Studying the Civil War 2020

When I read a blog a year or so ago suggesting a year-long study of the American Civil War, I thought:  How in the world can you fill a whole year with one war?  Well, folks, I managed to do just that.  I started with a 30-day study plan purchased from Homeschool in the Woods, added in some free lessons from Easy Peasy Homeschool, and from there I just added as many books as I could fit between lessons.  The last few months of school were interrupted by COVID closings and protest restrictions, so we did a few tours virtually and we ended the whole thing with a Civil War Jamboree. 

We were lucky enough to join our Co-op in time for a field trip to Woodlawn Manor in Montgomery County.  While the kids were here they learned about the slaves' songs about slavery, escape and freedom.  They broke into groups and after my kids' group was assigned Frederick Douglass, they then took primary sources and mapped out his life, from slavery to freedom to Emancipation and then where he lived out the remainder of his life.  After that, the kids followed a guide through the woods where many freedom-seekers fled the brutality of their masters.  They learned to look for spots to hide and figured out how to use the words of the songs they sang to find the right direction to travel.   

As a family, we took a field trip to Antietam National Battlefield.  After a short documentary about the day's events, we hopped into our car and followed a driving tour of the battlefield.  We didn't stop at every way point along the drive, but we did squeeze in several interesting spots.  The tour followed the events as they happened on that bloodiest day of the war.  First stop was Dunker Church where the first shots of the day were fired.

We found the monument to Clara Barton, Angel of the Battlefield, as well as Sunken Road, aka Bloody Lane, where around 5,000 men were gunned down at or near point blank range.

On our way out of town, we made one last stop at the Antietam Cemetery.  We walked amongst the final resting place for many who fought that day and observed the sadness the Private Soldier Monument, aka Old Simon, bestows on his fellow soldiers.

   

Another family coordinated field trip we took was following John Wilkes Booth's escape from Washington following Lincoln's assassination.  This final chapter in the war had us reading Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson.  This book took us from the morning of April 14, 1865 and followed the paths of Booth, both Surratts, the Lincolns, all of Booth's co-conspirators, some of the theater-goers that night, all the way to the tobacco shed where Boston Corbet fired the fatal shot into Lincoln's killer.  It was in the middle of reading this book that I decided we should also physically follow Booth's path as a way to cement the actions of that day, and the days Booth was on the run.  So, with an 'Escape of an Assassin' map from the State of MD, I roughed out a trek of what we could find and visit in our area.  Because there are so many museums associated with this historic event, and because COVID shut them all down just as we were getting into our study of Booth, I pushed a few lessons down the road just hoping things would open back up.  While the kids were taking a school break with the Mississippi grandparents, I decided we couldn't hold off any longer.

So, instead of walking through Ford's Theater, we took a virtual tour.  Then, as I was digging around the Fords.org site I discovered a treasure trove of extra resources!  I'm getting ahead of myself.  FIRST, we started by touring Ford's Theater.  We got comfy in our chairs, in our pajamas and with snacks and drinks, then we let Garytt click the little map arrow and lead us all around the theater.  We 'stood' on the stage where Booth broke his ankle.  We 'stood' in the ante-room where no guard was protecting the family.  We 'stood' right behind Lincoln's chair and saw the chip Booth's spurs took out of the frame around the painting of George Washington that hung on the President's box.  Then, Garytt took us across the street to the Peterson House where we saw the room Mary Todd Lincoln waited out one of the most horrific days of her life.  We 'stood' next to the bed where America's 16th president took his last breath.  

 After we followed the Lincoln Funeral Train across the country on Fords.org, we dove into Chasing Lincoln's Killer. We traced the steps of the assassins on a map, from D.C., down into our neck of the woods, and then over into Virginia.  The book did a great job of telling the timelines of several of the main figures in the assassination, the attempted assassinations, the hunt for the suspects, and all those that helped or knew what was going on.   

Once the book was finished I took a few weeks to plan an actual tour of the places listed in the book.  Unfortunately, because of COVID issues, everything was closed at the time.  I tried waiting it out to see if things would open up, but they didn't and we ran out of time.  So, after our Ford's virtual tour, we took a virtual tour of Mudd's House, then set out in the car for a driving tour.  First stop was the Surratt Museum.  It was closed, and they don't offer a virtual tour, so we just walked through the garden and looked at the house.

The next stop was Dr. Mudd's house.  Through the virtual tour at drmudd.org, we were able to walk through the whole house.  We saw the wooden projects Dr. Mudd made while he was imprisoned on an island off the coast of Florida.  So, since the museum itself was closed, and the lane up to the museum was also blocked off, we stood by the road and Garytt did a fantastic job of giving us a mental walk-through of the house.

Next up on the tour was the farm of Samuel Cox.  Booth tried to stay here, but Cox insisted they stay in a pine thicket on the edge of the Zekiah Swamp.  I'll spare you the picture overload, but we did see the swampland, the pine thicket, and a church where all the conspirators met.

Our final stop for the day was the point on the Potomac River where Booth and Herald set out for the Virginia shore (their first shot actually took them up river, nearly to DC).  My plan was to then cross the river and find the spot where Booth actually died.  However, we were out of snacks, running low on water, and the kids were arguing about who was on whose side of the vehicle.  I made the decision to stop the tour there.  A few weeks later, as Kris, Dave and the kids were driving south to MS, they pulled off at the marker where he died, and officially concluded the tour.

Finally, after finishing all the reading, projects, and tours, we put together a Civil War Jamboree and invited a few people over to celebrate.  We took a week to finish projects and get the supplies needed for our celebration.  

Project Week: Sewing a housewife and carbine

I cut out all the fabric pieces, mainly because our fabric supply was low and I couldn't afford for anyone to make a mistake or waste the precious scraps I found laying around. But, the kids did all the sewing.  Garytt grumbled here and there, but his sewing was just as good as Mackenzie's sewing.  Well, except for the final few stitches...the four sided piece should have had at least twenty stitches per side, his had two per side.  I helped finish that one up since he worked hard to get alllllllll the other pieces perfect.

Scrapbook:  Extensive work with the exacto knife, they also learned how to use staples and ribbon to put together the binding of this album.

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Journal Making.  This was a tough one because the paper had to be sewn through.  They picked out the paper pattern and fabric patterns they wanted for their journals.   They put the papers together and sewed the pages together.  Next, they glued the liners to the cardboard covers and finally, Kenzie drew time-period dresses into her pages. (Mackenzie's journal is pictured) Lapbook.  Next, they put together all the lessons they'd worked on for the last few months. <Blogger is being really annoying right now, so the pics will be a little wonky>    All the pieces of the lapbook.  Each project had a separate element...all required some cutting, gluing, taping, stapling and writing. Lapbook cover

Completed insides

Next up:  Decorations and map projects

 We had a timeline the kids added to as we progressed through the pre-war period through to reconstruction.  One of the last pieces was about the KKK and Kenz had a fit when she saw that Boy had glued that one on sideways.  He stated, simply, "I think their crooked brains deserve to be remembered throughout time as crooked people."

Our battle map...not all battles, but many of the significant battles

Underground Railroad map

Table decorations

The Civil War money happens to be a souvenir I bought in 2nd or 3rd grade, maybe 4th, when we went to Pea Patch Island on a school trip.  Mom's field trip money well spent! The little box contains mini books the kids put together about several of the war leaders, Lincoln, Davis, Lee, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Stonewall Jackson.

I printed several battle maps from battlefield.org.  We also watched animated maps of some of the battles.  The animated maps did a great job of taking some of the boring, General A took his troops here while General B moved in from the North, and visualized them in a way that made more sense.  I used the printed maps with the pieces from our Risk game and as I read the battle info, the kids would move their troops accordingly.

Both kids wrote a news story each week in their paper, The Camp Kettle.  They also made up advertisements and drew pictures to go with some of the stories.  I have to say...this was probably their least favorite part of the whole Civil War project.  Toward the end, Mackenzie started to understand the concept of being a news reporter and put a little more effort into writing a story readers would find useful.  Garytt only wrote so he could finish the dreaded task.

Underground Railroad lantern with the Big Dipper banged into the side

Garytt's craft projects.  Carbine, housewife and journal.  He's decided the carbine makes the perfect sized backpack for his tall LEGO Star Wars figures. 

Uniform project.  They had to research each type of uniform and color it correctly and then the uniforms were cut out, put inside plastic and then they could be used like paper dolls with the soldiers inside the book.  The smaller picture is Mackenzie holding one of the uniforms up to the computer screen for Grandpa and Grandma to see, and Kris positioned himself so his head was in the right spot to be 'wearing' the uniform.

    

Mackenzie's work setup.  The US map on the bottom left held all the extra projects we did while I waited for the museums to open back up.  A few of them were:  1.  Children of the Civil War...they used journals and letters written by children during the civil war to learn what it was like to be in the north, south, city, farmland, front lines, and homefront. (hsi.wm.edu; Historical Scene Investigation).  2.  Reimagining Civil War Monuments....they researched many monuments, some contested, some loved; they read speeches and writings from each side of the "tear it down" or "keep it there" discussion and then they designed their own civil war monument.  3.  They read Booth's diary and then wrote papers about why they thought he committed the assassination. (fords.org)  4.  They read through the transcripts of the trial and tried to decide when and if some of the conspirators knew what was happening up to, during, and after the assassination.  (fords.org)  5.  They did a document analysis to try and figure out when Dr. Mudd knew the "injured man" was Booth and then wrote a report defending their position.  (drmudd.org).  6.  They did a virtual scavenger hunt in the Mudd Museum (drmudd.org).  7.  Civil War Music...we researched music from the time period.  Songs soldiers sung, songs slaves sung, Lincoln's favorite songs.

And, now the party!  The kids worked on food and snacks from the civil war time period.

Garytt made lemonade and Mackenzie made Lincoln's favorite cake

     

Garytt helped with the Hopping John (bacon, beans and veggies) and he made macaroons, which fell flat for some reason.

Kris and I filled in a bit with veggies, a smoked ham, and deviled eggs.  Also, we couldn't forget the subject of my favorite Civil War song....Goober Peas!

Morgan, Uncle Dave and Mom Mom Pat came over to celebrate and look at all the hard work they put into studying this period of US history.

Then, they ended the presentation with a video chat with Grandma and Grandpa

So, we managed to turn a 30 day project into several months worth of lessons!  

Now, onto the Industrial Revolution!!

After we finish learning about elections.

Antietam National Battlefield

Two years ago I bought a full middle school curriculum. The idea being that I’d pay a fee and have someone else plan out my whole year...less researching for me, less organizing, less planning; and, all this would result in a smoother, less stressful school planning experience. Yeah. Rainbows, sparkles and sunshine it was NOT! I forgot I’m waaaaaaay too Type A to feel alright about someone else planning my days. Good thing it was cheap, also this is probably why it didn’t work the way I dreamed it would. After digging through the pages of instructions and documents, one of my first thoughts was....who in the world would spend an entire year on the Civil War?! 

Well, as it turns out....this family would. And is. However, I wasn’t able to use this full curriculum as the core plan. Instead, I’ve spent hours and hours reading books, watching documentaries, searching the internet and putting together what I think has been a pretty thorough walk through a very dark time in our American history. 

Living in Mississippi allowed us to see places like Corinth, Meridian, Tupelo and Jackson. The cemetery that inspired Finch to write “The Blue and the Grey”, about the women of our city, Columbus, decorating the graves of Confederate and Union soldiers alike, was a few minutes drive from our home. We managed to slide in some New Orleans history on a dance competition trip. Now, living near where the two Civil War capitals were located, we have so many opportunities to walk where so many died fighting for their side. 

Today’s trip was to Antietam Battlefield, where we step back to September 17, 1862, the bloodiest day in American history. 

We hopped into the car at 815, turned on our Harry Potter audiobook and took off....slowly. A rainy day in SOMD meant slow moving traffic around D.C. What was supposed to be a 2 hour and 20 minute drive turned into a 3 hour 15 minute drive. Thank goodness we have an EZ Pass because taking the express lanes around the west side of DC shaved off almost 45 minutes from a drive that, as I was getting on 495, had jumped to a 4 hour drive. Lesson learned....rain + DC = interstate parking lots. 

We managed to arrive at the visitor’s center just minutes before the half hour video started playing in the theater. The lady at the front desk was so nice and just let us run in the theater to watch the movie before we even paid for our tickets. The video took us from the first moments of the day, through bloody battle after bloody battle, until the last shot of the day was fired. (Hey, Garytt, that’s Darth Vader narrating the movie. Garytt: 😲 How did they get DARTH VADER to do their movie?!?!). It wasn’t until we sat down that I thought: I wonder if they’ll show actual pictures from that day. I’d managed to keep the goriest pictures from the kids up to this point. But, there was no sheltering it from them sitting in the fourth row of the theater and having battlegrounds covered in death and missing limbs shown at 15’x20’.

After the movie, we toured the small museum. It gave a picture of what the war did to the local people. The people who took refuge in caves, who had their entire livelihood erased, and who came together in the aftermath to rebuild their lives and bury the dead. 

Next up...the vehicle tour. Since Garytt was giving me what I’m assuming is the beginning stages of his teenage attitude, I gave him the map so he could direct me through the 8 1/2 mile tour. He felt the power!

First stop is Dunker Church, the small local church that changed hands several times throughout the day. We walked around the building and then went inside. The kids said it smelled like old wood. 

Next, we drove around the North Woods, where Union troops spent the night before the fight, then we went to the Poffenberger Farm, where Gen. Hooker began his assault. <The auto tour is set up so you move around the area as time moved that day....chronological....that’s the word I’m looking for.>

The Angel of the Battlefield is said to have set up a lot of medical assistance here. There is a nice memorial to Clara Barton that explains what she did during the battle and then afterwards.

From here we drove past the East Woods toward the Mumma Farm. There are so many monuments all over the battlefield. The kids were getting annoyed at my need to take pictures of them all. Silly me....I found a monument hunt game in my research, but left it all at home. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I also had a document called “Interview with a Monument” where the kids found the most interesting monument and answered several questions about it. Forgot that one too. I forgot them all. I was probably foolish in thinking they’d both agree to pick up a pencil on a trip anyway. 

We found the Mississippi monument. This is the 11th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Law’s Brigade, Hood’s Division.



We drove along the road, past the cornfield where the majority of bodies rested by the end of the day. I kept stopping to look at all the regiment memorials along the road. There are so many. Many of the monuments listed the killed, wounded and missing.

The next stop was up a circle drive by the West Woods. This is where Sumner met Stonewall Jackson and Longstreet’s men. The obelisk is dedicated to the Philadelphia brigade that was surprised as they came, unimpeded, across the cornfield and then over a slight rise in the ground to find themselves surrounded by Confederates. Half of them were cut down in 25 minutes. 

This little plaque spoke to the kids for some reason. They both read it and took the time to point and visualize what happened at 0915 that morning almost 160 years ago.

I think maybe it was the fact that there was a visual representation of the battle movements, combined with the cannons set up for battle, and the quiet corner we were in...the kids really soaked in the gravity of this spot. Makes me wish we had more time to do one or more of the hiking trails they have set up around the area. 

We found one of three Maryland monuments of the day here. I read that one of the Maryland monuments was the only one dedicated to both Union and Confederate soldiers because Maryland sat on both sides of the fence...not against abolishing slavery, but not wanting to secede either. 

The Mumma Farm was next. All but one of the buildings is reconstructed because the Confederates burned them down for fear that the Union troops would use it for sharpshooters. One small stone building, a bit of fence and a small dirt lane are the only original remnants of the farm.

From the Mumma Farm, the Union troops battled the Confederates and pushed them back toward the Sunken Road. 

The Delaware memorial. The 1st Delaware Volunteers, 3rd Brigade 3rd Division, under Col. John W. Andrews.

5,000 casualties on this one little farm lane. The Sunken Road is also known as the Bloody Lane because some of the fiercest battling took place here, at times in point blank range.

From here we weren’t quite sure we drove in the right area. There’s a bit of renovating going on, so cones, orange ropes, and men in hard hats. But, I found a little spot to park and we meandered along the sidewalk. First up was the McKinley monument. I wasn’t quite sure why this was here...surely he didn’t die in battle BEFORE he became president. So, the interwebs explained to me that at 19 years old, he was the guy in charge of the commissary. During battle, he took it upon himself to make sure everyone had food and water between skirmishes, and under direct fire at times. This memorial was erected after his assassination. 

Burnside Bridge. The Union fought for hours to try and take this bridge, beginning at 1000 and then finally, around 1300, the 51st New York and 51st Pennsylvania broke through, ran across Antietam Creek and took the bridge. At this point in our trip the kids were ready to go. Our snacks had run out, water was running low, and they were getting Hangry. So, I told them we would go quickly by the last two stops on the tour. 

That tree on the left is the Burnside Bridge Sycamore Witness tree. There was a picture taken hours after the battle ended that shows the younger tree. Me: this tree saw a lot that day. Garytt: if this tree could talk about that day it would be a sad story; also I bet it had a lot of damage.

We saw several Ohio and Pennsylvania monuments around the battlefield. From here we drove by the next stop on the map. It was a field where outnumbered Confederate troops were under heavy attack from Union troops. Then, as the light was starting to fade on this bloody day, A.P. Hill arrived from a 14 mile march from Harper’s Ferry and they backed up the Confederate troops engaged here, managing to push back the Union forces.

Much to their annoyance....well, Kenz was ok with getting out and walking around, I made one last stop at the National Cemetery.  My usually eager to explore Boy, however, was soooooo over history for the day. He angrily walked behind us as we moved in and around this part of the cemetery. 

4,776 Federal soldiers are buried here, 1,836 of which are unknown. All told, 23,110 men were killed, wounded or missing at the end of a single day of battle. In the span of 16 hours the town of Sharpsburg had gone from quiet farm town to obliterated homesteads and mass graves for thousands. The Confederate dead were transported to three other cemeteries in Maryland and West Virginia, 60% of those bodies were unknown. 

This is the Private Soldier Monument, known locally as Old Simon.

Aside from the mumbling and grumbling of two hangry children, the day turned out pretty nice. When I paid for my entrance ticket, $10 for the vehicle, the lady said it was good for three days and I thought: what in the world would you do here for three days. Well, looking back, I could have easily wandered from place to place, down the hiking paths, and stopped at every monument, so maybe three days isn’t such a crazy idea. Next time, we’ll do it on a sunny day-or three!