Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wondering About Cape Hatteras.

Back in the mid 1960's we lived in Pennsylvania and started spending all our vacations on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Some years we would go for two weeks in the summer and a week around Thanksgiving time.  I loved the ocean, the beach, the surf fishing, and the sight seeing.  We usually rented a cottage in either Kitty Hawk or Nag's Head or Kill Devil Hills.  Later on, we took the pop-up camper to Oregon Inlet camp grounds in the fall of the year when the temperatures had cooled off.

Not only was that area a lot of sand and sea fun, it also had a lot of history in both the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.  There were a couple of deep water inlets from the Atlantic into the Pamlico Sound.  These were quite important during the Civil War.  The Confederacy defended them with all they could and the Union had ships off shore that bombarded the forts that guarded the inlets, because if the Union war ships could get through and control the inlets, the Confederacy would lose its two main shipping lanes and the Union would then be able to do more damage to the mainland.  Here is a map of that era showing the forts located on the islands:
 
Here is a plaque that tells about the battle.  You can click on it to enlarge it and then read about the bombardment.  BTW, this battle began back on this day in 1861.


One of the most famous lighthouses is located at Cape Hatteras.  I bet most all of you have seen pictures of it.  I have been to the top of it a couple of times:

The Union was very lucky that the bombardment worked so well.  Why?  Because the Union soldiers got their powder wet when they waded ashore and couldn't reload their rifles, but the Confederate troops gave up after being pounded by the Union ship's big guns.  War is hell, but a civil war fought between people from the same country, even brothers against brothers, is the worst of all possible wars.  I hope that there is and always will be peace in all of your lives, you hear?

9 comments:

  1. Hard to imagine, until you see Ferguson, and realize it won't be called "war" but personal self-defense. So sad.

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  2. War of any kind whether civil or foreign is not the best alternative. Wish we could stay out of them for they only bring misery to so many innocent people.

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    1. I agree. There should be better ways of solving things.

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  3. Nice area. Hope it remains peaceful.

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    1. It was a lot more peaceful way back when started going there in the mid '60s

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  4. Years ago I visited many of the Civil War battlefields and was very interested in the history. My volunteer stint at Ft. Pulaski, GA opened my eyes to the brutality on both sides of the war, and now the thought of going to any kind of battlefield just sickens me.

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    1. But don't forget, the Outer Banks is where the Wright brothers first took flight. There is a museum there where that happened. And that area is also a great family vacation place to have fun in the surf and the sand and the sun. There are also huge sand dunes there and of course Roanoke Island. They put on a great outdoor play on that island called the Lost Colony.

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  5. Yes, I went there and the Wright brother monument .... Gettysburg was a place I hadn't intended to go ... I just made several wrong turns which is what I do best when traveling and felt very emotional.

    I'll never forget that and .. I think I wrote a blog post about it .. not sure. unbelievable war... and some people still seem to fight it!

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