[This is part one of two (I think).]

Well, maybe not. But I was traveling from 7am till 9:30pm. That’s right, 14 and a half hours. And it was pretty amazing.

I love traveling before the sun comes up. And while I didn’t have much driving time in the early dawn, it was pretty great. Though, honestly, I don’t remember much about the beginning of the trip until I was through the Harrisburg area. That’s weird. I have no memory of how I got to Harrisburg. Odd.

Anyway, let me introduce you to my traveling partners.

They were with me in the bus and now they’re with me in the Yaris. Fun! There is also Chicken Puppet, but I didn’t get a pic of him. He was hiding or something.

My first stop was Gettysburg. I know, I was just there, so I don’t really know why I felt compelled to hit it again, but it’s on the way and how could I not?

I visited the first day’s field: the 11th Corps line and McPherson’s Barn. I had a great-great, etc grandfather who fought with the 150th Pennsylvania right in front and around the McPherson Barn. So it’s a pretty special place for me. Oddly enough, I had never jumped the fence to see it up close. But oh I did today. It’s not illegal or anything, but still.

I also stopped at a plaque that I didn’t see before. I don’t think it’s that new, but I’ve never seen it. It was for Camp Colt, the World War II era tank training camp that was right on the battlefield. That was pretty interesting. And the 8th Ohio Monument. Their story at Gettysburg is one of my favorite.

From Gettysburg, I took old Route 15 South to Emmitsburg, Maryland and Mount St. Mary’s. There is a grotto there that I’ve visited a few times before. It’s great. No, I was never Catholic or anything, but it’s always moved me. There’s a huge golden statue of Mary that you can see for miles and mile around. And behind her, there’s a walkway with the stations of the cross.

Towards the end of the walkway, there is a small pond and a spring. There’s also a chapel and a statue of Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, she’s the patron saint of Catholic schools. And of Maryland. Yep, the whole state.

It’s all very peaceful and awe-inspiring. Sure, it’s got some of that 60’s Vatican II cheese that Catholicism seems to be overcome with. But all in all it was great.

There’s not a whole lot to do there, so I moved on. I took Old Frederick Road to Frederick, Maryland. Both Old Frederick Road and US Route 15, a mile or so to the west, existed prior to the Civil War. The Union Army used both on their way to and from Gettysburg in 1863.

Along the road, I saw a “Civil War Trails” sign. Whenever I see one of those signs, I usually turn off and read whatever plaque it there. Sometimes it’s nothing. Sometimes it’s a whole battle. This time it was just a bridge. But oh it was a covered bridge. All the plaque said was that Meade, the Union General at Gettysburg used the bridge and had a headquarters in a near-by town. Interesting, but I would rather have heard about where the headquarters was.

I took a by-pass around Frederick, MD and found Alt US 40 West. I love Alt 40. It’s the old Route 40. National Road. Love it? Oh yes I do.

I took National Road (which isn’t so well marked in this part of Maryland) to Middletown and then turned off for Burkittsville, the home of the Blair Witch! Well, not exactly. The reason I was going there was because there was a part of a rather big Civil War battle (Battle of South Mountain) that took place there.

Above Burkittsville is Gathland State Park and the Appalachian Trail. I spent a bit of time there. I really love this place. Yes, the apex of the Battle of Crampton’s Gap (this part of South Mountain) occurred here. There’s a small park with ruins of the an old estate that used to be there (this was his land). Also, there’s a huge arch monument dedicated to Civil War reporters.

Just north of Crampton’s Gap is Fox’s Gap. A battle took place here as well, part of the Battle of South Mountain. This was a small battle, basically a holding action to allow the Confederates to consolidate their forces. Nevertheless, two generals, one on each side, died. Gen. Garland on the Confederate side and Gen. Reno on the Union side. There are monuments to each, but the Reno Monument is much larger.

The ground around Fox’s Gap is much the same as it was in the mid 1800’s. The same can almost be said about the gap just to the north of Fox’s, Turner’s Gap. National Road has gone through there for quite a long time. The road is a bit wider now and there’s a church built by the wife who invented the gun that was on the USS Monitor.

And just north of Turner’s Gap is the first Washington Monument. This was built in 1827 and used as a signal station during the Civil War. It had fallen down quite a bit, but was finally restored by a CCC camp (Civilian Conservation Corps) during the depression-era. And now it’s a state park. You can climb up the thing (through a staircase) and see three states and a bunch of cool stuff.

There are moments in my travels where something will happen that will make all of the long hours of driving worth it. While I was up top of the Washington Monument, a father brought his seven year old daughter to the top to take a look. He asked her is she was having an ok time. She got a really excited look on her face and exclaimed, “THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!”

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[to be continued tomorrow...]

[When last we left our hero, he was descending South Mountain on National Road nearing Hagerstown, Maryland. The Washington Monument behind him, he now makes his way towards Antietam National Battlefield and west towards Wheeling, West Virginia.]

One thing that I failed to mention was just how windy it was the whole day. Especially on the Washington Monument. Possibly 40 to 50 mph gusts. It was quite blustery!

Alt Route 40 West from South Mountain takes you through Boonsboro. It’s a neat little town that seems to be getting to big. I’m not sure why, there’s no strip malls or anything, but it just seems to be too big. Stop it, Boonsboro.

A quick left turn down Maryland Route 34 takes me in the “back way” to Antietam. However, before I get there, I decide to take an old alignment of the Shepherdstown Pike through Keedysville. There was something about this town that really did it for me. I think it was the houses. Now, as I may have mentioned before, I love northern Maryland. I’m not exactly sure that I could live there, but I love to visit. Keedysville is a very Civil War-era town. Many towns around here are like this. However, many of the towns have been changed by larger US Routes going through them.

Keedysville seems relatively unchanged. It was cut off long ago by a quick little Route 34 bypass. And while life hasn’t really stopped for the folks who live there, it has definitely slowed down. I will definitely make it a point to stop here again.

A few miles down the road from Keedysville is Sharpsburg, home of the battle of Antietam. Many Civil War battles have two names. The south would generally name battles after the city or town that was nearby. In this case, Sharpsburg. The north would name battles after a body of water or some other geographical location. In this case, Antietam (named after Antietam Creek).

Antietam’s battlefield park is quite a bit different from Gettysburg. In a way, it seems older. Or at least not as redone and refurbished. That’s not to say that it’s falling apart or shabby. Not at all. With the exception of the goofy looking visitor’s center, probably built in the architecturally unforgivable early to mid 1960’s, the park is pristine. It seems fairly unchanged from September 1862, when the battle took place.

Looks are a bit deceiving, several large wood lots were logged after the war. They are being replanted.

Of course, the battlefield is dotted with monuments and plaques commemorating the boys who fought and died here. And many died, were wounded or captured. In one day’s fighting, there were 23,000 casualties. It still remains the bloodiest day in American history.

The battle has always been a bit of a blur to me. I know the basics, of course, but when I get there, my sense of direction is all thrown off. The Union attacks happened in three phases, from north to south. First through the Cornfield, then to the Sunken Road (or Bloody Lane) and lastly over Burnside’s Bridge.

The day was brought to a stalemate when Confederate reinforcements attacked the attacking Union forces. By 5:30, the battle was over. Neither side could claim victory. The next day an unofficial truce was observed and the dead were buried. There were more dead than on D-Day, more dead than on 9/11.

Out of all of the battlefield, the Burnside Bridge means the most to me. I had an ancestor, a great, etc grandfather in the 51st Pennsylvania. They, along with the 51st New York, took the bridge. Throughout the day, General Burnside had tried to take the bridge. It was being held by roughly 500 Confederates in the hill immediately overlooking the creek. Burnside had at his command 12,500 troops. About a quarter of them got lost in the woods. Another group tried to ford the creek about a half-mile down stream (they failed to do so). Burnside’s remaining troops tried twice to take the bridge. They also failed with very heavy casualties.

It was then up to the two 51st’s to give it a shot. The colonel of the 51st Pennsylvania abstained from alcohol. He also forced his men to abstain. Most Union troops were given a whiskey ration. But not the 51st. The men did not care for this. After receiving orders from General Burnside to take the bridge, the colonel of the 51st Pennsylvania spoke to his men, “It is General Burnside’s special request that the two 51st’s take the bridge. Will you do it?”

A soldier shouted back, “Will you give us our whiskey, Colonel, if we make it?”

“Yes, by God!” was the reply.

The two 51st’s, my great, etc grandfather with them, stormed the bridge and took it. And yes, they got their whiskey!

From Burnside’s Bridge, I drove the remainder of the park, along the crest of a ridge that overlooked a valley. I’ve been meaning to take a nice long walk down in there to see what there is to see. If I had more time, I would have.

[Thus ends the second of three installments... tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of "Thursday was the longest day ever!"]

[And now the exciting conclusion of the "Thursday was the longest day ever" trilogy!]

I knew I was running short on time. I had told Rati that I would be there around 7pm. My initial figuring was that this trip would take me 14 hours. For some reason, I reassessed that and said that it would take me 12. It was looking as if 14 would be a bit closer to reality.

I was six or seven hours away from my final destination. Antietam wasn’t my last stop for the day, but it was my last long stop. The rest would be mostly driving.

The driving would mostly be on Old National Road. I made my way through Hagerstown. From here on out, Civil War history was mostly behind me.

Large cities, like Hagerstown (ok, not really large, but it was larger than anything I passed through today), don’t mean much to me when traveling these back roads. Sometimes I’ll even bypass them. I did that a bit with Hagerstown, but before I knew it, I was back on Alt Route 40.

There were no scheduled stops now. I would pull over wherever I saw something worth pulling over for. A bridge or a historical marker or an old alignment that was long-ago bypassed. It’s the way I travel. And after you’ve done it, it’s difficult to pull the car back onto the long, boring super slab of an interstate. Very difficult. And so even though I was running late and the interstate was, at times, mere yards from me, I stayed true to the old National Road.

Unfortunately, I did have to jump on the interstate for a bit. I-70 is laid right over the old National Road. However, before I was giving this displeasure, I searched out an old fort (which was gated and closed) and found an old cemetery.

And I mean old. The newest grave was from 1823 or something. Many of the graves were marked only with an unmarked river stone. I’m not sure if there was a town here or perhaps this was from the fort or the railroad (which was nearby). Many of the markers were damaged, most of them by time.

Farther west, just after leaving I-70, I was able, for the first time, to navigate Sidling Hill via US Route 40. Ironically enough, the abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike tunnel (Sideling Hill Tunnel) I had visited on my way to Pennsylvania a week or so prior was dug through the same hill, 20 or so miles to the north. The interstate now cuts a huge gap into the mountain. The Old US Route 40 (National Road) takes the long way around. It’s a beautiful drive and i encourage anyone to take it.

After many more gorgeous miles of National Road, stopping here and there to read a sign or two, driving through Cumberland (the old start of National Road) and Frostburg, I drive by and turn around for a really fun looking bridge. Are you shocked? No?

Castleman’s River Bridge is quite the structure. It was built in 1813 and was the largest stone arch in America at the time. It was used for about 100 years and then retired. And though it was getting late, I stopped, walked across it to a weird little village of log cabins that must be something touristie during the warmer months. Traveling in March has its blessings afterall!

Shortly after the bridge, I crossed into Pennsylvania. National Road/Route 40 cruise up into Pennsylvania before crossing the West Virginia panhandle and Wheeling. And shortly after crossing into Pennsylvania, I pass Fort Necessity. For the record and for what it’s worth, let me say that I know nothing about Fort Necessity. It was a fort during the French & Indian War. There was a battle there. That is my entire knowledge of it. I’ll hopefully be revisiting the fort in the near future.

However, farther up the road I came across a sort of place of pilgrimage for National Road folks. Here lies General Edward Braddock. He was the leader of the British forces during the French and Indian War. He is also the guy who carved out “Braddock’s Road,” which later became the basis for National Road and US Route 40. Basically, this is the fellow who started it all.

Braddock started in Cumberland, just like National Road. His objective was a fort near Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, he met an untimely death in an ambush near what is now the town of McKeesport, PA (in 1755). His troops, in retreat, carried his body to the location where I now stood and buried it in an unmarked grave under his road. George Washington, who was fighting with Braddock, performed the ceremony.

The grave remained unknown until 1804 when road workers found it and reinterred it a short distance to where he lies today.

The road is still very visible in this location. Much of the long ago abandoned trace is visible in farmer’s fields and through woods. Sadly, much of it is gone.

And now it was really getting dark. I had no chance to stop at anything from here on out. I passed through and got very lost in Uniontown, PA. I hope it never darkens my path again.

However, just after Uniontown was Brownsville. Brownsville looks like a bomb hit it. It was nearly full-on dark when I passed through it, but I will most definitely be back. National Road drags you to Brownsville’s downtown. Every store is closed. Every single one. It was almost like driving through the largest ghost town I had ever seen.

Darkness had fully set in.

Upon Washington, PA, I entered the Interstate and drove quickly to Wheeling, West Virginia. My home for about a week.

Thanks for reading along. I’m sorry that it was so long-winded. I know most of it is history related and I know that it doesn’t appeal to many, but thanks for putting up with me.

As a reward, here are all of the pics from Thursday.
All 172 of them.
Click!

Today was a very long driving day. Even longer than the first day. Today I drove 750 miles from Cookeville, TN to home.

Along the way, we did the entire 105 or so miles of Skyline Drive. Much of today’s drive was interstate and basically eventless. However, Skyline was really nice and I’m glad we did it.

Here are my 18 pics from today.

And here are Smartz’s 15.