Civil War Battlefield

Today we joined with Hardy and Judy and headed south towards Springfield, MO. Our friends had visited the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield before and wanted to introduce us to it. We've visited battlefields in the east but really hadn't considered Missouri as the location of many battles of the Civil War.

We started our visit by watching the introductory film, produced by Wide Awake Films, which was very well done. It used re-enactors to bring the battle to life, and lots of maps and diagrams to explain the complex action. I liked the opening section, which placed the battle in the context of national events and concerns, including slavery, and the divided sentiments of the citizens of Missouri. By the end of the film, which kept my attention throughout, I felt that I had a good sense of the significance of this battle in the polarization of Missourians and in reinforcing the cause of unity.

We then took an auto tour of the battlefield, stopping at key points to view the structures that still remain and to get a better sense of the terrain. The Ray House, with its commanding view of Bloody Hill, is well preserved and reconstructed, and a Park Service interpreter was there to tell us about the battle and answer questions.

I was quite moved to think that we were standing on the very ground where so many gave their lives.

When we left the park, we headed for Rosie Jo's Cafe in Ozark for supper. We all had the grilled chicken salad and relaxed in the air conditioning. Then we drove over to the square dance at the Ozark Senior Center. We could literally have thrown a stone at it from the restaurant parking lot.

The caller was Jerry Ellis, and when we arrived, a square of new dancers was reviewing some advanced calls. We jumped into the next tip, which again was new dancer review. After the review tips, Jerry started calling A-2 for the experienced dancers.

We were very happy to see some of our friends from the Valley: Louise and Curt and Jean, and we had a great time dancing with them and Hardy and Judy. We also met some nice folks, most of whose names are a bit blurry now. After the dance, a group headed over to Braum's for ice cream and more chatting. There was a table of men and one of women. Ken and I hadn't anticipated that. We had to sit together for a while because we were sharing a brownie fudge sundae.

Ken made the two plus hour drive home. Judy and I chatted and involved him enough to keep him awake. It was 12:30 a.m. by the time we got back to our campsite and said goodbye to Hardy and Judy.