suzenatale
Sergeant Major
- Joined
- May 25, 2013
Oh good, glad the idea has become somewhat more bearable. How much of a donation shall I put you down for.Not gonna do it! If I could cry on demand I'd have been an actor.
Oh good, glad the idea has become somewhat more bearable. How much of a donation shall I put you down for.Not gonna do it! If I could cry on demand I'd have been an actor.
Apparently you misunderstand. Another roadside marker isn't unbearable to me. I just don't see the need.Oh good, glad the idea has become somewhat more bearable. How much of a donation shall I put you down for.
When I was there about 10 years ago the park ranger sent me to a spot that was definitely not that spot. So I guess even park rangers could use a reminder.Apparently you misunderstand. Another roadside marker isn't unbearable to me. I just don't see the need.
It would be cool if the CWT could buy the house where Fort Sedgwick used to be, I presume a house is there now. They could recreate the fort and it could be a nice green space for those living in the neighborhood. Then all markers could be placed there directing people where to look to see this and that.On a side note... one must also take into consideration the location... this isn't some rural country byway beside a corn field that once was part of a battlefield... with open spaces and viable option for commemoration markers and preservation.... its located in the heart of an urban metro city....
What was the city locate in 1864-65 was much much smaller than it is now... Much of the fray occurred in the surrounding country side that was mostly rural farm land...... Cities rebuilt and prospered as well as greatly expanded.... The main property mass of what is now Petersburg NPS evaded the urban sprawling of the early 1900's... not because of historical preservationist.... but because it was purchased and became a golf course... so the sprawl developed around it... Later the NPS obtained the property.. but what was beyond that had already been engulfed in development..... What had been the ground that the V Corp fought across was unfortunately outside of that tee-off border.... Commercial and residential development had already consumed it..... very little if anything remaining that would give any clue of what previously had occurred there.... A few monuments had been erected in the area before the wave of city development enveloped them... The Pennsylvania Monument sits in the middle of a split on a side road.... another statue laden granite marker on Crater Rd.... sits on a small patch of grass in the corner of a strip mall parking lot.... urban sprawl.... then urban decay....
It would be difficult for anyone to accurately determine exactly what may have happened where in that area. Very little evidence remaining of its prior history to gauge anything on other than reasonable guesses at best.... The topography has greatly changed since 1864.... cant fault the ranger for pointing out a generalized area...
I understand the desire and passion to remember and commemorate...regardless who it might be... but in this particular case knowing the area pretty good..... I would have to question if the issue hadn't been completely evaluated and thought out... if this marker itself would actually be the best way and means to relay the sentiment and commemoration.... buried back hidden out of the way in a neighborhood.... or even if shifted up on the nearby main road.... placed by the road between the adult book store and the local payday loan shark office... Think I would have tried to consider other possible options... taken into consideration the immediate environment this is aimed at...
Humm, well I'm not sure how they determined the location. Supposedly by a stream? I think these railroad tracks might be in the same location. Could Sedgwick be in that clump of trees at the bottom of your image. It would take a lot of studying maps. I imagine someone knows more about it than I do.Sedgwick once existed somewhere relative to the center of this image..... no real evidence remains... This is why I stated it can be quite difficult to determine exact locations of various features that once existed there.....
View attachment 41348
Cool! Thanks!The clump of trees near the bottom of the prior image is where Blackwater Creek winds through, which is a marshy-swampy area now.. This feature was reportedly in the rear area back behind Sedgwick, as shown on some maps. These show the general area where it was once suppose to be.
Also some maps show Sedgwick in advance of the existing old railroad line.... Once they cut in the new US Military Rail line to the Petersburg lines from City Point... some show it situated just behind that one. Id have to do some old file digging to find out which rail line the still existing railroad bed followed that appears on the modern map... So it should be just above or just below the rail bed seen in the map here....
Ironically I have a meeting at Petersburg NPS on Saturday so can check what they have there... If that doesn't clear it, I also have another unrelated meeting with Chris Calkins on Monday... He previously had been the chief historian for Petersburg NPS for over 30 years and authored a number of books on the campaign... and knows every inch of it... if anyone knows exactly.. he would.
View attachment 41366
Wow, that is so cool and so sad!http://26nc.org/blog/?p=177
Apparently, it was destroyed in 1967. The author of the blog describes touring Fort Sedgwick and even has a pamphlet for touring the fort prior to its destruction. Too bad the CWT wasn't around back in those days.