Along the way I found where General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson is buried in Lexington, VA and also visited the grave of General Robert E. Lee and his horse Traveller. I also visited Robert E. Lee Travel Bug Hotel which is located inside the Visitor's Center. I was disappointed that there was not a geocache at Lee's Chapel, I understand that a traditional cache could be a problem, but a virtual at the location would be awesome. Resumed my trip and picked up three more Civil War caches. Visited Chestnut Ridge where Confederate General Turner Ashby was killed. A monument to the exact location where he was fatally shot is the starting point of a waypoint projection.
Later, I found Old Valley Pike: Bloody Ceders the site of the New Market battle. I would end the day in Winchester and the next morning I would find the Winchester's Third. This was a great cache in a city park with lots of walking trails. In 1864, a Union camp was located near the cache location, the pits were still visible.
In the late morning, I found myself in northern Virginia and picked up a virtual called small park for a big battle. It was part of the Battle of 2nd Bull Run. Moving further south, I finally managed to get to I-95 and heading towards Richmond. Traffic was terrible in this part of the country despite being a Sunday morning. I was also hampered only using a Nuvi instead of nRoute. A week before my trip, the laptop that contained all my Garmin software died, leaving me with tunnel vision of the Nuvi.
As I made my way towards Fredericksburg, VA and decided to go after a virtual that I really wanted, Stonewall Jackson's Arm. The plot where the amputated arm is located is near the Union Headquarters for the Battle of the Wilderness. The Battle of the Wilderness fought in 1864 was very near the battle of a year before at Chancellorsville. I went by the Visitors Center at this location also and learned more about the battles. I also wanted to see the Wilderness since my ancestor was in this battle. After the battlefield tour, I got back onto I-95 and later visited Guinea Station where Gen. Jackson died about a week after being accidentally shot by his own troops.
Leaving Guinea Station I headed back towards I-95 and saw another cache pop up on my Nuvi, I decided to go after it and this turned out to be my favorite of the trip, The Curse of the FTF #2, Ghosts of Battles Past. Auto routing my my Nuvi took me to a cemetery where there were hundreds of Confederate graves. This men died in the Battle of Spotsylanvia Courthouse. It was a humbling moment for me as I found graves of men from the 2nd South Carolina Infantry Regiment, that was the same regiment, my great-great grandfather, PVT John Hudson Goodwyn served. I pondered to think that some of the men buried there knew my ancestor. I found the cache and paid my respects. My last find of the day was on the battlefield where Major General John Sedgwick, the highest ranking Union officer killed in action, was shot by a Confederate sniper at a range of over 800 yards with a Whitworth rifle. I made a quick tour of the battlefield and after returning to a internet connection and reading the Confederate Order of Battle, I walked around the trenches where my ancestor fought.
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