Eastern Theater of the Civil War
ITINERARY:
Arrival Day This afternoon we will gather at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. (www.crystalcity.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp) Tonight we will have dinner at The Warehouse Bar & Grill in the center of Old Town Alexandria. (www.warehousebarandgrill.com/warehouse.htm)
Day 1: This morning we will make an early departure from the tour hotel and drive to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, a tiny town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which was destined to bear witness to two events of critical importance to Civil War history. The first was the John Brown raid on the United States Arsenal in October 1859. The abolitionist Brown and his followers were intent upon procuring weapons with which to arm and incite a slave rebellion in Virginia. The second was a battle in September 1862, which formed an integral part of the mosaic of Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign, of which the epoch battle at Antietam Creek was the centerpiece.
Although planned for months, the unexpected resistance of a small but dedicated group locals who resented the invasion of their community by a group of outside agitators foiled Brown’s raid. With their plans unraveling before their very eyes, Brown seized hostages and sought refuge in an old fire engine house. Once in the engine house, the standoff between the raiders and the outraged citizens stretched out for two days. Responding to the public outcry in Harpers Ferry, the War department dispatched Colonel Robert E. Lee and a detachment of Marines to quell the rebellion. In the process of apprehending the raiders and restoring order several of Brown's men, including two of his sons, were either killed or mortally wounded. Brown was taken captive and hanged at nearby Charles Town two months later.
The second event of Civil War significance was a battle fought on September 15, 1862 as the lead operation of Robert E. Lee’s Maryland Campaign. Coming off a resounding victory at Second Manassas Lee sculpted a plan to invade Maryland designed to bring the border-state into the Confederacy, and hopefully force foreign recognition of the Confederacy. With his plan to execute a raid into Maryland in place, all that stood in his way was the small Union garrison stationed at Harpers Ferry. Realizing he had to remove this obstacle to keep his lines of communication open back to Richmond, Lee sent General Thomas E. (Stonewall) Jackson and a small detachment to drive the Yankees out of Harpers Ferry. Executing the maneuver of his cannon to perfection, Jackson quickly dispatched the Union threat, capturing 12,000 Union troops, the largest surrender of United States troops in American history until Corregidor in the Philippines during World War II.
We will spend the morning at the Historical Parkin “lower town” Harpers Ferry. After lunch at the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown we will take a tour of Charles Town, including the Courthouse where John Brown where was tried and convicted and the site of his hanging in Charles Town, as well as other sites critical to the Shenandoah Campaigns of 1862 and 1864. At the end of the day we will travel to Middletown Virginia and to the Wayside Inn (www.alongthewayside.com) where we will have dinner and spend the night. A storyteller will join us for dinner and will acquaint us with the history of the Inn and the Middletown area. Rich in its own history, the Wayside Inn first began to serve travelers in 1797 as they journeyed across the Shenandoah Valley. Upon the building of the Valley Pike twenty years later the Inn became a stagecoach stop and a relay station where fresh horses were ready, and a place where weary travelers could rest and enjoy food and spirits.
During the Civil War officers and soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies frequented the Inn. Although the occupation of Northern Virginia changed hands many times during the war, the Inn was spared the ravages of the war. The Inn and the Middletown area were both central to the Shanandoah Campaigns of 1862 and 1864.
Day 2 This morning we will leave the Wayside Inn and drive to Sharpsburg, Maryland, and a
morning tour of the Antietam National Battlefield. The Battle of Antietam was fought in September 1862, and was the signature battle of the Maryland Campaign, which marked the first of two incursions by General Lee into Northern territory. The Battle at Antietam has forever carried the dubious distinction of having been the single bloodiest day of battle during any war in American History, accounting for more than 20,000 American casualties. After lunch at Brewer’s Alley Restaurant and Brewery (www.brewers-alley.com) in Frederick, Maryland we will visit the National Museum of Civil War Medicine (www.civilwarmed.org) prior to returning to the Wayside Inn for dinner and the night.
Day 3 This morning we will arise early and drive to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Battle of 
Gettysburg was fought on July 1 - 3, 1863, in tandem with Grant’s siege of Confederate forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi, are considered by many as marking the turning point of the Civil War in favor of Union forces. With neither side particularly wanting to fight at Gettysburg, a series of prevailing circumstances forced the two sides together on the rocky hills surrounding this small town in south central Pennsylvania. The battle began when Henry Heth, one of A.P. Hill’s division commanders authorized a patrol to go into the town to requisition shoes for his troops. It was during this mission the rebel patrol came into contact with a Union patrol. As might be expected, the two opposing patrols engaged one another, setting into motion the greatest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere, resulting in 28,000 Confederate, and 23,000 Union casualties.
Upon arrival we will tour the National Battlefield, after which we will have an afternoon at leisure exploring the quaint shops of Gettysburg. Tonight we will have an early dinner at the famed Farnsworth House (www.farnsworthhouseinn.com) after which we will attend a “Ghost Show” where storytellers tell of the many ghost which haunt the old house and the community. (www.farnsworthhouseinn.com/mourning-theater.htm) We will spend the night in Gettysburg.
Day 4 This morning will be at leisure in Gettysburg. We will have lunch at the Cashtown Inn (www.cashtowninn.com) located eight miles west of Gettysburg, and the site of the gathering Confederate forces in the days immediately preceding the battle. After lunch we will take a more detailed tour of the battlefield working our way east from Cashtown along the Chambersburg Pike past McPherson’s Ridge and to Seminary Ridge and Little Round Top. When our tour is completed we will drive to Locust Dale, Virginia and the Meander Plantation (www.meander.net) where we will have dinner and spend the night. A storyteller will join us for dinner and acquaint us with the lore of the plantation and the immediate area during dinner.
Day 5 This morning we will meet our guide and begin our first tour of the day at the Wilderness Battlefield. After touring the Wilderness Battlefield, we will tour the Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania Battlefields with lunch in between at Fredericksburg. Today we will be covering two separate campaigns. The first being the Fredericskburg Campaign of December 1862, which extended into the following spring as the Chancellorsville Campaign which sent a victorious Confederate Army north where they would again meet the Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg.
The second was the beginning of the 1864 Overland Campaign at the Wilderness. This campaign began at the Wilderness in May and ended in the environs of Petersburg in July where Grant laid siege to the critical Confederate rail center. We will depart late afternoon from Spotsylvania for Richmond where we will have dinner at the Tobacco Company Restaurant (www.thetobaccocompany.com) and then to the Jefferson Hotel (www.jefferson-hotel.com) for the night.
Day 6 Today will begin with a city tour of Richmond. Richmond was, and is a capital unlike any other in the world. Its architect was Thomas Jefferson, its spokesman, Patrick Henry, its poet, Edgar Allan Poe, and its general, Robert E. Lee. During our tour, we will visit the site of the infamous Libby Prison (Union officers) and the infamous Belle Isle Prison (Union enlisted men). Our tour will include Saint Paul’s Church where the social elite of Richmond society attended church in 1861-65, and a drive down Monument Blvd., as well as drive past numerous other sites of Richmond important during the Civil War. Late morning we will arrive at the Museum of the Confederacy (www.moc.org/site/PageServer) where we will have a private showing of the Confederate Naval Exhibit, as well as time to peruse the many exhibits of the museum. After a luncheon seminar we will have a private tour of the White House of the Confederacy, the executive mansion and home to the Davis family from 1861-65. After a mid-afternoon visit to the visitor’s center at the old Tredegar Iron Works, we will make a late afternoon stop at Hollywood Cemetery (www.hollywoodcemetery.org) final resting-place for Presidents Jefferson Davis, James Monroe, and John Tyler. Also interred at Hollywood are many veterans of Army of Northern Virginia buried in what is today known as “Confederate Row.” These men, known as the “trench soldiers” were killed at Gettysburg during Pickett’s charge. After dinner at the Strawberry Street Cafe (www.strawberrystreetcafe.com) we will return to the Jefferson Hotel for
the night.
Day 7 Our day will begin with a drive to Berkeley Plantation (www.berkeleyplantation.com) (also known as “Harrison Landing” during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign), on the James River where we will tour the Plantation grounds. Berkeley, built in 1776, is the most historic of the James River Plantations. Berkeley was the home of Royal Governor William Berkeley and the birth place of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and three time Governor of Virginia, as well as, William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States. It was here at Berkeley that English Settlers landed on December 4, 1619 and immediately celebrated the first official Thanksgiving in America.
In 1862, President Lincoln reviewed the troops Army of the Potomac camped at Berkeley, (Harrison Landing) at the end of the Peninsula Campaign under the command of Gen. George McClellan. It was during this encampment, that the bugle call "Taps" was composed on the plantation grounds. After spending the morning at Berkeley, we have lunch at the nearby Indian Fields Tavern, then travel to Petersburg and tour the famous Petersburg Battlefield. Mid-afternoon we will go to Pamplin Historical Park (www.pamplinpark.org) where costumed interpreters will escort us through a living history interpretation of the days of the Civil War. We will have a buffet dinner before leaving the park and returning to the Jefferson for the night.
Day 8 Today will begin very early with a drive back to Petersburg, then follow the path of Lee's retreat from Petersburg to Amelia Courthouse, Sayler’s Creek, and finally to Appomattox Courthouse, site of Lee's surrender to Grant on April 9, 1865. We will enjoy free time at Appomattox Court House, as well as a living history interpretation if available. Shortly after noon we will depart Appomattox Courthouse where we will drive
to historic Michie Tavern (www.michietavern.com) located at the base of Monticello Mountain where we will have a late lunch. After lunch we will depart Michie Tavern for Alexandria where our tour will end.
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