Date: 2008-03-19
From: Sipping Clear Liquids...

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Miles today: 0.0

UPDATE: Well, the plumbers and sanders have just left for the day, but since I'm on a 'clear liquid' diet until after my Colonoscopy in Richmond tomorrow, I have the time for a conditioning hike, but not the energy... Son Number One will be released from the hospital in Chesapeake today and will be driven to Fredericksburg by my wife. I'm anxious to get back on the Trail, but all in due time... Oh, and no backpacks for several days after the procedure, either. This isn't the way I'd prefer to prepare for the Trail, but such is life...OK, I told you yesterday that we¢d talk about another rather obscure individual from the Civil War. After all, you¢re reading my Journal, perhaps you might care to find a copy of the Journal of Jedediah Hotchkiss ¢ Confederate General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson¢s Topographer¢¦[¢Make Me a Map of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson¢s Topographer,¢ by Jedediah Hotchkiss and Archie P. McDonald[editor]. Jed was a trusted engineer who was first called-up as an officer in the Virginia Militia (as was Private Fred Meyer from yesterday). After Virginia forces were mustered into the Confederate Army (and Jed specifically into the Army of Northern Virginia), General Jackson gave his subordinate a year-long mission to ride up and down the Shenandoah Valley and to make maps of military significance, for use in the defense of the Confederacy.He traveled in and around both the Shenandoah Valley and much of the same area as we will as we follow the Appalachian Trail ¢up the State of Virginia.¢ It was Jed Hotchkiss¢ preparatory work that allowed Stonewall Jackson to move so quickly through the gaps with his, ¢Foot Cavalry,¢ as his Infantry Soldiers called themselves, using the terrain to his military advantage, and appearing to have a much larger force than he commanded in actuality.If you¢d like to read a couple of pages of this Journal, simply look it up on Amazon.com and enjoy¢¦ Jed was issued written orders (to be used as a passport of sorts), a couple of enlistedmen, a wagon, provisions, and sometimes several cavalrymen and messengers to expedite his topographic products. With this, he semi-independently traveled and produced a series of maps that most historians would say were the keys to Stonewall Jackson¢s success against the invading Union Armies in the Shenandoah Valley. I¢m certain that Old Stonewall was anxious to receive each as they arrived, one after the other, from time to time.I like the way he Journals. I also like the flavor of the times that comes from the reading of it. Perhaps you will too¢¦ I only hope that I can produce something similar for you, oh loyal reader.Before we leave him, I must also mention that Stonewall Jackson held this man in such high regard, he gave Jed his Kepi as a souvenir at the First Battle of Fredericksburg. Jed was also one of several former Confederate officers (then a former Major, CSA) to serve on the editing staff of, ¢The War of the Rebellion, a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,¢ United States War Department, Records and Pension Office, War Records Office, published 1884 [that multiple set of volumes that take up a very large section on the shelves of the Pentagon Library].Still More Appalachian Trail Corollaries to Murphy¢s Law and Other Observations:- The half-life of the wooden shutters placed on the stone Shelter on the top of Blood Mountain is about three days¢¦ [I know there isn¢t much wood to burn up there, but give us a break, would you?]- The steepest inclines along the Appalachian Trail are found, leaving Trail Towns with one¢s latest, and heavy re-supply¢¦- Bears, raccoons, opossums, mice, and such, don¢t know the difference between the food in your hung Bear Bag and that which you forgot in the top pocket of your backpack¢¦- They also can¢t tell the difference between your backpacking food and the dietary supplements in the top pocket of your backpack [fish oil capsules; garlic tablets; etc.].- Mice believe that you¢re the Trail Angel, providing to them the spare toilet paper and a pocket in your backpack ¢ open or not ¢ for their new nest¢¦