Thursday, April 8, 2010

TF's Civil War Geocache Series

Upon reading an article on MSNBC website that the State of Virginia has proclaimed April as Confederate History month, I decided to use my blog to describe the geocaches that I set up in reference to the American Civil War or as some call it, the War Against Northern Aggression.

Northwest Tennessee didn't see the heavy action as did parts of Virginia and Middle Tennessee. Soon after the fall of Ft. Donelson, the fort at Columbus, Kentucky was abandoned and Union forces occupied my hometown of Dresden and West Tennessee. During the war, there were some skirmishes by local militia and cavalry raids conducted by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

My favorite hide is Forrest Raids Dresden. It's a difficult cache to find in that the terrain is very difficult and with that, there have not been many finders of this cache. In December of 1862, Gen. Forrest made his first West Tennessee raid to cut the communication of Union Gen. Grant has he moved south towards Vicksburg, MS. Gen. Forrest was successful in his raid cutting all railroad communication for the rest of the war, forcing Gen. Grant to rely on the Mississippi River for supply. My geocache is located next to an opening next to the railroad bed. Visitors to the cache can go inside the opening and see the several stumps with axe marks left by Confederate soldiers.

Charge 'em both ways is located at the battlefield of Parker's Crossroads. The Confederate line was near what is now the westbound lane of I-40 and during the battle Forrest was surprised from the rear. When a junior officerr asked Gen. Forrest what to do, he ordered the force to charge both Union forces. The action prevented the a defeat and allowed the CSA forces to leave the area and return to Middle Tennesse.

Battle of Lockridge Mills is located between Latham and Palmersville, TN and saw the largest combat action during the war where a patroling Union force from Iowa was defeated by a large Confederate force.

Skrimish at Shades Bridge is located between Greenfield and Skullbone, TN. During this engagement, Confederate militia failed to prevent a Union force from crossing the bridge over the Obion River. After the Union force crossed the bridge, the militia returned to burn the bridge.

Unknown Confederate Dead is located in Union City, TN and judge from the logs is one of the most popular and found cache that I own. A monument to the unknown soldiers sets in a residential neighborhood next to the old railroad bed. Over 20 unknown Confederate soldiers are buried here.

The Charge is the only geocache that I own in reference to the Civil War in Kentucky. The Charge is located just across the state line in Dukedom, where a historical marker and kiosk inform visitors of Gen. Forrest 2nd West Tennessee raid and into Western Kentucky. Gen. Forrest's troopers passed through this area on the way to and from Paducah, Kentucky.

The last two geocaches in reference to the Civil War are not locations of any combat action. When I joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans I obtained permission to place a geocache at Bonnie Blue Travel Bug Hotel which is in Greenfield, TN. Later, I assisted in the placing of a huge Confederate Battle Flag in Trimble, TN and was asked to place a geocache near the location to bring attention to the flag and called the cache St. Andrew's Cross. On that cache page I borrowed a poem from Dr. Michael Bradley, "I am their Flag". I have had the honor to actually hear this poem repeated by H.K. Edgerton in person while attending a Lee-Jackson Banquet.

In 1861, when they perceived their rights to be threatened, when those who would alter the nature of the government of their fathers were placed in charge, when threatened with change they could not accept, the mighty men of valor began to gather. A band of brothers, native to the Southern soil, they pledged themselves to a cause: the cause of defending family, fireside, and faith. Between the desolation of war and their homes they interposed their bodies and they chose me for their symbol.

I Am Their Flag.

Their mothers, wives, and sweethearts took scissors and thimbles, needles and thread, and from silk or cotton or calico ­ whatever was the best they had ­ even from the fabric of their wedding dresses, they cut my pieces and stitched my seams.

I Am Their Flag.

On courthouse lawns, in picnic groves, at train stations across the South the men mustered and the women placed me in their hands. "Fight hard, win if possible, come back if you can; but, above all, maintain your honor. Here is your symbol," they said.

I Am Their Flag.

They flocked to the training grounds and the drill fields. They felt the wrenching sadness of leaving home. They endured sickness, loneliness, boredom, bad food, and poor quarters. They looked to me for inspiration.

I Am Their Flag.

I was at Sumter when they began in jubilation. I was at Big Bethel when the infantry fired its first volley. I smelled the gun smoke along Bull Run in Virginia and at Belmont along the Mississippi. I was in the debacle at Fort Donelson; I led Jackson up the Valley. For Seven Days I flapped in the turgid air of the James River bottoms as McClellan ran from before Richmond. Sidney Johnston died for me at Shiloh as would thousands of others whose graves are marked "Sine Nomine," - without a name - unknown.

I Am Their Flag.

With ammunition gone they defended me along the railroad bed at Manassas by throwing rocks. I saw the fields run red with blood at Sharpsburg. Brave men carried me across Doctor's Creek at Perryville. I saw the blue bodies cover Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg and the Gray ones fall like leaves in the Round Forest at Stones River.

I Am Their Flag.

I was a shroud for the body of Stonewall after Chancellorsville. Men ate rats and mule meat to keep me flying over Vicksburg. I tramped across the wheat field with Kemper and Armistead and Garnett at Gettysburg. I know the thrill of victory, the misery of defeat, the bloody cost of both.

I Am Their Flag.

When Longstreet broke the line at Chickamauga, I was in the lead. I was the last off Lookout Mountain. Men died to rescue me at Missionary Ridge. I was singed by the wildfire that burned to death the wounded in the Wilderness. I was shot to tatters in the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania. I was in it all from Dalton to Peachtree Creek, and no worse place did I ever see than Kennesaw and New Hope Church. They planted me over the trenches at Petersburg and there I stayed for many long months.

I Am Their Flag.

I was rolled in blood at Franklin; I was stiff with ice at Nashville. Many good men bade me farewell at Sayler's Creek. When the end came at Appomattox, when the last Johnny Reb left Durham Station, many of them carried fragments of my fabric hidden on their bodies.

I Am Their Flag.

In the hard years of so-called "Reconstruction," in the difficulty and despair of years that slowly passed, the veterans, their wives and sons and daughters, they loved me. They kept alive the tales of valor and the legends of bravery. They passed them on to the grandchildren and they to their children, and so they were passed to you.

I Am Their Flag.

I have shrouded the bodies of heroes, I have been laved with the blood of martyrs, I am enshrined in the hearts of millions, living and dead. Salute me with affection and reverence. Keep undying devotion in your hearts. I am history. I am heritage, not hate. I am the inspiration of valor from the past. Look Away, Dixie Land!

I Am Their Flag.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Trip to Camp Buehring

My first trip outside the “wire” leaving Camp Arifjan was to travel to Camp Buehring which is also in Kuwait. I have been to the camp once before in the fall of 2003. Back then it was called Camp Udari and I participated in training in close quarters marksmanship and convoy operations. This trip was to be simple trip to sign for new body armor. I had the geocaches in the camp loaded onto the Garmin and hoped to get a find or two. Our time was tight and after obtaining the body armor, we drove near the DFAC for lunch. I attempted to grab One Degree of Separation and unable to find it. After lunch we boarded the bus to head back to Arifjan, which was about 1:30 in the afternoon. The guards at the gate would not permit us to leave without an escort. We then drove near the PX and waited several hours to finally leave the camp. During that time, I introduced another soldier to the sport of geocaching finding diecast64 and PT- Good for you, good for me. Having the new geocacher was helpful on the last cache since he is a few inches taller than me.

We finally managed to leave the camp near dusk and later arrived at Camp Arifjan about 9:30 pm. I have been caching for a little over 5 years and have ran across many light pole, guardrail and storm drain caches. But in a the warzone, barrier caches are popular.