Civil War Stops on a Work Trip 2: The Great Escape!

Rusk County Avengers

Captain
Muster Stunt Master Stones River / Franklin 2022
Joined
Apr 8, 2018
Location
Coffeeville, TX
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Some folks may remember a thread I did last summer, https://civilwartalk.com/threads/cw-stops-on-a-work-trip.160306/ and some may remember a more recent one where I was seeking travel advice, first for Greenville, Mississippi, then after it's delay advice through Western Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois and Missouri that I left on Monday. Yeah with all that's going on, it did not go as planned...

In fact it turned into a flight for our lives with all that's going on, but I did manage a few Civil War related stops, none of which were planned. With that being said, I will be relating some stories about the current troubles, as it became a big part of the trip, and helped result in these CW related stops. Please keep your comments about the modern troubles to a minimum and non-confrontational.

And I will relate the journey through several parts below. Also this trip enabled me to appreciate the merits of these modern smartphones after my service provider finally berated me enough to get one.
 
Part One- The Memphis Pilgrimage

Heading out from Texas we made no stops in Arkansas and stayed on our route to get to Tennessee as fast as possible and get our business done. However as we came into Memphis, my boss suggested we go ahead and make a stop by the grave of Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest, as he knows my constant pursuit in the SCV to try and get involved in the future planned third funeral and re-internment.

We got there and everything was peaceful, including what is now called "Health and Sciences Park". I found the grave of Forrest and his wife to be in terrible condition, unkept and let go, barricaded off. Though all things considered, this may be a blessing in these trying times.

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While at the gravesite, I have no shame in admitting I made a vow to them to fight the SCV and family and do all I can to ensure they get good treatment and not made into museum pieces to be targeted by vandals. Some may think it foolish, but I intend to do what my one voice among thousands can do to undo what I, and most everyone in and outside of the SCV I know, has agreed is a travesty. Making them the centerpiece of a new museum at SCV HQ, a place they never knew, rather than Forrest's famous boyhood home that is owned and protected by the SCV just down the road.

Growing up, men like Raphael Semmes, Richard Taylor, Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses Grant were my heroes from the CW. Grown up and reading of him, Bedford Forrest has joined those ranks, and I found him more relatable than most in that era. This was a big stop for me, and a solemn one.

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There is a sad, if pitiful foolishness in this. I live maybe 20 miles from the grave of Emma Sansom, and have not yet visited her grave, yet drove hundreds of miles to see Forrest. I need to remedy that mistake.
 
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Part Two- Small Town Surprises!

Heading out from Memphis, we turned northward towards Trenton, TN to pick up a real nice Farmall tractor, (I think it may have been a Super A, I know the second one later was). We passed through many small towns in Western Tennessee, and after spotting monuments, markers and cannons thus necessitating stops. The first in Brownsville, TN.

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The second stop being in Trenton, TN itself after we picked up our first tractor. The courthouse was beautiful! I really wish I had got better pictures. It dates to the 1890's and is thus not CW, but I'll share photos of it. Also the monument there was a beauty in art itself.

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After leaving Trenton, we had already heard Memphis was erupting and knowing the danger in crossing the Mississippi with riots there, we elected to head to Dyersburg and cross home, cancelling the rest of the trip. Things however didn't go that way, as when we got to Union City, we heard Dyersburg had erupted from locals and it was too dangerous. We were trapped, cutoff from our Texas home and running to avoid riots. But staying in Union City for the night was okay by me, as it enabled me to go by Dixie Gun Works with a little shopping list for me, and shopping lists for friends in Texas.

Heading toward Union City, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets I had seen in a long while. Commenting on its beauty, my friend and boss simply replied: "It is, and it sets on a troubled nation..." a poignant statement, and the realization sunk in for me the first time that our ancestors had seen similar summer sunsets in 1860, and that like many I was now cutoff from the west. The realization that hit me was, that like many ordinary people in 1863, I was now cutoff and not able to cross the Mississippi River unless I traveled hundreds of miles, danger being in both directions.

It may have been an overreacting imagination, but I'm profoundly grateful for that experience, because it gave me a whole new prospective on the Civil War in the Mississippi River Region, and a new appreciation of it.
 
Seeing another very important thread, after I started this one, I will postpone telling the rest of the story until I have confirmation its okay. I'd rather be safe than sorry as this story is very closely tied in with the modern troubles the nation is experiencing and how it resulted in my CW tourist stops.

Having no wish to see this turned into a modern political shouting match and I will postpone the other parts.
 
@Rusk County Avengers A neat little travel log. Thanks very much. Did you enjoy Dixie Gun Works? I would really like to visit that. Maybe someday.

John

You could say I enjoyed it...

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Probably too much to be honest. If I get the go ahead to continue this thread's tour I'll share more of my stop there. Their uniforms and many other goods I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, and some items can be a little pricey, but where NIB guns and customer service are concerned I think them top shelf.

The place is a must visit
 
Good stuff my friend. The things you find on roads not travelled before and unplanned stops can be the most memorable.
 
Good stuff my friend. The things you find on roads not travelled before and unplanned stops can be the most memorable.

Oh my final stop before making a maddening, and fearful run for the Mississippi River was a completely unplanned, long desired location that never entered into my thoughts as a possible stop before leaving Texas.
 
Part Three- Hey lets go home by way of Kentucky!

Waking up bright and early in Union City, we saw news of escalation in St. Louis and the boss man decided we had made the right decision to call off that part of the work trip. Then after we went by Dixie Gun Works, where I bought buttons, blueprints for a CS Tredegar Mountain Rifle, stuff friends asked me to pick up, (including some stuff for Tom that many here have come to know), and toured the car museum they have. With a mock up of a CW sutler wagon! (Did y'all think I'd get off CW stuff?)

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I could have took pictures of everything else there, but I'd have spoiled surprises for everyone else. Plus they are in business. I would recommend to everyone stop by, they have an amazing assortment of original guns from the war that looked like they've been hanging on the wall as if for sale for decades. I personally drooled over two Type 3 Fayetteville Rifles. Everything from Eastern matchlocks to CW imports, and you can buy defarbed reproductions of M1855's or any other regular reproduction. I halfway think keeping original guns in the same sales floor was on purpose as a sales technique.

On another note, considering everything going on and the fear of hordes of folks gunning for anything historical, we were hauling antique tractors after all, I did (jokingly) tried to rent a Gatling Gun, which I was turned down. But told I could buy one for only $45,000!

My friend and boss on this trip, Sam who is a big collector and dealer in 1930's cars, tractors and anything else you can think of, loved the place, which he had never heard of. He examined the place with its brick construction with big glass door, and begged them to put an iron door in place with everything going on as he didn't want to see anything happen with all that's going on.

About this time Sam informed me we were going to go ahead and go to Cadiz, Kentucky, (pronounced Kah-Deez as I was informed when we got to our destination), and I went ahead and got the last of a CD of Shelby Foote's comments of General Forrest, which never watching the famous PBS documentary or read his books, this was an entertaining listen on the way to Kentucky. I later learned on getting home Cadiz has some CW history I'm still looking into.

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Part Four-Escape Route Surprise!

When we, I'll admit foolishly now, left for our planned journey to Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri pick up trip, we were planning on being gone two days and one night, running as fast as we could to get merchandise for Canton and so on, it turned into a flight to stay one step ahead of riots to keep our skin intact. Rumors of riots, news reports of riots governed what we did. We also adopted a policy to try not to take the same routes twice just in case. That policy resulted in a rest stop after traveling hundreds of miles from far western Tennessee, to pretty close to south central Kentucky, and straight south along the eastern side of what had been the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers 150 years ago after going above them from Union City, TN to Cadiz KY.

If you ain't figured out this stop from all the clues I've dropped I'm sorry, but it was Fort Donelson!!!!

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Getting there, Sam settled for a lunch under the trees, while I went to talk to Park Staff. The Visitor's Center is currently undergoing renovations and they were putting the final touches on the temporary one by the looks of it. They told me to go right on in and enjoy myself, and I was left under the impression that any artifacts there are being put away for safe keeping during renovation, not to mention these trying times for any artifact from the CW.

Sam didn't feel confident driving the truck with its gooseneck trailer through the park, so I went for a mile long walk down to the actual fort.

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Part Four Continued Below
 
Part Four Continued

I guess y'all can add walking all the way to the Fort Donelson to my legend after my apparently legendary Thayer's Approach shenanigan.

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Gotta say, I halfway wish I had had a weedeater with me. I'd probably still be there weedeating! It would have been my way of giving back to our National Parks for all the work they do. Also it would have given me an excuse to climb the untouchable earthworks and go into areas marked "NO ENTRY" due to eagle nests. Which I never saw a one...
 
Part Five- The Tortuous Journey Home

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I had no more CW related stops after Fort Donelson I'm afraid, but a conclusion to any story is just as important as how it began. After leaving Dover we headed westward, and stopping in a small town, I think it may have been Paris, we stopped by an antique shop, (there were wagons outside) and talking to the proprietor we learned things had gotten worse in Memphis, far worse than the news said. Apparently he had a brother attacked and his semi looted. No mention of that in the news I might add that was saying it was peaceful now.

It looked like to us though, we either had risk ourselves and our treasure by going through Memphis, or go south to Mississippi and hope it hadn't erupted at those bridge crossings. Considering it costs, and strategy wise, we elected to take the risk in Memphis and charge on through.

That's when things got bad. Real bad...

When we got to Humboldt, TN I noticed a screeching sound from our pretty new Dodge Duelie, and it was getting worse. We called around and backtracked from the back roads to Jackson, TN and called a diesel shop who agreed to get us in first thing and the morning and do all they could to help us get back to Texas. (They actually stopped all their other work and worked all the next day, from 7am to 6pm to get us on the road. Integrity Diesel in Jackson, TN, y'all remember them. Dang good folks, and the head man who got us in is a veteran whom I thanked for his help and service.)

Spending the night in a hotel before getting to the shop, I'm going to share an odd experience and caution everyone to leave it at that. I noticed the hotel full up, unusual in these times, and how most all the cars were newer make, being driven by kids, ranging 17 to 20, without parents and the like, and a lot of folks who frankly didn't look they could afford such vehicles. After noticing how every time I stepped outside our room to smoke, and seeing doors open all along the line looking out to see what the noise was, and every one of them looking over their shoulders when they'd pass like they were expecting trouble. It didn't take me long to realize we were camped right in the middle of a traveling rioter group! One looking to keep a real low profile till they got to they're destination.

After spending a whole day getting the truck fixed, (new water pump, new idler, and lot of parts replaced in the transmission), at 6:30 we made a beeline for Memphis and freedom across the Mississippi. On nearing Memphis we learned they were shutting down the Interstate and bridge at 8:00 on the dot and put the pedal to the metal to get through as fast as we could alongside police cars and SWAT trucks running to and fro, the city looking halfway like a warzone with all the police and State Trooper activity, and managed to cross the bridge at 7:58 just as they were getting ready to shut her down.

We continued through the night to Texas, with Little Rock looking the same as Memphis, only to after finally getting back to Texas to get rammed in Atlanta by a truck driven by a driver, under the influence of something, who I managed to catch and keep from fleeing after he abandoned his truck, (and I assume his wife). The truck was able to keep going so we made it home. With no injuries.

I'm mainly sharing all this to warn folks against doing what I did in these saddening and tragic times. We set out for business, got trapped for a spell on the wrong side of the Mississippi, and all profit from the trip lost, and taking a hefty dint in finances in general. We set out to make money, but lost it instead, and came closer to danger than anyone in their right mind ought to care to be. (I know some have come to conclusion I might not be in my right mind sometimes with my risk taking behavior.)

So that's the conclusion, I thank y'all for bearing with me, and I hope the story kept y'all entertained and enlightened. So until next time, God Bless and Safer travels than me! :D

(This has been a public service announcement to warn you against traveling with Rusk County Avengers. He is out of his mind and will say "Let's Go!!!" at the absolute worst time to see a Civil War battlefield, museum or site.)
 
I'm going to throw out James N. 's great thread and tour of Fort Donelson here for folks wanting better picture, and refresh any memories about Fort Donelson.

He's a far better tour guide than my crazy self!

 
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Part Three- Hey lets go home by way of Kentucky!

Waking up bright and early in Union City, we saw news of escalation in St. Louis and the boss man decided we had made the right decision to call off that part of the work trip. Then after we went by Dixie Gun Works, where I bought buttons, blueprints for a CS Tredegar Mountain Rifle, stuff friends asked me to pick up, (including some stuff for Tom that many here have come to know), and toured the car museum they have. With a mock up of a CW sutler wagon!
I have been to Dixie Gun Works---but only the retail store. I have not visited their museum. I got the impression it was mainly a collection of cars. Did they have any antique guns in this museum?
 
I have been to Dixie Gun Works---but only the retail store. I have not visited their museum. I got the impression it was mainly a collection of cars. Did they have any antique guns in this museum?

Nope, all the guns were on the sales floor on the wall for display. There's a lot of rare guns on that wall, and rare stuff in the car museum.

They have what appears to be an original log building in the car museum with all the period tools of a 1800's gunsmith on display inside it.
 
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