A Cunning Plan...

Shhhhh, don't tell the wife that an upcoming trip I am planning with her involves some volunteer work....

In the fall of 1861 one William "Bull" Nelson was tasked with moving into east Kentucky and breaking up any Confederate recruiting that was taking place in the bucolic hills and mountains.  This was Nelson's Big Sandy Expedition, that led to the Battle of Ivy Mountain.  Many of the regiments in Nelson's command were from Ohio, including some of those later found at Perryville, Stones River, and Chickamauga (among other places), the 2nd, 21st, and 33rd Ohio.  The battle itself was not a large affair, and did temporarily push Confederate recruitment out of the area.  And while not a large battle, it does have a small memorial park with a twelve foot obelisk and a couple of interpretive panels.  And it is also a bit of a mess, which leads to the cunning plan.

The American Battlefield Trust holds an annual Park Day, in which volunteers can gather to work at their local Civil War site.  This year Park Day is on April 6th, and I am already involved with a clean up day in Augusta.  However, Park Day events do not have to be on the same day as the national date, and so I am working on a bit of a clean up at Ivy Mountain, late April.  This might be a Park day event, meaning that for those who participate some cool Park day t-shirts will be their reward, along with knowing they have made an impact.  And Ivy Mountain could use some impact.

Look at the following pictures and you can see some of the opportunities that a clean up day at Ivy Mountain offers.

Monument that needs a good cleaning

And so too the interpretive panels

The memorial area that could really pay homage to those who fought at Ivy Mountain

Now, what could be accomplished?  With enough hands, we could make some immediate visual improvements, such as those labeled in blue on this picture.

So really, two cunning plans, one that would give the wife an overnight trip to a new area, and the other that could lead to a much more appealing memorial area.