Welcome

Hello. I would like to welcome everyone to my page. I hope what I post here will be informative and inciteful. I am new to this and I will accept constuctive criticism and comments. Before I continue, I would like to thank Ann once again for giving me this opportunity. First, let me start off by saying that I have dedicated countless hours to reading about and visiting battlefields of the American civil war. I have been to Charleston and Ft. Sumter once, Bentonville, NC four times, Antietam/Sharpsburg once, and Gettysburg more times than I can remember. Although these sites are just a drop in the bucket of all the actions there were, I have read about numerous others. I am currently reading a book on the actions of the Army of the Cumberland. My passion and interest in this war actually started in 1997 when my friend and I were on a trip to North Carolina to visit a friend. While there, we took a trip to Goldsboro to see the hull of the ironclad CSS Neuse. Witnessing something tangible from that era and that war lit my desire to study that period further. With our subsequent trip to the Bentonville battlefield a couple days later, I knew this was going to be a great desire of mine. After that, I made yearly pilgrimages to Gettysburg (since that is the closest battlefield to where I live) so that I may pay may respects and take in the history. Well, the yearly trip became semi-annual when I got my family involved. They wanted to go to share what I felt. Even though it has been a while since I have been there, I long to go back. Well, I think I've rambled on long enough. I will submit something of value soon. Again, I just wanted to welcome everyone and give you all a little background on my interest in this era of American history.