Monument (520-723-3172; nps.gov/
cagr), the vestiges of an ancient desert
farming community.
The Battle Over Cattle
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA
Florida belonged to the Confederates,
but Union troops used the fort in this
Gulf of Mexico backwater as a base
for stealing local cattle— 4,000 head
in all—which would have supplied
Confederate troops in Georgia. In
February 1865, Confederates began
firing on the fort. The soldiers there
held off the attack, and casualties
were light on both sides.
WHAT TO SEE A monument in
downtown Fort Myers honors the
2nd Regiment Infantry, U.S. Colored
Troops. Flanked by marble tablets, a
bronze statue of an African American
sergeant stands guard, in honor of the
more than 1,000 freed Florida slaves
who enlisted with the Union.
WHAT’S NEARBY The coolest places
in town are the Thomas Edison and
Henry Ford winter estates—the two
mansions where the industrial giants
lived side by side. Edison’s lab is
preserved the way he left it (239-334-
7419; edisonfordwinterestates.org).
First Submarine Attack
CHARLESTON,
SOUTH CAROLINA
As Union ships pelted Charleston
with artillery fire in 1863, the local
Confederate military officials pinned
their hopes on a weird, 40-foot-long
“torpedo fish,” an experimental
submarine called the H. L. Hunley.
On February 17, 1864, the Hunley
torpedoed the USS Housatonic, the
Union’s largest ship. The Housatonic
sank, but so did the Hunley. The
sub was finally recovered in 2001;
remains of the eight-man crew were
removed and buried in 2004.
WHAT TO SEE In Charleston you can
visit a high-tech workshop to observe
