Day 109 -- Civil War History and Tennessee reunion with Watts

This morning we got up with plans to do some exploring of Civil War history and found ourselves going to the Stone River Battlefield in Murphreesboro not very far from our hotel.  In fact, the original battlefield would have included where our hotel is located as well as a huge mall, a hospital and other commercial things.  This battlefield saw such fierce fighting for 3 days that it was the largest number of casualties for the Union in the entire Civil War and the 2nd larges number of casualties for the South excepting Gettysburg.  The North ended up victorious and probably swung the final advantage to the North in winning the war and keeping the nation together.  At the National Battlefield visitor's center, we bought a CD that gave an audio tour of the battlefield and we were able to drive through it getting the history and quotes from first-hand journals of some soldiers to the fighting which took place.  It was a very sobering thing to listen to.  We stopped at each point on the CD and we all got out at several of them to walk the area to see what the soldiers faced in the form of rough granite strewn landscape dense with forest and the open places that became the "slaughter pens" as the Yankees from the Chicago group called it based on their knowledge of the slaughter pens in the Chicago meat packing area.  A large National Cemetery for the Yankees was across from the battlefield and a sobering reminder of the price paid to save the union of the US.  Of course, the South fiercely believed in their side's right as well and suffered huge casualties themselves.  Your nation is founded on blood from the Revolution to today's war in the Middle East.  What a humbling realization for civilians.

Bible found on the battlefield

Artillery

Rough footing of granite outcroppings which charging soldiers tripped over

Thickness of the woods

Small part of cemetery for the Northern dead

Memorial

One of many verses posted in the cemetery

National Battlefield Cemetery

After the visit to the Battlefield, we headed to Nashville to meet up with the Watts at their hotel to visit and then have dinner while Avis and Harry went to Sparta to visit Harry's cousin who lives there.  I watched the kids swim while Bill took a nap and then we all congregated in the lobby and had a great visit before having dinner in their hotel.  Great day looking forward the the big eclipse tomorrow and knowing we will always all have this in common.