My Traveler Tales: Personal Stories of Discovering History on the Road

Being raised by my father, a major history buff and practically a professor, my childhood was full of exploring historical sites as our family trips. Forts, museums, battlefields, and mansions were my Disney World getaways as a kid. Trips I can remember were our family battlefield tour of the Mid-Atlantic states, day trips from my grandparents’ home in Memphis to Fort Donelson and Shiloh battlefield, and the classic hours and hours exploring the Smithsonian Museums in Washington, DC.

The battlefield tour occurred in 2013, as we had decided to see the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the deciding turning point of the Civil War, but took it upon ourselves to visit every major battlefield in between our then house in Brunswick, Georgia, and the Pennsylvanian battle site. Thus began a week-long adventure to many battlefields such as Bentonville, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Antietam, New Market, Appomattox and Cowpens. The journey was a turning point in my belief in war. Before, I had no idea the bloodshed and fear of battle and played soldier in the yard with my brother all the time with no quarrel of thinking about reenacting life and death. Seeing those killing grounds where many lost their lives and climaxing at the Gettysburg reenactment, I realized war the quote Robert E. Lee said was right – “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it”.

The battlefield tour remains one of my favorite childhood memories from the important lesson I learned seeing those sites and witnessing the settings of history.