Views from the Big Country: Our Great Adventure ~ July on the Pisgah. Part 1

Monday, July 16, 2018

It's been pretty hot this month. Sooo, what did we decide to do? Head south to Georgia!! If we thought it was hot in the mountains...well, let's just say Georgia was much hotter!!

We decided to take a couple of days and head to Andersonville, Georgia to visit Camp Sumter, home of one of the largest Civil War prisons.

From February, 1864 until the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) in April, 1865, Andersonville, Georgia served as the notorious site of a Confederate Prison. The prison at Andersonville, officially called Camp Sumpter, was the South's largest prison (enclosed on sixteen acres of land) for captured Union Soldiers. It was known for its unhealthy conditions and high death rate. In all, over 13,000 soldiers died at Andersonville. Following the war, its Commander Henry Wirz, was tried, convicted and executed for war crimes.

Today, the Andersonville site includes the remains of the prison along with a prisoner of war museum, and a national cemetery where Union Soldiers who died at the camp are buried.

opened in 1988, the National Prisoner of War Museum tells the story of prisoners of war throughout American History. this facility doubles as the park's visitor center. the museum's architecture is not based on a specific place but is meant to evoke prison guard towers and stockades in general

The Prisoner of War Museum is very well done. Walking through the museum was a pretty intense experience. You are immersed in the sounds and experiences of POW's. Upon leaving the museum, we walked through a memorial to all POW's...

This memorial led us to the prison grounds...

Andersonville was built to hold 10,000 men, but within six months more than three times that number were incarcerated there. All in all, over 45,000 men were held there. At one time there were over 33,000 men held in the prison, on sixteen acres. Conditions were deplorable.

the stockade was hastily constructed using slave labor. the prison was supposed
to include wooden barracks; the high price of lumber prevented that

entrance to the prison. notice the "door within the door" on the door on
the right side?

the deadline. anyone caught crossing the deadline would be shot on sight

living quarters for the prisoners. called "shebangs" they were constructed from scraps of
wood and blankets

view of the prison grounds. monuments were erected following the war to honor those who died here

Only enlisted men were imprisoned here. With no Union officers to maintain order, life in the pen became anarchy. A gang, known as the "Raiders" roamed the prison yard, robbing and even murdering, other prisoners. Eventually, with the blessing of Commander Wirz, the prisoners formed a police squad called the Regulators. The ringleaders were arrested, tried, court-martialed and hanged.

Established in 1864, Andersonville National Cemetery is located 300 yards north of the prison site. The nearly 13,000 men who died at the prison camp are buried here...

these six graves are the "raiders" graves. they were buried away from the other soldiers. their graves are left undecorated for Memorial Day

From Andersonville, we drove twenty miles to Plains, home of former President Carter. Plains is a very small town; not much has changed here since President Carter was campaigning for President. President and Mrs. Carter still reside in Plains...

Plains High School. built in 1921, this educational building served students until 1979. it now operates as the visitor center and museum of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site

It was extremely hot (mid-90's) during our stay in Georgia. We were very happy to get back to the mountains!!

Sunday, July 22, 2018

The heat continues; rain is in the air. We took a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway (one of our favorite drives)...

to Crabtree Falls. Crabtree Falls is located off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The parking area for the falls is at Crabtree Campground. We walked about a half mile to the trail head...