Paris Landing State Park
October 29, 2020
Travel day today. It rained yesterday from 3:30pm until bedtime.
Woke up to more rain today. Well it's easier to pack up a trailer
than it is to roll up a wet tent.
Skies were grey but leaves still held some color.
We backed into our site here at the state park.
And then some more rain.
We did sneak in a quick walk around the campground
Will get a look at the whole park tomorrow.
So yesterday at the end of our hike,
I came back to the camper and got a stick to clean
the mud out of the soles of my boots.
That is when I discovered that the rubber base
was disconnected from the boot
and the sole of the shoe as well as the rubber base
had a huge crack in it.
Tonight we spent some time gluing down
the cracked sole on my hiking boot
and reinforcing it with duct tape.
We will need to find a replacement.
October 30,2020
We woke up to sunshine!
A little chilly with a high of 54 predicted here.
blueberry pancakes for breakfast that should warm us up a little.
A $23 replacement boot from Wal-Mart.
Only temporary, we will eventually get a good pair of hikers.
We did go to a local sporting goods store but all of the
boots they had were for fishing in a stream, not what I need.
Time to hit the trail in the new boots.
Come on the Raptor Ridge Trail with us.
Fallen leaves cover the trail but the forest
blue blazes keep us on the right path.
We get to see Kentucky Lake and the bridge
we came in on route 79.
The lake is big, 3 miles wide here at
Paris Landing State Park.
My artsy shot featuring red leaves in the foreground
sun shining on the water
and forested hill on the far shore.
Ah, the reason for the name of the trail.
Looks like a turkey vulture to me.
He is not alone.
Look through the tree branches
and watch these raptors circle overhead.
And that concludes our hike on Raptor Ridge Trail.
After the hike I head over to the marina
for some sunshine, the campsite is all shade.
The marina has sailboats
some pontoons
houseboats and a couple of yachts.
It's a good place for an afternoon read.
Well the sun is setting
Jim is playing guitar.
Time for me to get some dinner together.
October 31, 2020
Happy Halloween !👻👻
Today we are going to Fort Donelson National Battlefield
This is a driving trail, here is the map.
"Fort Donelson will hereafter be marked in Capitals on the maps of our United Country..."
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant was becoming quite famous as he wrote these words following the surrender of Confederate Fort Donelson on Sunday, February 16, 1862. The Union victory at Fort Donelson elated the North, and stunned the South. Within days of the surrender, Clarksville and Nashville would fall into Union hands. Grant and his troops had created a pathway to victory for the Union.
My first impression was that this park is beautiful.
It is a sunny day and the rolling hills of Tennessee are looking good today.
This hill is actually confederate earthworks or trench.
A six foot slant on the soldier side
and a twelve foot drop on the other side
(you dig six feet down and toss it to create the mound).
Amazing that after 158 years you can still see them.
We spent a little while with this ranger who was fielding questions
from ourselves and others that arrived at the same time
that he started his day. He gave a perspective of how individuals in the battle felt.
One story is that union soldiers marching from Fort Henry in unseasonably warm weather,
tossed away their blankets and winter coats. Then the weather changes and they are at
Fort Donelson in the snow and 12 degree temperatures freezing.
This Confederate Monument was erected in 1933.
Confederate soldiers were buried on the battlefield after the surrender,
no exact location is known.
This monument commemorates the Southern soldiers
who died at Fort Donelson.
quote on the monument
Confederate soldiers and slaves built the 15 acre earthen fort in 7 months.
At the time of battle all trees within 200 yards were cleared.
Here is a replica of soldier's quarters, a log hut. An estimated 400 huts were here.
The original huts had to be burned down sometime after the
surrender because of a measles outbreak.
And inside the hut, straw and a fireplace.
Interesting combination, seems quite combustible.
Next stop the River Batteries.
Here is the look down the Cumberland from the lower battery.
The river was a vital artery that flowed directly through
the Confederate heartland. Transportation and supply routes
depended heavily on the river.
The lower battery was quite effective.
Round 1: "The morning of February 14 dawned cold and quiet. Early in the afternoon a furious roar broke the stillness, and the earth began to shake. Andrew H. Foote's Union gunboat fleet, consisting of the ironclads St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Carondolet, and the timberclads Conestoga and Tyler, had arrived from Fort Henry via the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers and were exchanging "iron valentines" with the eleven big guns in the Southern water batteries. During this one and one-half hour duel the Confederates wounded Foote and inflicted such extensive damage upon the gunboats that they were forced to retreat. The hills and hollows echoed with cheers from the southern soldiers."
It seems clear that the lower battery had a clear shot at the approaching fleet.
A little confederate bragging.
On a side note, there are eagles here (my photo)
And eagle paparazzi with their zoom lenses.
Who can provide close-ups like this.
Back to the lower battery on the Cumberland.
And the upper battery.
While we were imagining the ironclads coming up the river,
a modern barge came down the river.
Here take a look as the barge approaches.
Okay back to the battleground.
Round 2: "Grant was receiving reinforcements daily and had extended his right flank almost to Lick Creek to complete the encirclement of the Southerners. If the Confederates did not move quickly, they would be starved into submission. Accordingly, they massed their troops against the Union right, hoping to clear a route to Nashville and safety. Both Confederate and Union soldiers fought furiously on the morning of February 15; the Union Army grudgingly retreated by the afternoon."
Round 3:
"Just as it seemed the way was clear, the Southern troops were ordered to return to their entrenchments-a result of confusion and indecision among the Confederate commanders. Grant immediately launched a vigorous counterattack, retaking most of the lost ground and gaining new positions as well. The way of escape was closed once more.
Floyd and Pillow turned over command of Fort Donelson to Buckner and slipped away to Nashville with about 2,000 men. Others followed cavalryman Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest across swollen Lick Creek. That morning, February 16, Buckner asked Grant for terms. Grant's answer was short and direct: "No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted." Buckner surrendered."
The Dover Hotel, known as The Surrender House.
Built between 1851 and 1853 on the Cumberland River, the hotel was first to be seen by
riverboat travelers as they arrived. 1 of 3 hotels in Dover it had the best accommodations in town.
The Dover Hotel is often referred to as a tavern in writings from the period
and from my peek inside, it does have a prominent bar.
I could only look thru the window as it was closed due to CoVid.
"After the fall of Fort Donelson, the South was forced to give up southern Kentucky and much of Middle and West Tennessee. The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, and railroads in the area, became vital Federal supply lines. Nashville was developed into a huge supply depot for the Union army in the west. The heartland of the Confederacy was opened, and the Federals would press on until the "Union" became a fact once more."
A pin oak tree on the shores of the Cumberland River
on the Dover Hotel property. Once again a beautiful place today.
Imagine processing 13,000 prisoners. Steamboats were used
from the hotel to transport them to Illinois and Indiana.
Officers were sent to Ohio and Massachussetts.
"With the capture of Fort Donelson and its sister fort, Henry, the North had not only won its first great victory, it had also gained a new hero-"Unconditional Surrender" Grant, who was promoted to major general. "
The final stop on the tour is the National Cemetery at Fort Donelson.
Here lies the 670 union soldiers who died on the battlefield, 512 unknown.
This is the marker for unknown soldier 170. Coins were placed on most of the markers if not all.
"A coin left on a headstone lets the deceased soldier's family know that somebody stopped by to pay their respects. If you leave a penny, it means you visited. A nickel means that you and the deceased soldier trained at boot camp together. If you served with the soldier, you leave a dime."
The cemetery is a beautiful peaceful place.
One section is laid out in a heart shaped pattern.
The center section encircles the canon.
Modern gravestones are in neat lines.
And this concludes our tour of Fort Donelson National Battlefield.
It's not quite gametime yet, so we take a quick walk to the Marina
A pleasure boat going out on Kentucky Lake
A couple of Coast Guard boats.
"Coast" guards here is Tennessee.
And don't you just hate it when your boat is too long for the slip?
Game Time, thanks Marie for HULU access to the game.
Here at Paris Landing we have no TV reception.
GO IRISH !
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