How About Some Civil War History?

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Since I’m in the “Deep South” there’s no escaping Civil War History. I hope to go see more of it tomorrow in Georgia. Meanwhile, here’s some Alabama history. There were a lot of reasons that the Confederacy lost the war. One of them was the fact that they didn’t have the equipment. In the four years of the Civil War the South only managed to make ONE Naval shipyard: the Bibb Naval Furnace. The ruins of the furnace are located in the Brierfield Ironworks State Historical Park in Brierfield, Alabama. And, as you can see by the photo, “ruins” is a pretty good description. The place was trounced by the Union during the final push to end the war in 1864. And, needless to say, there wasn’t much interest in preserving it for historical purposes. As a result of that — and several failed business ventures that took over the property after the war (the last being in 1894) — left this unique piece of history in really sad shape. However, it’s still there. While the state of Alabama has partial interest in it, the National Park Service is also helping to restore/preserve the area. “Unfortunately,” the property also serves as a campground; and, based on the attendance (me verses a dozen campers), it’s more profitable to the state as a campground. That makes me wonder just how far anyone can advance historical preservation. Having said that, it is there, a singular item that showed the futility of the Confederacy’s attempt to battle against a much better-equipped Union.