sunny in eastern Tennessee as we drove towards the Smoky Mountains, part of the Appalachian range. The great peaks loomed ahead of us, columns of mist rising from their slopes, as if many bonfires were raging there.

‘Twas from this that the mountains received their name, and it became no wonder to us as we entered the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Upon entering the park, we took Laurel Creek Road, which, as we figured, would take us straight to the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Although not as straight a shot as we expected, the winding road finally brought us there. In that area of the park, the mountains were not apparent since we were not yet in them, but the scenery was fantastic. One thing that never ceases to amaze us Texans is the size of the trees back east. They tower over you! You really have to put your head way back to see the top! And the trees here were no exception.

Besides the trees, there was also the roaring creek which the road followed. The water continuously rushed over the rocky stream bed, and many a family was fishing or playing in the water. We were content to watch as we drove by, since we were hoping to get to our campsite before dark to set up the tent.

Having visited the visitor center and procured a map, we set out on Newfound Gap Road. If you look at a map of the park, you will see that the national park is situated on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, and includes a good portion of both these states. Our campsite was located on the North Carolina side of the mountains, so we took this road, the only one which crosses the highest ridge of the mountains.

As we traveled in a south-easterly direction, we could tell we were getting higher in elevation, and every once in a while there would be an overlook where you could look out at the mountains. Also as we ascended, it was clear that it was getting more and more foggy. As we neared the top, there were even more overlooks, some of which we stopped at to take pictures.

By the time we reached the top, we were in the middle of a cloud. We could hardly see anything out the car windows, but finally I spotted the sign by the road—“North Carolina State Line”. We were finally in North Carolina! I had never been to this state before, but now I was in it.

From that point we were going downhill, with the road as windy as ever. At one point we were astonished to see a yellow diamond-shaped sign depicting a loopty-loop, roughly the shape of the path commonly traveled by a roller coaster. We then found the sign had not deceived us—soon thereafter the road turned a full circle, and we went through a tunnel going under the point in the road where the curve began! I had never seen the like before.

At length we finally arrived to our campsite—Smokemont—and set up our tent. Even there it was misty, causing a very interesting effect—I do not know how to describe it. The Oconaluftee River roared not far off, and although everything was very wet, the temperature was moderate.

We had, for the first time, crossed the Appalachians into one of the original thirteen states—North Carolina, where the Bruces lived back in the 1700’s.

         View more photos from the Great Smoky Mountains

The Battle Above the Clouds

Chattanooga, Tennessee

High atop Lookout Mountain overlooking the Tennessee River and the city of Chattanooga is the Lookout Mountain Battlefield, part of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park. It was here that the Battle of Chattanooga was fought, a fierce battle of the War Between the States. After the Union army was defeated at Chickamauga (in northern Georgia), they fled to Chattanooga. However, the Confederate General Braxton Bragg soon came after them, setting a siege on the city and stationing his men on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.

Although the siege was successful at first, the Union army came out of the city to fight against the Confederates, both on the mountain and the ridge. During the battle on Lookout Mountain, the mountain was shrouded in fog, from which the name "The Battle Above the Clouds" was derived. Sadly, when the battles were over, the Union forces had won, and Chattanooga was in Northern hands.

At the Lookout Mountain Battlefield today, there is a place called Point Park, which has a large monument in the center and great views of the valley below and of Chattanooga. While we were there, we were privileged to listen to a park ranger, who told the story of the Battle of Chattanooga very vividly. After seeing Point Park, we went across the street to the Visitors Center, where we found not only many books and other interesting things concerning the War, but also a great mural.

This painting, which is 33 feet long and 13 feet high, is extremely detailed, and shows in color a part of the battle with many mounted Union soldiers, with Major General Joseph Hooker in the center, and in the background you can see the foggy slopes of Lookout Mountain. While many paintings of battles such as this were made by people who lived many years later, this one was truly authentic, painted by James Walker, a Northern artist born in England.

As we listened to the audio program while gazing upon the huge canvas, we learned that the painting was done by an eyewitness who saw first-hand the battle which he later depicted. Furthermore, when commissioned to paint it by the aforementioned General Hooker, he went back to the battlefield to take photographs of the landscape and remind himself of the setting in which the battle took place.

I thought this painting was very interesting, and although I was able to find a picture of this painting on the internet, you must see it for yourself to truly appreciate the brilliant color and detail of this historically accurate work of art.

         View more photos from Point Park

I Have Returned

Or as I might say in the language which I am fond of using, ¡He vuelto! Yesterday we arrived home from our two-thousand mile trip in which we went through nine states and as far east as North Carolina. I had never seen four of the states we visited (North & South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana), and it was truly a southern vacation. I guess the only southern states we missed were Virginia and Florida, which I would certainly like to visit someday.

Although the final destination of our journey was Flat Rock, North Carolina, we took our time getting there and getting back, and saw a great many interesting places along the way. We were going to Roundhouse, a family encampment for homeschoolers who are members of the church. Although we had long known of the event, until now we had not been able to go. However, this year we decided to make the journey east, in order to meet some like-minded folks and see what it was like.

The whole trip was both fun and interesting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As we traveled, things kept popping into my head that would make good topics for blog posts, so now that I’m home, I’m going to try something new. Every week, beginning Friday, I will have a new blog post about something interesting I encountered on our trip east. I have a list of thirteen things to write about (thirteen is a lucky number, at least for me), and I’ll try to do it every week. I will also be sharing some pictures from the trip. So check back often! I hope you like it. And by the way, how do you like the new blog color?

An activity

You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but here it is: From my description of the places we went, which nine states did we go through? Here’s a hint: the number includes the state where I live, and it might help to look at a map of the Confederate States of America. Add a comment if you can figure it out!