Kentucky trip, day 21

Sunday, May 6, 2007

This morning we drove to Munfordville to see "the Battle for the Bridge" site. I had neglected to look in the computer before we left where I had instructions on how to find the site in my "Civil War" file. Everything was closed in Munfordville and the locals we talked to didn't have a clue where it was. With the DeLorme map and a hint from a guide book we finally found the site. There were a number of interpretive signs on a "path," which seemed to be missing, the path that is. We wandered through an unkempt field from sign to sign. The site of the actual fort was off-limits on private property. We asked a fellow who was riding along the road if he knew how we could get into the cemetery and the fort. He said he'd played there a lot as a kid, but hadn't been in there for years. The people who own the property are not very forgiving of trespassers, but he made some inquiries for us at one of the near-by houses. No luck. There was another monument, an obelisk, quite a ways away and across a gully, but the path was so overgrown we didn't even try to get to it.

The site encompasses 219 acres of the battlefield. There were three battles including the September 14-17, 1862 battle and siege of Munfordville which was one of the most strategic battles of the war. The battle was for the railroad bridge and it was won and lost three times and finally blown up by the Confederates. The Union forces, however, continued to use the bridge by laying boards across the pilings that formerly held the rails.

Later we found a "hot-spot" at a Comfort Inn so we all checked our e-mail.

In the evening the East Indian lady who runs this place brought us an Indian chicken rice- dinner that Joy had arranged. The food was good and plentiful. We'll have plenty for another night.