Saturday, March 22, 2014

Antietam

  Though it's not quite time to start the A-Z challenge, as it begins on April 1, thought I'd do an A posting anyway.  This is a brief look at Antietam.  You could spend hours and hours there, trying to follow how the battle unfolded, reading all the monuments, admiring the beauty of artistic stones, and respecting the brave men.  Antietam was the single bloodiest day in the fighting of The Civil War.  The battle took place on the bank of Antietam Creek, thus the name of the battle.  Though it's near the town of Sharpsburg.  The South refers to it as the battle of Sharpsburg.  Some of these pictures are hard to read (was very sunny the day we were there), the above close up portion is of The 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment.  This regiment had two men who later became President of the preserved Union, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley.

 There are a total of 9 Ohio Monuments, honoring The 1st Ohio Light Artillery, The 5th,7th, & 66th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 8th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 11th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 12th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 23rd Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 28th Ohio Infantry Regiment, The 30th Ohio Infantry Regiment, and The 36th Ohio Infantry Regiment.
  The Ohio monuments were all dedicated in 1903.  Ten states have monuments to their dead: Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Ohio.  This was the first battle fought on Union soil.  The battle strategically was considered a victory for The North, but tactically was considered a draw.

The number known to have been killed were 2,108 for the North and 1,546 for the South (3,654 total); wounded numbers were staggering for sides 9,540 for the North and 7,752 for the south (17,292 total).  Add to that the number captured and or missing, 753 for the North and 1,018 for the South (1,771 total).
*****22,717 killed, wounded, captured, and or missing in 1 single battle*********
A horrible loss for our country.

The battlefield is something everyone should put on their list of things to see.  While we can't truly absorb it all, it is worth the try.

Pop in, Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

April Blogging Challenge, Travel as you Go

Can you believe it's that time of year again?  I joined the A-Z challenge last year on 4 of my 5 blogs which was quite a chore.  I scheduled posts ahead...just barely made it by got them all written with I think a day to spare.  Thus far, I've only signed up one blog.....this one.  Not sure I want to bite off that much this time round.  I put lots and lots of time into writing thoughtful posts and visited far more blogs daily then was suggested.  I felt like I put alot more into it then I got back in terms of blog visits and comments and followers.  Many people felt that way, but the majority felt it was a positive experience....and soooooooooooooo

Here we are again.  When I signed up I was blog #845, think that was over a week ago, and currently I'm #841.  That means a few folks have drop out or been eliminated already.  The number changes throughout the process.

What is the challenge?  Write a blog post daily (except Sunday) in alphabetical order.  Some people elect to blog in a theme for the whole month, others not.  There are categories which can be used or not.  I didn't choose categories last year on any of my blogs as I though the wide open was better and allowed more choices.  This year I did select TR (travel), since this is a travel blog.  I thought people would be open minded and visit all kinds of blogs last year...that didn't seem to be the case.  Example writers tended only to visit writers blogs.  Well everyone travels be it for work or pleasure so doesn't everyone enjoy a travel blog?  Apparently not, lol.  So, will see how it goes this year round.

So travel as you go; be it with your own blogging or your visits were you're traveling here on the net.  I'll be happy to have you accompany and the best part, you don't have to pack or do laundry!

The blog badge in the sidebar will take you to the blog to sign up for the challenge.  Come join us and have fun.

Pop in Often, remember Menu Mondays for dining tips, Traveling Tips on Thursday, and any day for vacation destinations.