Kennesaw Mountain

On the way down to Hotlanta for the National History Bee, we stopped by Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield as Dudeboy had never toured the battlefield.  The view in the photo above is from atop Kennesaw Mountain and you can see Atlanta on the horizon in the blue distance.

One of the Confederate artillery placements atop Kennesaw Mountain . . . near the overlook.

Original Confederate earthworks still visible on Pigeon Hill.  This was where one of the two attacks by Sherman was repulsed.

Atop Pigeon Hill . . .

The Dead Angle on Cheatham Hill.  It was at this protruding angle in the Confederate lines that the worst of the fighting raged.  The Union troops attacked from across the field in the background to the entrenched works of Johnston's troops.  For the most part, the Union advance was mowed down.  However, amazingly, some reached the earthworks and actually engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

This is the Illinois Monument dedicated in 1914 and is the largest monument on the battlefield.  At the bottom of the photo is the entrance to a tunnel that was being constructed with the intention of setting off a bit of explosives under the Confederate lines.  However, the Confederates withdrew before the tunnel was completed.

The mounded area in the forefront of the photo was where some Union soldiers were caught in a kinda no-mans land.  They threw up a bit of earthworks to help shield them from the Confederate line which was situated just behind where the Illinois Monument is located.  It would have been suicide for many in this situation to retreat, so many suffered out here in the open for a good while.
 

The grave of an unknown Union soldier near the Dead Angle. 

A 9th Kentucky Wedding . . .

An original ferrotype by Wendell Decker (see here and here for our previous sittings with Wendell).

Another original ferrotype by Wendell Decker.

Father and son on Father's Day weekend . . .

Dudeboy in line at one of the demonstrations for our Old Mulkey Meeting House living history event.

Apart from our annual Old Mulkey Meeting House living history event another important occurrence transpired this weekend  . . . an antebellum-themed wedding involving two 9th Ky. members Todd W. and Tara.  They met at the Old Mulkey event two years ago and fell in love. (Photo taken by Cousin JoAnne)

(Photo taken by Cousin JoAnne)

Artemisia! . . . Boom! . . . the National History Bee National Finals

Well, we have just returned from Atlanta and the National History Bee National Finals, and we are very proud and pleased to relate that Malcolm did great! There were just under 700 students from 47 states that participated. We met and talked with several families from all over the country . . . California, Texas, Connecticut. There were even kids who journeyed from Alaska and Hawaii for the event!

As I said Malcolm did great. He outright won or tied for first in each of his preliminary rounds (I should add that there were ten children in each preliminary round).  And by doing so, he qualified for the Championship Rounds. There were three championship rounds . . . the first consisting of 128 students divided into 16 sections. The top two from each section moved on into the next round where the final eight advanced to ultimate championship round. Well, Malcolm made it into the first championship round.

To show how hard it is when you get to this point in the competition, the boy who won the Nashville Region (the last two years no less) was also eliminated in Malcolm's section. Apparently some kids even have personal "history coaches." So, compared to some, we didn't really put much effort into reviewing for the event which impresses me even more knowing he was mostly relying on his existing general knowledge. (Above photo . . . to give you some idea of how large the event was, this picture was taken when I was positioned only about 2/3rds back).

Malcolm pointing to his name which signified that he was moving on to the Championship Rounds.

It was a thrill to watch Malcolm throwing out names like Eugene Debs, Samuel Gompers and events like the Bonus Army, the Prague Spring and that Artemisia was a reference to the Persian War. I must say the last eight kids in the final were amazing to watch. I was a history major and they would have blitzed me.

Our New Neighbors

Here is one of the five baby skunks (I just looked it up . . . a baby skunk is called a "kit") that live in or near our yard.  This guy was very friendly and obviously wanted to check me out, but like so many people unaccustomed to beings not like them I was a little leery.  These guys are pretty damn cute . . .

24 Years . . .

Rain-Soak-A

This past weekend, Dudeboy and I joined a few of the 9th Ky. for the reenactment in honor of 150th anniversary of the Battle of Resaca.  This was the first major engagement in the Atlanta campaign with some 6000 casualties.

A Boy and His Dog . . . dog tent that is.  This is what he wanted for his birthday and we purchased it on the way down to Resaca.  He is quite proud of it, but I daresay come weather in the teens (like at Ft. Donelson) he'll be in the A-Frame with me!  Speaking of my A-Frame, look at the nice open area to the right of it.  By the next morning, that area looked a little bit different, as you will see in the next picture.

We had a steady rain for the majority of the time while we were at Resaca and these were some of the results. Dudeboy dubbed the event "Rain-Soak-A."  However, we consider ourselves very lucky for our tent stayed fairly dry, but as you can see, the water was encroaching.  A number of others were not so lucky.  While we slept soundly, a good many of the others in our area were inundated and "maybe got an hour of sleep!"

Dudeboy and his tent-mate . . . 

"Say hello to my little friend . . . "

While in the area we visited a few of the sites pertaining to the battle . . . like the cemetery for the Confederate dead.  I should mention that the reenactment took place on a portion of the original battlefield.

I recommend that you take the time to read a great short story pertaining to the battle that Ambrose Bierce wrote entitled "Killed at Resaca."

It is impossible to tell from this photo, but Dudeboy is standing in front of the remains of some earthworks of a large redoubt located at what was Fort Wayne.  This fort was built in part to protect the Western and Atlantic railway bridge over the Oostanaula River.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day . . . in what has apparently become a new tradition, the Fife Clan returned to Red Boiling Springs, Tn for Mother's Day.  This year we ate at Armour's Hotel, where one can also partake of the mineral baths and the like . . . and of course sample the sulfur water.

The next few pictures are of Avi "taking the waters."  As wikipedia states in their article about Red Boiling Springs: "The various waters contained several minerals but sulfur was predominant, giving the waters the scent (and some would say, the flavor) of rotten eggs."  More like rotten eggs seeped in sewer water.