The Battles
Prev
Next
|
Day 3: July 23, 2007 The Battles |
Prev Next |
|
|
The Sailors and Soldiers Memorial opens at 10:00 and I was
there about half an hour later. The impressive building was completed in
1910 with both a large auditorium and a banquet hall. The museum displays
fill four corridors that surround the auditorium. The G.A.R. conceived the
building as a memorial for northern Civil War veterans and there was no
recognition what so ever for the other side. As a result, the four
corridors are call West Hall, North Hall, East Hall, and Front Hall.
Honest! The museum holds displays on every U.S. conflict even though the
pictures I've included in this panel happen to all be Civil War related. I
don't recall seeing cannon ball encrusted tree trunks displayed anywhere
else but there are at least three of them here. All three are from
Chickamauga so maybe that battle is a unique source for the things.
The paper in the last picture describes the death of Elmer Ellsworth. I might ordinarily not have paid much attention to it but Ellsworth is described as "the first Union officer to die in the Civil War" and there was that monument near Grafton, WV, with a similar claim for Thornsbury Brown. I took the picture intending to compare the dates but a more careful reading cleared things up. Ellsworth died two days after Brown but he was a colonel and the first officer killed. Now if I could just sort out those "smallest church" claims. |
|
|
I was unsure what I would find on the 78th. This is the display that is
pointed to by the official publication for division veterans so it's as
close at it gets to an official 78th museum. But it is just one part of a
museum that, while it has evolved to something more general, began as a
memorial to Civil War veterans from one Pennsylvania county. The 78th
might not get much attention. I was prepared to find a shoulder patch and
a couple of photos in the corner of a display case. There isn't a whole
lot but there is much more than that.
Most of the museum's displays are on the inner wall behind glass. These displays are about six feet wide and eight or so high. There are also some free standing glass cases against the outer wall. The 78th gets one of each of these and a separate, waist high, display as well. The free standing case is devoted to the division's service in World War I. It is set perpendicular to the wall so both sides are accessible. The display against the inner wall and the shorter display case tell of the World War II involvement. I got a kick out of seeing the little red "Lightning: The Story of the 78th Infantry Division" as I have a copy. The Battle of the Bulge, something the 78th was very much involved in, gets a display, too. |
|
|
When I left the museum, I immediately headed to the expressway for the long
drive home. Near Cambridge, OH, I slipped onto the old road to check on a
couple of things. One of those things is the restored Peters Creek S Bridge.
In March of last year the bridge was in
pretty bad shape. It was completely disassembled and reconstructed. There
is now a paved parking area and some new picnic tables. There is also a
nice new plaque mounted on what looks like left over stones from the bridge
(left over?). That's all wonderful and I'm really pleased to see this
piece of history put back together. But I'm also a little uncomfortable
with it and a little disappointed, too.
Last July, when I stopped by in the middle of the reconstruction, I thought I heard that FEMA was financing the job. About a half million dollar job, if I recall correctly. That seemed strange but is confirmed by the plaque there today. The phrase "damaged by 2005 floods" even sounds a bit suspicious since I believe the bridge was on life support well before that. With the sort of publicity FEMA has been getting, restoring an unused bridge doesn't seem like a "poster child" project. Maybe there's more too it and maybe the locals should just be congratulated for creative financing. I don't know. But I do know that there are a lot of weeds growing between the bricks on the bridges deck. Left alone, they can eventually push those bricks apart. After receiving all that federal money to put the bridge right, I'd think the local economy could afford a can of weed spray. Psssst. Here and here are a couple pictures of the deck of the Fox Creek Bridge, just over the county line, for comparison. |
|
|
Here is another new addition to the National Road roadside and I'm going to
continue griping just a little longer. First off, when you check the fine
print, you see that this sign marks "what is considered to be the first
traffic fatality recorded in Ohio." Considered? Recorded? There has long
been a fine stone monument just up the road to mark the site of this
historic event. I've always thought that it was a bit silly but adding
another seems even sillier. It looks like the American Antiquarian Society,
Christopher's employer, may have footed part of the bill so maybe that
makes it OK.
In any case, the fine brick road that is also in Norwich is definitely OK and that makes me OK. |
|
|
Oops. I was going to stop at the National Road Museum to see if there was
anything new (and maybe offer some comment about that too green Peters
Creek Bridge) but it is closed on Mondays. I probably knew that at some
point. When I reached Zanesville and learned that Tom's Ice Cream Bowl is
also closed on Mondays I took to the expressway for the duration.
|
|
|
| [Prev] [Site Home] [Trip Home] [Contact] [Next] |
