Today, I took a walking tour and followed the footstep of men and women that walked these streets over one hundred and fifty years ago.
Our first stop was Wilson Park where soldiers from the battle of Shiloh planted sycamore trees that were no longer growing in the park.
Our second stop was the site of the Synodical College a school for young women.
Dr. William H. Mitchell who served as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Florence also served as president of the college until 1871.
He was taken a prisoner of war for praying for the Confederate soldiers during his sermon.
The building was torn down and replaced by the US Post Office and Federal Courthouse.
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| Dr. William H. Mitchell |
We walked down the street to the location of the former Masonic Lodge that burned down during the Civil War.
We walked about a block to the rebuilt Masonic Lodge and we were greeted by members of the lodge.
We were seated, told the history of the lodge, and served hot chocolate and cookies.
We thank the members and walked up the street to the home of Edward O’Neal a member of the Confederate Army who later served as governor of Alabama.
There were Confederate soldiers guarding Coby Hall.
Our next stop was Courtview/Rogers Hall the home of Sallie Foster who read from her journal about her life during the Civil War.
In addition, in front of her home, we were shown how to load and unload a gun.
We were shown how to shoot a gun and how to carry a gun.
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| Confederate Soldiers & their guns |
We walked to Wesleyan Hall, which was used, by both Union and Confederate Soldiers during the Civil War.
General Sherman said, “War is hell!"
We listened to many different bugle calls.
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| General William T Sherman |
Our next stop was Pope's Tavern where brother against brother, friend against friend fought against one another during the Civil War.
Many wounded were brought here. We waved to the two soldiers standing on the front porch of Pope’s Tavern, one was dressed as a Confederate Soldier and the other as a Union Soldier.
If they died, they were buried in the Florence Cemetery at Soldiers Rest.
We did not visit this site.
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| Pope's Tavern |
Our final stop was the home of Richard Pickett who served as a Captain in the 35th Cavalry under General Philip Roddey. We meet Captain Richard Pickett and his wife, they were standing on the front porch of their home.
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| Home of Captain Richard Pickett and wife. |
The tour took over two hours, very informative and we met many characters along the way.
General Sherman, Governor Edward O’Neal, Sallie Foster, General Pickett, bugler, and many Confederate Soldiers
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| Route of the walk |
Following in the footsteps of the Blue & Gray!
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