Missionary Ridge



These photos were also taken at the Bragg Reservation. (The term "reservation" denotes those small swaths of the battlefield that the feds were able to preserve as the ridge was being devoured by residential development. The Bragg Reservation is by the far the largest of these patches, and rests on the site of Rebel commander Braxton Bragg's farmhouse headquarters during the November 25, 1863 battle. A native of the prairie state, I always - when visiting a Civil War battlefield - have my photo taken whilst posing, with my Union kepi, by an Illinois monument. In the center pic, I'm holding a fairly sizeable wild onion that I plucked from the battlefield.

Basil Duke, posing in front of the magnificent Illinois monument located on the Bragg Reservation atop Missionary Ridge outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. Braxton Bragg's headquarters were located a few hundred feet behind the monument.

Toasting Salt Pork on Shiloh Battlefield

In the last three years, my lady friend and I have visited Shiloh National Battlefield three times, and made single trips to Stones River, Chickamauga, Corinth, Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. The rakish rogue in the foreground of this photo, wearing an authentic wool and leather Union kepi and an abjectly non-period t-shirt and cargo shorts, is your blog host, Mr. Basil Duke. This picture was taken during our second trip to Shiloh. We timed our visit to coincide with the appearance of a troupe of Rebel cavalry re-enactors who camped all weekend on the battlefield proper, and gave several demonstrations of maneuvers and skirmishing tactics each day. The gray horsemen kindly permitted me to use their campfire on which to toast the chunks of salt pork that I brought from Missouri for that express purpose. It was indeed a surreal experience to cook and consume authentic Civil War victuals on such hallowed ground.