Posted on 03/31/2005 6:34:19 PM PST by stainlessbanner
Hello FReepers -
Need your guidance, suggestions, recommendations for travel.
Some friends are making a trip to Virginia and Maryland and would like to visit some battlefields and sites from the War of Northern Aggression.
On deck for the trip are the following sites:
Any insight, experiences, and suggestions would be helpful - which sites are interesting, how you saw them (car, walking, horseback), etc.. Many of you have been to these locations and can share some insider info!
I did find a great link called the Civil War Traveler with sites, dates, timeline, and related information.
Dixie travel guide suggestions
Parking is difficult around the MOC. I had to park in the hospital parking lot but worth it. Enjoyed the White House most of all...
The G'burg car tour is pretty good, depending on the guide. Horseback would be better.
Chickamauga-Chattanooga (Georgia/Tennessee border, all sites within about 20 miles) is a great trip. We saw only a little of what was available when we visited, and will have to go back for a full Civil War whoop-up some day. The Tennessee State Aquarium in Chattanooga is also worth a full half-day (or more if you have kids).
Chickamauga battlefield (pause in honor of James Longstreet, Bedford Forrest, Ambrose Bierce, and General George Thomas, USA) is one of the earliest national battlefield parks, and many of the descriptions were written by veterans (both sides) of the battle.
If you happen to hit the Lookout Mountain area on a cloudy day, it's truly spooky. I had to stop on the Interstate one day, driving home from the mall with the kids, because I had the howlin' heebie-jeebies. I got pretty friendly with the Civil War dead, living where we did (near Tullahoma), but some days they were just too close.
Stones River (Murfreesboro) is only about 1-1/2 hours from Chattanooga, up the very scenic Interstate towards Nashville. That battlefield park is very nice, but small compared to the whole extent of the field; you have to use your imagination some. There's enough preserved to get a good impression of the terrain, especially if you're pushing a baby stroller :-). Franklin is about another hour up the road, and is very evocative, although much is built over.
Military trip planning, y'all might enjoy.
Dad and I parked at the hospital, too. The Museum of the Confederacy and the house are a great visit. I loved Varina Davis's furniture. (I'm still hoping to name a daughter after her, if I can confuse their Dad :-).
Lincoln’s "House Divided" speech re-enactment -- Springfield,IL(Click to watch)
Oh, I didn't catch the location. Whoops! Fortress Monroe, in the Norfolk, VA, area, is very interesting; well preserved Revolutionary War era fort, and later, of course, Jefferson Davis was imprisoned there.
We have not been to Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Spottsylvania, but my parents have bicycled the sites and said they were excellent.
Appomattox Court House should not be missed.
They like your style, Mrs. Davis < grin >
I was remincising about the Smokies in your previous post, so beautiful, so haunting.
I really feel for her. She was so neurotic ... but who wouldn't be, under the circumstances?
Fredericksburg,Antitum (sp) and especially Gettysburg.
Either Petersburg or Fredericksburg. I like the Fredericksburg Battlefield better than the one at Petersburg - plus it's close to Guinea(?) station, where Stonewall died. The Jackson Shrine House is wonderful.
and it's not too far from Spotsylvania and Chancellorsville.
It's been 20 years or more since we visited the Smokies. On our list "soon," as you measure "soon" when you have a baby every two years :-). You have to plan outdoors-type trips so the "previous" baby is walking, while the "current" baby isn't crawling yet!
There are lots of smaller sites in Virginia. My father, brother, and I visited the "Saylor's Creek" site, one of the last engagements before Appomattox. The terrain is very 19th century; you can really see what it was like for the soldiers.
My husband and I missed the Manassas battlefield (which Mom and Dad say isn't that great), but the City of Manassas Museum is terrific. We spent a whole rainy afternoon there, touring the place with an equally-lost couple from Alabama. (Thank goodness it wasn't Yankees!)
For Gettysburg - which we saw in early January, with a toddler along - I recommend getting the Army War College Battlefield Guide. That was such a useful resource. The dead are awfully thick at Gettysburg, though. One of my friends, who's not usually sensitive, said she couldn't get out of the car when she was there.
And the nearby Stonewall Jackson Shrine - the small house where Jackson came to his final rest; it's very moving.
I see TN is not on your list. I echo that Franklin is interesting. Most of the battlefield is gone, but the Carter House at the center of the battle is well-preserved and has a museum and video presentation. The Carter son was in the Army of Tennessee and mortally wounded in his old back yard. The Confederate cemetery (maintained by the SCV) is a short drive away. The graves are laid out by State. The cemetery inspired Allan Tate's "Ode to the Confederate Dead."
Shiloh is one of my favorite battlefield/parks, but it is in the middle of nowhere - maybe that's why it is so well preserved.
Beware of "PC" tour interpretations! Hope you have a good trip.
Antietam and Monocacy in Maryland are pretty good, also recommend Chancellorsville.
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