All posts by Raven About The Parks

Richmond National Battlefield Park

August 18, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

Richmond, Virginia was the capital of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, located only 110 miles south of Washington, D.C. The heavily fortified city repelled Union attacks in 1862 and 1864, but was abandoned following the retreat from Petersburg on April 2, 1865. Richmond National Battlefield Park is composed of thirteen units connected by an 80-mile driving tour, some of which are only staffed seasonally. The main National Park Service (NPS) visitor center at Tredegar Iron Works is located near the historic Virginia capitol building and not far from Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site.

Highlights

Tredegar Iron Works, film, Cold Harbor battlefield, Chimborazo Medical Museum

Must-Do Activity

The modern NPS visitor center is located downtown inside the Tredegar Iron Works on the Canal Walk. During the war, this foundry produced almost 1,100 cannons, as well as armor plating for ironclad gunboats. Today the stabilized and enclosed remains of Tredegar Iron Works offer three stories of exhibits, including a film and several interactive multimedia displays. The site of the June 1864 Battle of Cold Harbor has a year-round visitor center northeast of Richmond. We also highly recommend a stop at the Chimborazo Medical Museum, which covers an often overlooked aspect of a war that claimed 620,000 soldiers’ lives, many from disease.

Best Trail

Short trails help visitors understand the battles at Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines’ Mill, Malvern Hill, Cold Harbor, Fort Harrison, Fort Brady, Parker’s Battery, and Drewry’s Bluff.

Instagram-worthy Photo

The stabilized brick walls of Tredegar Iron Works are an interesting subject for photographs. The foundry was protected by its workers from destruction by the retreating Confederate army on April 2, 1865. This proved important during Reconstruction after the war.

Peak Season

Summer

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/rich/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

None except for parking at Tredegar Iron Works

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

Pocahontas State Park and Forest offers a campground with running water just outside Richmond, Virginia.

Related Sites

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site (Virginia)

Fredericksbug and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park (Virginia)

Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (Virginia)

Tiff on the steps of Chimborazo Medical Museum

Explore More –Opened in October 1861, how many sick and wounded soldiers were treated at Chimborazo Hospital (with its 3,000 bed capacity and 20% mortality rate) by the end of the Civil War?

Georgia

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

August 13, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

There are probably not many places on the list of top 50 most visited units in the National Park Service (NPS) system that you have never heard of, but Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park may be one. Located in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, this 2,923-acre park receives more than 2.3-million visitors annually. The park memorializes a Civil War battlefield on General Sherman’s “scorched earth” march to Atlanta in 1864 and is now surrounded by a heavily-populated suburb and a university. Watch for pedestrians on the road to the top of the 700-foot tall Kennesaw Mountain.

Highlights

Museum, film, scenic views, hiking trails, Kolb’s Farm, cannons

Must-Do Activity

You can drive to the cannons and earthworks on top of Kennesaw Mountain when the shuttle bus is not running on weekdays, but most recreationists walk the road or trails to get there. Inside the NPS visitor center at the 700-foot hill’s base, you will learn about the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 when Union General William Tecumseh Sherman led 100,000 troops out of Chattanooga, Tennessee on the “March to the Sea.” After 5,350 soldiers died at Kennesaw Mountain, he decided to just go around it on his way to the city, causing the Confederates to abandon their fortifications there. If you do drive to the top, you will need to go around many pedestrians and bikers, too.

Best Trail

There are 19.7 miles of hiking trails, but we found that most visitors just walked or biked down the center of the paved road to the top.

Instagram-worthy Photo

Kennesaw Mountain offers sweeping views of the Atlanta-metropolitan area.

Peak Season

Spring and fall

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/kemo/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

$5 per vehicle or America the Beautiful pass

Road Conditions

The road to the top is paved, but there is limited parking up there so a shuttle bus runs on weekends.

Camping

There are several campgrounds on nearby Lake Altoona managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Red Top Mountain State Park is also located north of Kennesaw, Georgia.

Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (Georgia)

Andersonville National Historic Site (Georgia)

No Civil War site would be complete without a cannon

Explore More – The attack on Kennesaw Mountain occurred on June 27, 1864, but when did the Union army finally occupy Atlanta?

List

Top 10 World War II Films

August 11, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

The end of World War II occurred with the unofficial surrender of Japan 75 years ago on August 14, 1945. To celebrate this anniversary we are listing the best movies set during World War II. More than any other conflict in history, this war inspired the creation of countless films, many based on books we listed in our previous Top 10 lists. The overwhelming numbers made it very difficult to narrow down our list, which could have easily included 30+ entries (including Academy Award-winning Life Is Beautiful-1997, The English Patient-1996, and Schindler’s List-1993. These choices are simply our preferences and we would be interested to read your comments on your favorite films.

10. Red Tails (2012)

This was not the best written script, but it does show great dogfights and honors the Tuskegee Airmen.

9. Dunkirk (2017)

Three storylines of different duration are blended in this visually stunning tale of the evacuation of British soldiers from France in 1940.

8. The Imitation Game (2014)

The secret work of Alan Turing in decoding German messages was essential to the outcome of the war.

7. Pearl Harbor (2001)

This very long movie was uneven, but had impressive visuals of the December 7, 1941 surprise attack and subsequent Doolittle Raid.

6. Flags of Our Fathers ()

This gripping story of the attack on Iwo Jima was directed by Clint Eastwood in conjunction with Letters from Iwo Jima.

5. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

This film is worth including simply for its excellent depiction of the D-Day landings.

4. Enemy at the Gates (2001)

Set during the Siege of Stalingrad, it tells the story of an interesting cat and mouse game between opposing snipers.

3. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

A long, slow, and brilliant film about POWs constructing a bridge for their Japanese captors.

2. Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

Not all heroes carried guns, as this real-life medic on Okinawa proved.

1. Unbroken (2014)

This biopic recounts the unbelievable struggles of Olympian and soldier Louie Zamperini.

Honorable Mentions

Band of Brothers (2001)

This HBO mini-series was based on the true stories of the men of Easy Company, 101st Airborne.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Entirely fictional and extremely entertaining, this is a modern reimagining of a 1940s comic book hero.

Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)

The internment of Japanese-Americans was a dark spot in American history (and is remembered at two National Park Service sites).

Pennsylvania

Gettysburg National Military Park

July 30, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

Overview

The turning point of the Civil War undoubtedly occurred on July 3, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, especially when considered in combination with the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi. After the Confederate invasion of the North was repulsed at Antietam, the next year General Robert E. Lee led 75,000 troops into Pennsylvania to face 88,289 Union soldiers. After three days of fighting, there were 51,000 men killed, wounded, or missing; the most of any battle on American soil. It can take more than one full day to visit Gettysburg National Military Park, especially if you add on a bus tour to neighboring Eisenhower National Historic Site.

Highlights

Museum, film, Cyclorama painting, driving tour, David Wills House, cannons

Must-Do Activity

It is free to take the 24-mile long driving tour, but an admission fee is charged for the museum (opened in 2008) that covers the entire Civil War, including Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. You should also consider watching the excellent 45-minute film A New Birth of Freedom (narrated by Morgan Freeman) and viewing the audio-visual program for the Cyclorama (a 377×42-foot original oil painting on a round canvas that depicts Pickett’s Charge of July 3, 1863). Commercial bus tours are available and you can also hire a licensed guide to ride in your car and provide a personal two-hour tour past the 1,300 monuments and memorials where so many men gave “the last full measure.”

Best Trail

If you have read The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, you will want to get out of your car and walk around Little Round Top, which overlooks the infamous Devil’s Den, Peach Orchard, and Wheatfield. The High Water Mark Trail and Soldiers’ National Cemetery Trail are each about one mile in length.

Instagram-worthy Photo

This site is perhaps best known for President Lincoln’s 272-word Gettysburg Address, which he gave in two minutes following a two-hour speech by Edward Everett. Newspaper reviews from the next day were not favorable for the President.

Peak Season

Summer, though it was very busy even on a weekday in October 2016.

Hours

https://www.nps.gov/gett/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Fees

Free driving tour, $15 per adult for films and museum (no discount for America the Beautiful pass)

Road Conditions

All roads paved

Camping

There a numerous private campgrounds around Gettysburg, and the National Park Service’s Catoctin Mountain Park is only 20 miles away, as are Caledonia and Corodus State Parks.

Eisenhower National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (Pennsylvania)

Scott in front of the 377-foot long *Cyclorama painting*

Explore More – When was the Cyclorama painting by French artist Paul Philippoteaux completed?

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List

Top 10 Civil War Novels

July 28, 2020 Raven About The Parks Leave a comment

This summer, we are covering the many National Park Service (NPS) sites dedicated to remembering the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history with the greatest outcome (freedom for the country’s enslaved people). We previously listed our Top 10 films about the war and you may recognize some of the same titles in our Top 10 Civil War novels (click here to see all our Top 10 lists).

10. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (1997)

Just try not to picture Jude Law and Nicole Kidman while reading this novel, unless you haven’t seen the movie yet.

9. Civil War Stories by Ambrose Bierce (1891)

Before he went on to become a famous San Francisco newspaperman, Bierce served in the Union army.

8. Shiloh by Shelby Foote (1952)

A novelization of the bloody Tennessee battle by a leading historian featured prominently in Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War.

7. Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor (1955)

Andersonville was an infamous prison camp and is now a National Park Service site.

6. Confederates by Thomas Keneally (1979)

The Battle of Antietam is the setting for the climax of this novel by the author of Schindler’s List.

5. The Last Full Measure by Jeff Shaara (1998)

Picks up where his father’s (and our #1) novel leaves off after Gettysburg.

4. The March by E.L. Doctorow (2005)

Join Sherman’s march from Georgia to North Carolina alongside a fascinating cast of characters.

3. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936)

The origin of two legendary characters of the silver screen: Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler.

2. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1894)

A classic that you might have been forced to read in grade school, but is worth a reread.

…and finally our #1 novel about the American Civil War:

1. The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1975)

This book about Gettysburg also made it to #1 on our Top 10 Novels set in a National Park list.

Honorable Mentions

Uncle Tom’s Cabin or Life Among the Lowly by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)

This story of slavery is not about the Civil War, but it may have helped start it.

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman (1891)

Some of Whitman’s best poems were inspired by his time as a nurse during the war.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)

The Civil War provides the backdrop for Louisa May Alcott’s masterpiece.

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