American History Travels

During a very recent video shoot, we completed several shorts at the Antietam Battlefield, Maryland including the one below: Return To The Battlefield Video Artifact Just after completing the video, Garry Adelman, Chief Historian for the American Battlefield Trust, stated "you just have to see this!" and led us to a location in a general east direction from the Sunken Road along a dirt path. After walking 40-50 yards, we stopped in the middle of the field and turned back towards the direction we had come. Facing back west and looking down, we were able to view the ? rock. A couple things we all agreed upon: -It is a rock in the shape of a question mark  -It seems not to have any man-made origin or construction  -The almost perfectly aligned "period mark" may have been at one time part of the larger rock -It may have been visible during the time of the Union 2nd Corps battle assaults launched across this field or may have been under the surface and over time became e...

                                        The lower river batteries of Fort Donelson along the Cumberland River, Tennessee.                                                                     This late summer "travel" was much warmer than on the anniversary of the fort's surrender February 16.                                                                                              The battle ranged 5 days, February 11-16, 1862, before the fort's surrender in the nearby Dover Hotel. Fort Do...

There is little known about this artifact but, much more known about the soldier. This is the map to the temporary grave of Lieutenant Valentine Wood Southall, Company B (Jetersville Grays), 23 rd Virginia Infantry Regiment. Lt. Southall was born on October 9, 1839, in Amelia County, Virginia. He enlisted as a private on May 16, 1861 and was wounded on May 8, 1862, at the Battle of McDowell, Virginia. He recovered, returned to the 23 rd , and entered Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, as a lieutenant. Lt. Southall was seriously wounded in fighting on Culp’s Hill, as part of Steuart's Brigade, on the evening of July 2, 1863. He was carried across Rock Creek, and eventually, 2 miles to a field hospital located on the Elizabeth Wible farm. He survived a little over 2 weeks before dying on July 20, 1863. It was a practice if the soldier died in medical care or was able to provide family information for an orderly, nurse, or someone at the medical facility to try notify the family if possible...