Danny,
pictured above took the time to take me back to the remains of the remains of
the trenches at Honey Hill – site of the last victory by the South in the civil
war. Danny’s great-grandfather fought
here at 15 years of age.
Over 150 years later, all that remains visible
are long mounds of dirt and the original road-bed. Union forces running in advance of Sherman
had wanted to cut the last working leg of the South’s railroad – the line between
Savannah and Charleston. Given the
nature of the tidal marshes, there were only so many points they could try to
access.
I read through a book containing accounts
of the battle written by both sides – and typical of any war it was a gruesome
scene. Miss-communication and mistakes by
the Union allowed extra time for reinforcements to arrive from Georgia to help
with the effort to stop the Union advance.
Both sides talk about so many bodies building up that they dammed the
creek that in front of the entrenchments, and that the waters ran red from all
the blood.
The North had at their disposal a regiment
of black soldiers, whom numerous accounts claim were the poorest equipped soldiers. But, in numerous battle sites the North
employed the strategy of sending the black regiments – sometimes completely
unarmed – up against the fortifications first.
And so was the case here – the blacks were sent to absorb the brunt of
the fire and allow the other troops to get their bearings. A local doctor’s diary is said to have
included an account of treating numerous of the blacks for triangular shaped bayonet
wounds in the back – the result of being pushed forward by other Union troops.
Another account is of trees that were cut
near the site and taken to a saw-mill back in the 1950’s. It seems that an un-exploded shell was lodged
in a tree trunk, and when the lumber-mill’s blade hit it the resulting
explosion tore apart the saw and killed a worker. Since that time no one else has tried to use
trees from that area for lumber.
I drove to a small boat landing down a dirt
road, and a dolphin came right up to me – not twenty feet away in the
water. If you look close at the photo,
there are many scars around its face – I have no idea what would cause that
type of scarring. However, there is
supposed to be an island somewhere local where research monkeys are raised –
folks say that you can see them playing on the beaches. I am going to be back down in the St. Helena
Sound area for one more week – how cool it would be to find that island and get
some shots. There is supposedly another
island where there are a couple of deserted mansions from the 1800’s and early
1900’s. Maybe I will get lucky and meet
someone with a boat and a penchant for exploring.
One nice thing about South Carolina is that there is always something in bloom - I am not sure the specie of these bushes, but they are blooming away right after a cold snap that saw freezing rain and temperatures below 20 degrees.
It will be a luxury to be back somewhere
that I don’t have to drive fifteen miles to get internet, and where it doesn't take a half hour per photo for them to upload.
I look forward to being able to be consistent again.
Have a great Monday, and I hope those of you
up the Eastern Seaboard are getting dug out of the storm we sent your way last
week.
David
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