COWPENS NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD

Wednesday, August 18 – With the motor home in the service bay all day today, we headed to the Cowpens National Battlefield.

U.S. Memorial Monument.

Our first stop was for breakfast at Norma's, a local eatery. Then we drove about ten miles to the Revolutionary War battlefield. We began at the Visitor's Center to view movie about this famous battlefield and view the items in the museum. The movie was excellent and lasted 18 min. It took Morgan’s army only a little over this amount of time to defeat Tarleton’s British Legion.

Our 1.5 mile self-guided walking tour walk began by spotting a heard of wild turkeys. They allowed us to walk within twenty feet before they headed to the woods. Pretty neat!

Here's the story of the Cowpens. Daniel Morgan was trying to elude a British trap when he marched his army onto this field on the afternoon of January 16, 1781. That morning scouts brought news that the British General Tarleton had crossed the Pacolet River, six miles south, and was coming up fast. Morgan broke camp immediately and ordered his soldiers down the road. Their destination: the Cowpens, a frontier pasturing ground on the road to a ford across the Broad River six miles away.

On the morning of January 17, Morgan deployed his men in three main lines of defense. He knew that the militia had a tendency to run. Therefore he divided them into two groups and placed his sharpshooters on the top of a gentle rise and ordered them to fire twice and then retreat behind the second line. The second line of militia were positioned just behind the crest of the hill and were to fire twice and then retreat behind the Continentals who were about 150 yards behind them. Morgan knew he could count on the Continentals to take the hardest part of the fighting and that they would not run. He prepared them for the militia’s retreat. He placed his reserves, Washington’s cavalry, in a swale that hid them from the British view. He knew that Tarleton’s aggressive nature would lead him to drive straight into the Americans.

In the film we watched, they did a super job of showing how this was a brilliant move on Morgan’s part.

Marsha posing as a sharp shooter.

Paul showing how small the average militia man was…5’5”

The battlefield was pasture land. Lots of open space surrounded  by trees.

Near the end of the battle, as the Americans swept forward, two Continental officers sought to capture the enemy's light 3-pounder “grasshopper” cannons. Captain Anderson of Maryland won the race when he used his spontoon to vault forward onto one of the grasshoppers. Captain Kirkwood of Delaware captured the other.

It's said that Yorktown, the final battle of the Revolutionary War, would never have been possible if it wasn't for the victory at Cowpens. The beginning of the end for the British.

Did You Know?
Of the 11 medals awarded to veterans of the American Revolution, three of them were awarded for the Battle of Cowpens: Daniel Morgan, John Eager Howard, and William Washington.

After touring the battlefield, we went over to the park area to walk Bella, our cat. We had left her in the car while doing the walking tour and she was a little over-heated. Marsha walked her all over the picnic area. Bella was in cat heaven. We then sat and read while Bella napped.

We had an interesting end to our tranquil day in the park. While sitting on a park bench we heard a tremendous crash right behind us. Jumping up and turning around, we saw a huge tree (probably 100' in length) falling toward us. It wasn't going to reach us, but was falling right at us. No way was Bella staying here, so she took off running dragging her rope behind. Paul took off after Bella leaving Marsha to save herself....LOL. All ended well, with Bella dropping one of her 9-lives from fear and Paul finding out he can still run pretty well after having a knee replaced, a hip replaced and recent spinal surgery! Marsha was the only casualty with a rope burn from Bella's leash.

The tree that almost got the “Weavers”.

We then drove over to The Robert Scruggs House, also in the park. This log cabin was built in 1828 on 200 acres of land near the Cowpens Battlefield. He and his wife raised eleven children in this tiny log cabin. Cabins such as this one provided homes for most of the people living in the South Carolina back county.

Front

Back

We then returned to the Freightliner Service Center to wait for our home to be moved from the shop back to the camping area. Around 4:30 the door to Bay #1 went up and Justin drove our MH back to site #14, our temporary home here at Freightliner. We still have another day of service here at Freightliner.....guess we'll have to find another battlefield to visit.....did I say Marsha loves battlefields!

On last thing…we happen to be on the road behind the Peachoid. We thought you might like to see what the back side looks like.

Thanks for stopping by. See y’all again real soon.

FREIGHTLINER FACTORY IN GAFFNEY, SC

Sunday, August 15 – We pulled out of Chippokes Campground heading for Gaffney, SC. We decided to stop mid-way instead of driving the entire 6.5 hours in one day. Since we were simply stopping for the night, we decided to stop at the Chapel Hill, NC, Walmart. Can someone say “HOT”.....YOWZE DOWZE!! We ran the AC all evening but turned it off when we turned in for the night. It was nearly unbearable....guess we're getting spoiled or something. It just never cooled off when the sun went down....mid 80's all night with no breeze......JEESH!! We did have some company. Another motor home and a fellow sleeping in his car. Looked like he might have been homeless.....pretty ratty car too.

We did swing by the University of North Carolina (UNC – Tarheels for you basketball fans).

This is our daughter, Kelly's, favorite team. She sweats blue during BB season....LOL.

Dean Smith Center where basketball happens. They are doing some work on the outside, so we couldn’t get very close.

We were here about nine years ago. Boy they've done some building since then. A beautiful campus! The students were just starting to arrive on campus for the new school year....exciting!

Morehead Planetarium

 

Graham Memorial – English and Literature Building

Not sure what goes on in here but it was a beautiful building

Park area

For our two girls. We couldn’t get close at all.

Residents Community

We arrived in Gaffney Monday afternoon and got set up in their free campground....Ahhhh air conditioning!!! Our appointment isn't until Wednesday, so we'll go see some Civil War Battlefields while we wait......Gosh, Marsha loves those battlefields (Can you hear Paul ...Yawn!!)

Waiting room is very spacious.

They have six bays.

Tuesday, Aug 17 – We went on a tour of the Freightliner Factory this morning.

A very nice and interesting tour. We saw chassis of motor homes, delivery trucks, and school buses being built. Unfortunately, no pictures were permitted.

The employees appeared conscientious, hard working, and busy throughout the three assemble line production facility. Our tour guide was very good. She took her time on the tour and answered all our questions. We recommend this tour to others.

We both got our hair cut. Pat in the office recommended a place to us. YEA…Marsha is happy. She said that she recommends this very highly.

We started some sightseeing. The Peachoid Water Tower is a big attraction. Built in 1981 over a period of five months, the characteristic water tower includes a cleft, a stem, and a seven-ton leaf. It holds one million gallons of water and can be seen on the side of I-85, between exits 90 and 92. Built to highlight the region’s prime crop, the Peachoid’s colors is meant to reflect the varieties of peaches grown in the area. After the basic colors were applied to the tower’s various parts, artist Peter Freudenburg used 50 gallons of paint and more than 20 colors to achieve the desired effect.

It stands 135 feet tall. The total cost to construct the tank was $969,000. There are 357 tons of steel in the tank. Now that is some BIG peach!

Speaking of peaches…we stop at a roadside stand and bought some. YUMMMM. Marsha even made some Peach Daiquiris.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you real soon.

WILLIAMSBURG PART 2

Let’s continue our visit to Williamsburg.

Next we visited the George Wythe House on Palace Green belonged to George Wythe (pronounced “with”), a leader of the patriot movement in Virginia, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and Virginia’s first signer of the Declaration of Independence. The house also served as General George Washington's headquarters just before the British siege of Yorktown, and French General Rochambeau made the home his headquarters after victory at Yorktown. In 1776, the house accommodated Virginia General Assembly delegate Thomas Jefferson and his family.

Parlor

Dining room

Office

 

Master bedroom

Children’s bedroom

Notice that there are no lighting fixtures in the house.

We then toured the Bruton Parish Church. In 1644, Harrop Parish in James City County became active, and it united with Middle Plantation Parish in 1658 to form Middletown Parish. Still more consolidation followed in 1674 when Marston Parish (1654) in York County merged with Middletown Parish to form Bruton Parish. The name honored the prominent Ludwell family and Governor Sir William Berkeley, whose ancestral homes were at Bruton in County Somerset, England.

Bruton's earliest vestry records of April 18, 1674, named the Reverend Roland Jones as the first rector and authorized buying glebe lands. After the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862, Bruton served as a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers.

There weekday services:  Noonday Prayer -  12 Noon, Monday through Saturday ; Holy Eucharist with healing  -  11 a.m., Wednesday and Sunday worship.

We invite you to join us for worship services on Sunday.

The altar and communion rail, made of black walnut, and the gold gilt cross are the central features of this historic church. The panel behind the altar, called a reredos, contains the Apostles’ Creed, the Ten Commandants, and the Lord’s Prayer. These fundamentals of faith, law, and prayer reflect canon law mandating their display in Anglican churches.

Towering over the rector’s pew is the eighteenth-century style pulpit. It features a cantilever-supported sounding board to help project the voices of those addressing the congregation.

These pews with doors were typical of unheated eighteenth- century English churches. The names on the pew doors of parish leaders and famous patriots who worshipped here, including U.S. presidents Washington, Jefferson, and Monroe, remind us of the prominent role Bruton played in colonial history. In the winter, the church is difficult to heat. In order to keep everyone a bit warmer, heating bricks or warming pans are placed on the floor inside each pew. The doors help keep the heat in.

Bruton has probably the largest colonial burial site still existing in Virginia. Some of the early tombstones and memorials are in the forms of chest and table tombs, obelisks, sculptural designs. Beginning in 1678 with the burial of Thomas Ludwell, secretary of the colony, the churchyard received the remains of important residents such as Governor Edward Nott.

South Gallery  is used by the speakers of the House of Burgesses and college faculty. This gallery overlooked such famous services as the day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer in 1774, held in sympathy for the people of Boston after the English Parliament closed their port.

Next was the Courthouse. Williamsburg's citizens assembled at their courthouse at 1:00 p.m. Thursday, May 1, 1783, to celebrate at last the end of the war with England – just as they had gathered seven years earlier to hear lawyer Benjamin Waller proclaim from its steps the Declaration of Independence.

Our tour guide did an excellent job of explaining the Courthouse.

Judges’ chamber

Jury room. There was no heat, no bathroom, no anything in this room. This usually lead to a quick verdict.

Paul was bad…again…to the stocks he goes!

Across the street is the Magazine. In 1714, the General Assembly had asked Governor Alexander Spotswood to build "a good substantial house of brick" precisely to protect the colony's arms and munitions. The occasion was the shipment of powder and muskets from Queen Anne's government in England.

Spotswood's Magazine safeguarded shot, powder, flints, tents, tools, swords, pikes, canteens, cooking utensils, and as many as 3,000 Brown Bess flintlocks – equipment needed for defense against Indians, slave revolts, local riots, and pirate raids.

Marsha shows how tight the fence post are.

 

So many munitions arrived from 1754 to 1763 in the course of the French and Indian War that the additions of a high perimeter wall and Guardhouse were necessary.

Firetruck just in case.

Stay turned for Part 3.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you real soon.