Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

[DJCasey]

I tried to search for any info, but didn't come up with anything.

A friend of mine and I are thinking about taking a road trip (from Chicago) out east to hit up some Civil War sites. We plan on taking a week and want to spend at least 2 full days in Gettysburg as he has never been there before. I know all the battlefields and historically significant sites, but my knowledge of what places are good to visit is very limited. Once out there we would like to keep our range from about Gettysburg in the north, south into Virginia. We did DC a couple years ago and I have been to Anteitam and Manasas (although I wouldn't mind doing Anteitam in more detail).

Does anyone who lives out there or has visited extensively have any suggestions for battlefields, museums or other historic sites in the area? We would like to see as much as possible given our time frame. Also, this friend is a US history teacher, so any sites that may be benficial to him as a teacher would be great, too.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions...

[Dignann]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

David,

Not knowing your exact itinerary, I suggest Civil War Traveler.com The site is quite inclusive and has suggested itineraries, podcasts, travel info, etc.

Eric

[unionprivate]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

I remember going to see the Eisenhower historic site, just down the road from the Gettysburg battlefield. It is the home of the former president and is now a museum. Worth a little drive, I think. You could also think about heading north and checking out the Carlisle war college. I dont much about touring the place, but I know it exists in town.

[dusty27]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

I would suggest the Fredericksburg NPS sites as they are all within a short driving distance and they are significant as far as the war goes. You have Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness and Spotsylvania. And if you can, stop by Ellwood and the little seen Payne's Farm site.

There is a musuem down there also that you must see. Eric, can you provide the name again? Should know it, but I can't recall. DW?

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

You usually can't go wrong with NPS sites. I second Dusty's suggestion to visit NPS's Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP, which encompases four major battles: Fredericksburg (Dec '62 and May '63), Chancellorsville (including the Salem Church unit), Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. A Civil War enthusiast can easily spend two whole days covering this park and its extensive holdings, and related historic areas owned by others.

Another good one to visit is NPS's Harper's Ferry site, which is nearby Antietam NMP.

The battlefield sites in the lower Shenandoah Valley are interesting, but most of them are not nearly as well marked or interprepted as most NPS sites; for example, fields in this area include Opequon Creek/Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, and others.

If you get further south into Virginia, Richmond NMP covers a lot of ground, including the Seven Days battles and Cold Harbor, with visitor centers at Tredegar Ironworks in Richmond, Cold Harbor, and Glendale/Freyser's Farm. The jewels of this park include Tredegar, Cold Harbor, Fort Herrison, and Malvern Hill, but other sites like Mechanicsville/Beaver Dam Creek, Savage Station, Glendale, etc. are all worth seeing. A whole day can be easily spent at Richmond. Also, just a bit further south are the extensive holdings of the Petersburg NMP, with units covering the Petersburg campaign such as Hopewell (City Point), the intial atacks on Petersburg (June 15-18, 1864), Fort Stedman, the Crater, Globe Tavern, Five Forks, and others. The privately owned Pamplin Park, which interprepts and preserves several of the western battlefields of the Petersburg campaign, is also great to visit; their Museum of the Civil War soldier is superb. You can easily spend a whole day at the Petersburg and Pamplin Park fields--they took me two days. :)

[bizzilizzit]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

Antietam is not a far drive from Gburg, either.
Also, the Capitol building in Harrisburg, PA is close and worth the trip.
Elizabeth Topping

[Dignann]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

David,

As Kevin and Dusty suggested, a trip to the Fredericksburg, Va. area can be very interesting and there are a lot of sites to see. No trip to Fredericksburg is complete, however, without visiting the White Oak Museum in Stafford County.

Eric

[cprljohnivey]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

Don't overlook Frederick, MD. Frederick can offer:

* Monocacy NMP
* National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Offers walking tour of
* The Barbara Fritchie House "Shoot at this old grey head if you must but spare thy country's flag..."
* Confederate graves from Antietam / South Mountain in the local grave yard just a stone throw away from Francis Scott Key's grave.
* First MD governers house "Rose Hill Manor"
* Shifferstadt House (great old stone house where you can see archatectual detail of how it was constructed).

[Marc]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

I think there also a civil war trails book out there that has many sites on it and directions. You could spend the whole trip in Virginia if you wanted to. Even here in Philadelphia there are two CW museums, the Union League Building..paintings alone are worth the look and their library is great, besides Rev War sites also.

[DJCasey]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. If we can fit it all in, these are the major sites we plan on hitting up in order, taking about 7 days:

Gettysburg
Antietam
Harpers Ferry
Manassas
Some combination of Fredricksburg/Chancelorsville/Spotsylvania/Wilderness, depending on what time allows

We plan to go into the most detail and spend the most time at Gettysburg and Antietam as my friend uses a lot of first person accounts of these battles in his lessons. The other battlefields we will be doing more of a general overview, hitting up maybe two in a day if we can fit it in.

If any one has any suggestions to any good sites, eats or places to stay along the way, we would be very interested. Our goal is to avoid all national chain restaraunts. The NMPs are great, but we wouldn't mind seeing some of the beaten path stuff, too.

Thanks again!

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

Websites of historic sites and the AAA Tour Book are your friend.

[dusty27]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

When in Gettysburg, I recommend the Lincoln Diner down by the railroad tracks.

[Gary of CA]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

Never try to squeeze in too much in a single trip. Better to go over something comprehensively and then move on afterwards. I spent 5 days at Gettysburg and want to go back (with a laser rangefinder).

[BenjaminLDavis]

Re: Driving tour of Eastern CW Sites

If you are going to Gettysburg, I would strongly suggest that you pay for one of the guides
to take you around the battlefield: they know everything there is to know about the battle,
those involved, and I mean everything: someone once told me that the first question on the
test they take to become a Gettysburg guide is - list the entire order of battle, North and
South, for each of the three days. You get the idea, they know their stuff.
(I would here clarify: these are NPS guides, not from the town.)
And they will tailor your trip to what you want to learn: want to see where the troops from
your state fought? OK - they will ask, in how much detail? First day enthusiat, no problem.
John Burns buff, can do.
I was there with my wife - our guide asked how much we knew about the battle, so he could
tailor his talk to our level of interest: I said she knows some, and I know quite a bit. He gave
us our money's worth and more. We both learned a great deal and had a wonderful time.

I agree with previous authors on Harper's Ferry (a must see) and Petersburg (another).
And Appomatox, also enjoyed the New Market battlefield and would add a trip to
VMI / Washington and Lee Universities (right next to each other) and Jackson's grave,
all in the same city, where you can also visit the house he lived in when he taught there
before the war. And we loved, and visited, all the sites mentioned in Fredrick, MD.

The hardest part of your trip will be deciding what NOT to see. Time is a factor, try
and not see too much. Good luck in your travels.

yer comrade, James Schumann