Battle of Perryville

Deep breath, and then a sigh. I have been so busy lately with so much stuff. I have now been working with the Historical Society for 2 years now. And I have been volunteering weekly and enjoy it more than I probably should. A lady that came in the museum the other day said something as I was telling her about what we had we started talking and she said, "I don't know if I want to look around or sit and talk to you." That was a great compliment for a person who likes to tell stories about this place that I grew up. Another lady I met one day wrote a book about Dunedin and the Fenway Hotel. It was a very slow day at the museum but as soon as she said she was published I was fascinated by every word she said. She was so nice once I told her of my interest in writing she asked me to join her writing group.

 This bunch of ladies are so smart. They all have experience I don't as far as writing. To me writing is me and a piece of paper and pen or a blank screen and a keyboard. My brain barely engaged. My fingers know what to type sometimes when I have no idea what I need to say. So this group of ladies has not only inspired me to work on getting something I have written published but in the back of my head I have always wanted to get my Aunt Jan's manuscript published. It is about the Civil War.

She wrote about being a soldier and my great-great-great grandfather's part in the war. Speaking of battles and brigades and things I remember her researching when I was a kid. After travelling to Perryville, Kentucky she came home with a civil war button and a bullet for each of my brother and sisters.

The last couple weeks I started typing word for word her words. Matching her comma for comma. I had never sat down and read the whole thing until I finished last night. And as I got to the end I wondered how she would end it. I mean the battle that in that day was known to be one of the bloodiest battles the shear number of men lost just made me stop when you say 54,000 Union soldiers.Over 4,000 left on the battlefield is just so many people. For a comparison in 1860 in Louisville, Kentucky which is where my relative was from the population was only 100,000. Then I think about Bardstown Road probably the path they took marching from Louisville to Bardstown and then to Perryville. Well thanks to Google I know that walking that far would take about 24 hours. Now imagine being thirsty because they were short of water and the water they had was contaminated. It is October and probably cool at night again Google says 45 for a low and 68 for a high.

 About 14 years ago Brian and I went to a re-enactment there at Perryville. The battlefield is now a park. There was a house that was still standing at that time that had been used by a doctor to try to help the injured. While we were there that day they had what they called a ghost walk in the evening it was like walking through a cemetery and having the ghosts stop and tell you how it was for him. They read letters that were written from the battlefield and told accounts of the battle. Then there is a part of me that was there that day. Edmond didn't know that over a hundred years later someone would write about him. Or that I would travel to the place one day. Or that I would come back years later with two more generations of his descendants. He didn't know any of that back then. I am not even sure why he was there. He had only been here in the US less than 10 years. Was he just trying to make money or did he believe in the cause or did he not want to deal with the death of his wife and his two small daughters at home. Whichever way it was for Edmond. I know it seems strange but I know some bit of me was there. Even though these are not places that I have ever lived I have visited many times in my life that somehow I am connected to that place. My mother's side of the family lived in Louisville since before the Civil War until 1962 when her family moved to Florida.

As usual I got a little off but someday 100 years from now one of my great great nieces or nephews may read these words and know that some part of them was here with me tonight. There is a part of my heart that is old as the sun and the moon. And it is in that old soul that I connect with things most don't.

My aunt ended with a short family tree and some of the documents from Edmond's time as a Union soldier. So I am getting closer to my goal of getting it published. I need to scan her images, maps and documents then I am going to try to send an excerpt to a publisher. I know when I do Edmond and Jan will be there. Wish them luck.

Lets tie it up and put a bow on the Family Vacation

 So we have completed the family trip to Kentucky. It was everything a family vacation should be. Long, Tiring, Fun and a success.

Mom got to show the kids all her favorite places in Kentucky. The kids got to find a place they would like to visit again. Maybe even bring their own kids back as Emily said.



We headed out on Friday. Got a great start. Stopped in Macon. Had a great barbecue dinner in a place that played country music older than me.

 

Al and Paul Tennessee Valley RR

Saturday we drove into Chattanooga, TN. Drove through a tunnel. Rode a railroad through another tunnel twice and learned all about steam trains and the city of Chattanooga in the Civil War. Down by the river is an open area that has a small version of the Tennessee river for you to walk across the stepping stones and soak your feet. Sit in the shade. Enjoy the flowers and a view of the real river. We were going to go to the aquarium but it was getting late and expensive so we skipped it and moved on towards are goal of Nashville but getting confused and rain stopped us from stopping there. We again moved on and Al missed on the two things he wanted a night out and to see the aquarium. We will do that part again.



We stopped in White House, TN at a Days Inn. It had a wood over where the front door should be. The guy said search White House Days Inn on You Tube. There had been an accident and a man drove through the front of the building. Paul had to see the video. Just video of after the fact. No video of the actual accident.

Paul and Abe

Sunday morning we were in Kentucky before we knew it. First stop, Hodgenville, Kentucky. The birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. The center of town has two statues. Abe as a boy and another as President. The Presidential statue has been there since his 100th birthday. The boyhood statue is newer. Took some pictures of Paul with his hero's statue. We then drove down Hwy 31 E south towards Mammoth Cave. Drove through corn fields and soy bean fields. Saw old barns and new houses. Beautiful rolling hills and a deer in the middle of a field. We had to make a u-turn for our first deer. Went to the National Park at Knob Creek where Abe's boyhood home stood. Saw a tree that had been standing from the late 1700's through when the Lincoln's lived there and was taken down in the 1980's. Showed the rings inside the tree and and markers for important times in history. It was very cool. Paul filled out a Jr Ranger booklet and got a Jr Ranger badge. We all learned a lot about the area and the time he lived there. There is a spring in the park near where the Lincoln's house would have been. We walked down and it is amazing to stand in a place you know that Abraham Lincoln once stood and got his drinking water. It was also a place where people traveling west would have stopped for water in that time. Mom met up with a lady and sat and chatted she does not live far from the park and likes to hang out and visit with people. We could have left mom there to hang out all day.

We moved further south and stopped in Park City outside Mammoth Cave and had a late lunch and then got to Mammoth Cave National Park. Funny how you get off the exit even the things that have changed are somehow familiar. Big Mike's a place to buy you souvenir and tour a fun house for fifty cents. Paul had to do it twice. Once by himself then when Emily and Ashley got there he had to do it again with them.

The next day we went to Diamond Caverns. Al wanted to pan for gems. So he and the kids with the assistance of Beth and Billie paned for gems. Found some pretty rocks. Not sure if any are worth anything but they all had a good time. That afternoon the kids became little spluenkers and took a kid only tour through the cave. I think they all liked it. Ashley liked crawling through the cave on her belly. Cooked out on the grill and made s'mores. Yum.

Tuesday, Al, Mom and I started off for a drive but found one of the tires to be low. Went into town to have that taken care of first. Beth and Billie took the kids on a hike down to the river. The kids had a great story of how Beth went where she shouldn't but clawed her way out and was filthy dirty with the red clay. Good thing she had a spare pair of shoes. That afternoon we took the family cave trip. Everyone went. The kids saw cave crickets by the 100's and a single bat welcomed us from high on the ceiling. Stalactite's hold tight to the ceiling and stalagmites may grow up from the floor of the cave to become a column. We had a great guide Jamie. We had explained that the kids were the 5th generation to the cave and he said there is a guide that works there that is a 5th generation guide. His family started off as slaves giving tours. Wish we could have met him but we did run into a guide there that taught us about stalactites and stalagmites many years ago named Joe. Joe has been at the park himself for 53 years. Can't imagine the number of tours and expeditions he has been on in the park. It was drizzling when we got out but we were going to cook out again. Beth went over and started cooking with the aid of Emily and I helped Paul and Ashley with their Jr Ranger books for this park. Each age group had to do so many activities for bat points to get their badge. Since we had the whole evening. The over achievers completed almost every page and the next morning got a badge and certificate for their achievement. Quick trip through the exhibit and gift store then off to Louisville.

First stop Churchill Downs which was not open so we could not walk out to the track but we showed them the twin spires that you always see on tv and the names across the top of the building for all the past winners. We had lunch there and then headed past mom's old neighborhood. We had walkie talkies between cars and Beth had all the kids so we did a play by play driving tour through downtown. Here is where grandma went to school, here is where she lived. Here is where your great-great grandfather used to work and the L&N building (Louisville & Nashville Railroad). Around the block and to Louisville Slugger. Somethings have changed and some are the same. We did the factory tour. The last time we were there everything was hand done. Now machines. One guy that showed us how it used to be done and it would take 20 minutes to make a bat and now 2 machines spitting out bats in 30 seconds. Not quite the same. They are still hand dipped if they are stained and the logo is hand burned into the bats and everyone gets a little bat for taking the tour.

Next stop, Calvary Cemetery. I knew this was not the highlight for anyone but me and mom but we did it. Showed the kids where their relatives are. Saw some really cool old headstones. Tried to get by another but it was closed and getting late. Needed to get to the relatives for dinner. The kids had the best time there. Swam in the pool that had to be freezing because the air temp was only in the 70's. Dinner was great. Some of mom's 2nd cousins were there. We all visited then we hit the road towards Bardstown.



My Old Kentucky Home



Talbott Tavern
Bardstown, Kentucky



Jane and Jim Yearout
Mammoth Cave, Ky



Entance to Mammoth Cave

2013



This week sure did go by fast but I am exhausted. Stayed in Bardstown. The most beautiful small town in the country. Really. Stopped in at the Talbott Tavern. A Pony Express stop from 1779 or as the kids like to call it the haunted hotel. Yes. This is the one that Brian and I stayed at years ago. They had a bad fire in the 1990's and are still working on getting part of it back. But part of the fire damage is still seen in the old bar. The cross beams have scorch marks and so does some of the stone. We then went around the down square and a few more blocks south and took the kids to My Old Kentucky Home State Park.



Perryville Battlefield

 You now have to pay to just walk the grounds but at least kids are free. Billie and I took the kids out walked around the house. Explained who Stephen Foster was and that he wrote the state song for both Kentucky and Florida. Everything was to show kids the tie from Kentucky to them. Last stop on the trip before heading home was Perryville Battlefield. The only Civil War battle that was fought in Kentucky. Yes we have a relative that was killed in Perryville during the battle. Oct 1862. Drove through the battle gounds. Stopped and played and had lunch at the picnic area. All we have left is the drive home. As the hills of Kentucky fade in the rearview mirror the memories lighten and the smiles are fresh and yes. We are on are way home.