A Civil War Venture

American Queen (2015).

On the 12^th day of April 1861, at exactly 4:30 in the morning, a mortar shell arched over the harbor of Charleston, South Caroline, exploding above an island fortification, Fort Sumter, and changing America forever. The result of the shelling was variously known as “The War of the Rebellion,” “The War of Northern Aggression,” “Mr. Lincoln’s War,” “The Brothers’ War.”

Mary Frances and I just returned from a Civil War-focused trip, traveling from Nashville to Chattanooga on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers via the American Queen, a steam-driven paddlewheel. We saw battlefield sites, heard Civil War lectures, and on board the boat “met” Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain (or, at least, their impersonators). The principal purpose of the journey was, admittedly, fun, but our voyage allowed a plunge into Civil War history to better understand the impacts on and the politics of Wabash Valley inhabitants during this desperate period. These will be the focus of some upcoming posts.