Civil War History

April 24, 2009

Six miles in from the nearest paved road, on the ridge of the Bald Mountains, I come across the Shelton graves. Two brothers from East Tennessee who had chosen to serve in the Union army, were killed here by Confederates on their way back from a visit home. I learned that people of this area didn't want to secede, but were occupied by force and made to join the southern side of the Civil War. Someone is still tending these gravestones, cutting the grass and leaving silk flower arrangements.

So much history in these overgrown woods!