Trip to Virginia

We have really been burning up the interstates lately! Two weeks ago we took a trip to Virginia with my side of the family and last week we spent a long weekend at Folly Beach with friends (more to come on that trip).

The trip to Virginia was centered around a monument dedication service at Spotsylvania Battlefield. Historians credit the South Carolina men of McGowan's Brigade for their valiant fighting during this battle of the War Between the States. Sadly, until a few weeks ago, there was no monument or marker honoring these men for fighting for what they believed in & defending their homes and land. My Daddy has been working for the past several years to have a monument erected to honor the soldiers. My cousin-in-law, Lee, is an architect and he designed the monument (didn't he do a great job?!?).

The inscription on the back of the monument gives some insight into the battle and I think the wording is so moving:

The Bloody Angle

"In the rainy gloom of May 12, 1864, Brigadier General Samuel McGowan's Brigade of South Carolinians battled their way into the disputed earthworks here, near the apex of the Muleshoe Salient. For 18 hours (!) the 1,300 South Carolinians defended these works against relentless attacks by thousands of Federals, sometimes engaging in hand-to-hand fighting. By battles end, 451 of the men were killed, wounded or missing. The slight angle in the works they defended would forever be known as the Bloody Angle."

The Confederates were vastly outnumbered in this battle: 52,000 troops vs 100,000 Federal troops! It is said that at the end of this battle, when the South won, there were no songs of victory or chants -- the soldiers simply wept.

Most of you know what pride I take in being a South Carolinian. I love to visit other places, but I have never lived anywhere else and SC is home. In fact, when Graem and I got married, he promised me that he'd never ask me to live anywhere outside of the Palmetto State. This trip renewed my pride in being from SC! I had ancestors that fought at Spotsylvania, and if you are a native South Carolinian, it is likely that you did as well!

More pictures from our trip...

One of my best friends, Virginia, married a fella from Virginia so now she lives in Virginia. :) It was nice to get to catch up with her during our trip.

We also visited Montpelier, the home of James Madison, "the father of the Constitution."

Rob & Kelli on the upstairs terrace of Montpelier

What a gazebo!Mason playing in the grass at Montpelier -- where the Madison children played once-upon-a-time!

We had a great trip...it was amusing to think about what our family trips will be like in years to come, when the number of children in our group will have increased from one boy to THREE boys!!!