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This humble blog was started to document our travels around the country during the summer of 2006, We have opted to continue updating it due to the requests from family & friends. Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Ring of Fire


May 11, 2019


 


 


Ring of Fire

I think that I get my love of military history from my father. He was a war buff and had hundreds of books around the house as I was growing up about battles, weapons, and all manner collectable items from various wars. Among those were a number of rifles from World War Two as well as swords that belonged to various officers beginning in the Civil War. His most famous piece was a sword that had belonged to General George Meade who was one of the Union commanders at Gettysburg and who coincidently built many of the lighthouses in the Florida Keys including Sand Key.



Even more odd was that one of my first jobs in Key West was working at Reef Relief for DeeVon (Meade) Quirolo who was a direct descendant of the famous General Meade. My father used to take us to Civil War battlefields when I was a kid and it is something that I have always enjoyed doing in to my adulthood. Driving from Key West to Indianapolis offers numerous opportunities to visit some of the most historic battlefields from the Civil War and I took advantage of the proximity to visit two.

 



The first was the site of the Battle of Chickamauga which was fought on September 18-20, 1863. The battle was fought between the Army of the Cumberland under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg, and was named for Chickamauga Creek, which meanders near the battle area in northwest Georgia (and ultimately flows into the Tennessee River about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) northeast of downtown Chattanooga).





The battle was a major Union defeat and was the first major conflict in the State of Georgia. It was a terrible fight and only Gettysburg surpasses it in the number of casualties. The battle offered only a brief moment of victory for the Confederacy because by November of 1863, the Union was victorious and captured nearby Chattanooga in what is considered by many to be one of the turning points of the war.



The next battlefield that I visited involved many of the same combatants yet was held earlier and farther North, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee from December 31, 1862 through January 2, 1863. Of the major battles of the war, Stones River had the highest percentage of casualties on both sides. Although the battle itself was inconclusive, the Union Army’s repulse of two Confederate attacks and the subsequent Confederate withdrawal were a much-needed boost to Union morale after the defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg, and it dashed Confederate aspirations for control of Middle Tennessee.




Both of these sites have wonderful visitor centers and have maintained the actual areas where the conflict was waged in as close to their original states as possible. Of course as at almost all major Civil War sites, there are literally thousands of memorials and markers honoring those who fought there. There is also a National Cemetery at Stones River.


 



The wooded areas and land on either bank of the Stones River, where much of the most intense fighting occurred are particularly beautiful natural areas and it is tough to reconcile all the death and destruction that happened there with the quiet, beautiful natural solitude that is found there now.






My next stop had nothing to do with the Civil War and more to do with my love of music, specifically the music of the legendary Johnny Cash. I had never visited the Johnny Cash Museum located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee and it was someplace that had always intrigued me. I have never been a huge fan of Country Music, but have always loved and respected Cash.  The museum boasts the largest collection of Johnny Cash memorabilia in the world and once inside, it is easy to see that that claim is true. Anything Johnny Cash related could be found on display and there was a long and successful career and life to cover.



 



Officially authorized by Johnny Cash’s estate, this museum is an authentic dedication to the music career and life of Johnny Cash. As you embark on an in-depth journey through the Man in Black’s eventful and amazing life, you’ll have the pleasure of viewing hundreds of interactive exhibits and artifacts that make up the most complete collection of Johnny cash memorabilia in the world.

 


 


Included in the exhibit are Cash’s personal guitars and other instruments, handwritten lyrics, personal items such as important papers and things such as his high school yearbooks, a collection of his stage costumes and clothing, personal letters and correspondence, original tour posters, albums and singles and much more. They even have nice examples of his artwork, which I was totally unfamiliar with.

 





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