Susie King Taylor Day 15 Savannah Georgia

They really call you 'honey or sugar' and I really did like it.  Savannah is a lovely little gem of a city.  I was surprised at its small size but huge history and then there's those moss covered trees everywhere....

My interest of course was to hit as many Civil War spots as I could but Mathew was having none of that as Fort Pulaski outside of town is closed til further notice but just by luck I was able to get a personal tour from the nicest man setting up for a film at the Green-Meldrim house, where W Tecumsah Sherman set up HQ and sent the famous "Mr President I give you Savannah for a Christmas present" telegram.  And of course the flip side....the spot where Forrest sat and talked about life and chocolate.....see my fb post earlier....Anyway, it was just a beautiful day.

But there's a very special story about a woman dedicated to serving others regardless of her color or theirs.  I'm speaking of SUSIE KING TAYLOR 1848-1912, who was Georgia's FIRST BLACK TEACHER OF FREED SLAVES AND FIRST BLACK NURSE.  Susie, a slave, was sent by her owner to Savannah when she was 7.  Somehow, she found a teacher who taught her the 3 r's and she was a stellar student.  When the war broke out in Savannah she attracted the attention of the Union army who needed a teacher for their black new freed slave recruits.  But not content to just teach, she trained to be a nurse and cared for the sick and injured black union troops first there and then in multiple field hospitals.  She met and married her first husband, a union officer who was later killed and then married years later after she had moved to Boston.  In 1890 she wrote a highly acclaimed book called Reminiscences about her experiences as a black woman nurse in the Civil War.
It's hard to imagine what her life must've been like during those years with the Union Army....hard enough for the Union to accept black soldiers but a black teacher/nurse that's a woman???

I'm camped at the most ridiculously beautiful campground complete with goats, a huge lake and alligators.  Should be a lovely night.  Missing you all and sending hugs from the road.