River Confluence & Grant Loses a Battle

 Location: Columbus-Belmont State Park; Columbus, Kentucky

I just lied. I'm not at that location. This post is a catch-up post since my cell signal was not reliable enough to make a post at that state park. I could send and receive text messages, but the signal I needed for my "hotspot" was going on and off. I've been all around the country over the last nine years and I can say affirmatively that the quality of Verizon cell signals and data signals (I'm not sure they are different) have steadily declined. I can't complain because I've been in some strange places and was able to connect to the internet, so all's good.

This is the last picture from Trail of Tear SP. I took it as I began hitching up to leave. Two tows met in front of the SP. It was a nice send off for me. I'm pretty sure I'll be back.

On my way to this campground, I stopped at Fort Defiance which is located at the extreme southern end of Illinois at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi River. I had been there before and knew there was room to park Freedom and Libby as I explored the confluence a little bit. I got lucky and a group of people were setting up a stage and sound system for a Jazz Fest that was happening that evening. I parked and walked right through them and went to see the rivers. I'll post a recent picture of the confluence and a link to my old post that talks about Lewis & Clark, the Fort, the decline of Cairo,etc.

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2016/08/travels-continue.html

That's the Ohio River on the left and the Mississippi River on the right. Powerful rivers and a strange feeling standing there.

This state park is on high bluff along the Kentucky side of the  Mississippi River and sits on an old Civil War battlefield/fort. It is just downstream of Cairo, Illinois which is where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers meet. If you're were confederate General fighting in the War for Southern Independence you would want to place some cannons on this bluff to keep your enemy from invading the south by using the Mississippi River.  

That worked pretty good for a while until a young Union officier by the name of Grant arrived to look over the situation. He brought his troops down river and attacked the smaller fort on the Missouri side of the river opposite the bigger fort on the Kentucky side. His troops routed the confederates and started celebrating their win by throwing a small party. That was a mistake because the confederates across the river were just waiting for their people to clear the battlefield before they opened up with all of their cannons. Wow, talk about turning victory into defeat. Grant and his troops hightailed it to their riverboats and took off upstream. Grant was no dummy and he learned his lesson about not being able to take the cannon fort from the river. So, he headed upstream to the Ohio River and entered the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers where he attacked and captured Fort Donelson and Fort Henry. He now had command of all the major rivers north of the Confederate Stronghold that had just made him retreat. But, he now has the advantage because he can attack the cannon stronghold from the land side which is their weaker side. The confederate general knew he could not win with Grant coming from the land side, so he abandoned the fort and retreated toward Corinth, Mississippi. After Grant took over the fort, he too headed towards Corinth. That, of course, set up the bloody Battle of Shiloh that I posted about several weeks ago when I visited the Shiloh/Corinth battlefields. Again, we've come full circle in my travels.

https://gozatravels.blogspot.com/2023/06/battle-of-shiloh-corinth.html

My campsite at Columbus-Belmont State Park. I was about 1/4 bubble off left/right but it was close enough. The park was full for the Labor Day weekend and the sites were closer together than any of my most recent campgrounds. Good neighbors though with well behaved children.  

Looking upriver. Cannons would have lined this bluff.

Looking downriver from the bluffs.

I posted this picture because I captured a dragonfly in flight. (upper left corner)

The campground is well-kept.

A nice "thinking bench" in park with a great view.

I did take one day to do a little exploring by backtracking to Wickliffe to visit their Indian Mounds. I thought about stopping on my way to the campground like I did at Fort Defiance, but the parking area at the mounds was too tight. I've visited a lot of Indian mounds in my travels and this one ranks in the "average" category. The most impressive thing is the real, partially excavated site inside a large building. I was also glad to read that the bodies that had been removed over the decades were returned in recent years and re-buried in the mounds. Good job. 

This is the excavation site within the large building. You could spend a few hours reading and exploring everything in here. I didn't. By the way, when a place is identified with the letters, "IB", it indicates and "infant burial". They generally buried their infants under or near their houses. 

A couple of the mounds with some benches to rest and think.

This was a scenic overlook on the way to Wickliffe. It has a very large cross aligned with a large bend in the river. I'm not sure if it is lit up at night, but I would be surprised if it isn't. But, what a sight that would be from a boat on the river on a dark night. 

I also enjoyed a nice hamburger and fries at Jen's Diner in Columbus, actually, the only restaurant. I was the only one there and it was mid afternoon. The owner/waitress/cook got a large tip from me. It wasn't because of the service or quality of food. It was because of the way she and her son interacted when he got off the school bus and she met him at the door of the diner. You could tell there was something very special between them.

After posting this, I'm gonna a eat breakfast and then make another post to get caught up since tomorrow is moving day. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.