Day 981: Guilford Courthouse NMP, Booker T. Washington NM, Appomattox Court House NHP

Today we visited Guilford Courthouse National Military Park:

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We watched the park film, and I noticed that the strategy that Nathanael Greene used at Battle of Guilford Court House resembled the strategy used by Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens, which we learned about yesterday during our visit to Cowpens National Battlefield.  The ranger said that Morgan had shared his successful tactics from Cowpens with Greene, who a few months later replicated them at Guilford Courthouse.

The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

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We continued north, crossing from North Carolina into Virginia:

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Our next stop was Booker T. Washington National Monument:

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The site preserves the slave cabin in which Booker T. Washington was born in 1856.  The Washington family was enslaved here until Union forces occupied this area in 1865, bringing with them implementation of the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Lincoln had authored two years earlier:

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The grounds of the farm at which the Washington family was enslaved:

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The Washington family’s slave cabin is on the right:

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The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

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Heading northeast, we arrived at the village of Appomattox Court House, site of Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.  It was here in 1865 that the Battle of Appomattox Court House was fought.  Following Lee’s failure to break out from encircling Union forces, Lee surrendered to Grant here on April 9th, 1865.

We visited the McLean House, the house in which the surrender occurred:

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It was in this room that the surrender occurred, signaling the end of the Civil War:

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This painting depicts the surrender:

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The rebuilt old Appomattox Courthouse now houses the visitor center:

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A fragment of the white flag used by Confederate forces to surrender:

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The kids completed their Junior Ranger workbooks and received their badges:

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We continued east to overnight at a Walmart in suburban Richmond, Virginia.  See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 980: Kennesaw Mountain NBP, Chattahoochee River NRA, Cowpens NB, Kings Mountain NMP
Day 982: Washington Birthplace NM and Thomas Stone NHS

One thought on “Day 981: Guilford Courthouse NMP, Booker T. Washington NM, Appomattox Court House NHP

  1. Pingback: Winter 2020 Trip, Day 5: | Look Before You Live!

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