Day 2
Sunday, April 2, 2023
Today was simply about exploring Columbus, Georgia. There were no set plans for the day. As an added bonus, no rain like the previous day. And while I did gripe about the traffic noise at the Motel 6, I did get a nice sunrise on my way down to the Waffle House for breakfast.
Being Sunday morning, the city was pretty quiet. After breakfast, I simply walked the half mile down to the river.
Just two blocks from the water sits this small park and marker...
While Col. LaGrange was busy in West Point, Maj. Gen. James Wilson was headed south to take over the city of Columbus. He had 13,000 men under his command, as opposed to 3,500 defenders.
Confederate Maj. Gen. Howell Cobb set up his first line of defense across the Chattahoochee River in what is today Phenix City, Alabama. With only two bridges across to Columbus, he knew exactly where to expect Wilson. The north bridge was heavily defended. The south bridge wasn't. It was a trap.
Union forces easily took the Alabama side of the southern bridge and started to cross. That's when they discovered the trap. Planks had been removed on the Georgia side making it unusable. The bridge was then set afire with the advancing troops on it. They realized what was happening fast enough to safely retreat.
Gen. Cobb sent word he expected a large battle the next morning. Gen. Wilson had other ideas. At 8P, his troops stormed the confederate positions at the north bridge. In the confusion and darkness, Union troops were running across the river side by side with retreating Confederates.
The next morning, Gen. Wilson ordered the burning of any infrastructure that could still be used to supply the Confederacy. They captured the ironclad CSS Jackson, lit it on fire and set it adrift.
A few days later, word of Gen. Lee's surrender reached General Joseph Johnson. He had been fighting near Durham, NC and expected reinforcements from Lee. Instead, he began negotiations for surrender of the last large army on the confederacy. President Andrew Johnson declared the war over on May 10, 1865.
Quite a few cities have riverwalks. In Columbus, it stretches over twelve miles. This morning I simply chose to head north. I was impressed this seemed completely undisturbed.
Something tells me there's a story here. And where's the second shoe?
This mill is a mile up the walkway, and my turnaround point. I worked my way back to the pedestrian bridge across the river.
Each colored canopy represents a part of the city's history. The red one commemorates John Pemberton. Before the civil war, he ran a local pharmacy. As a member of the Georgia Home Guard, he was called up to serve in the city's defense. He received a saber gash and bullet wound in the fight.
Afterwards, he went back and reopened his shop. One of his inventions was something he called French Wine Coca. It was a mixture of red wine, kola nut and coca leaf extract. He claimed it offered relief from all kinds of stomach ailments.
He brought his concoction to Atlanta and due to local laws, was no longer allowed to manufacture it with wine. Instead he added sweeteners and rebranded it as Coca-Cola.
After doing a google search for coffee shops, I decided to take the long way back to the motel...
Somehow this just seemed wrong...
Eventually, I did wind up at Iron Bank Coffee. Yes, it's a repurposed bank.
While it doesn't look that much different than any other old building here, it's actually made of cast iron. When Gen. Wilson's troops were occupying Columbus, they came to the bank and searched it looking for hidden vaults. There was a rumored $2 million in Confederate gold stored there. They found nothing.
After working my way back to the room, I checked to see what was actually open on Sundays. The Columbus City Museum was in the process of moving. A few others were simply closed.
A great deal has changed since my last visit to Columbus in 2008. One place I found interesting was the Confederate Civil War Museum. It was pretty small at the time. Over the years it's expanded a great deal and is now the National Civil War Naval Museum.
In the biggest room they have the frame of the CSS Jackson. This was the ironclad captured when Columbus fell. It was set on fire and then adrift. In 1962, recovery of the ship's hull began. The white metal frame above outlines the burned upper section.
CSS Jackson's overall length was 220 feet, and she was 58 feet wide. She was protected by four inches of iron plating over two feet of wood.
This photo is from the Columbus Daily Enquirer, December, 1864.
In another room sits the remains of the CSS Chattahoochee. It was scuttled downriver from Columbus to avoid its capture by the approaching Union forces.
Another room houses a recreation of the USS Albemarle. It was a smaller Confederate ship, protecting the Pungo River in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Captured by Union patrol ships, it served the remainder of the war as a storage and supply ship.
Which brings us to another roadtrip rule. If you see something interesting as you drive by, turn around and go back. Traffic patterns made that difficult. But, I did go back after I left the museum. There's just something about an abandoned antique market. This is also the former location of the Lunch Box Museum.
By now it was mid afternoon and definitely time for some lunch. I ditched the car in an area they call Uptown. It's the first few blocks off the river. My parking spot was next to the Bradley Theater. The theater opened in 1940, but closed in 1977. A few years later, the seats were removed and it reopened as a teen center. That didn't last and it would eventually be turned into a multi use facility hosting concerts, weddings and private parties.
By now you know I can't pass up a new brewery. So, lunch was at a place called the Cannon Brew Pub. The staff couldn't have been nicer. The food was your basic brew pub fare and the beer I tried flavorful. Not the best of the trip, but definitely a place I could return to some day.
Up the street is the Momma Goldberg Deli. I only mention it for the building. For decades I'd pass a former H.L. Green store on my drive into work.(It still feels weird saying that in the past tense) It was part of a chain that reached 227 stores at its peak. The last one closed in the late 1990's.
After heading back to the room to write up some notes from the day, I was back down by the river for sunset.
Walking back towards the room, I passed Country's Barbecue. While the smell wafting in the breeze was certainly inviting, I definitely wasn't thinking more food. But, I walked by. They've repurposed the old Greyhound Bus terminal into a barbecue joint.
Coming Up,
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