Question of the Week: 10/7-10/13/19

How far have you traveled to visit a historic site or research about the Civil War?



14 Responses to Question of the Week: 10/7-10/13/19

  1. I traveled about 60 miles to saylers creek to stand where my two uncles were killed . Winston and Wi?liam Meredith of Crutchfields brigade

  2. Over the past month, I travelled about 2500 miles on what I call the Graveyard Tour. Leaving Beaumont,TX ( just ahead of the Imelda flood) the first stop was in Gainesville, GA and a visit with “Ol’ Pete” Longstreet. Next stop was Lexington, VA, where I visited R. E. Lee, T. J. Jackson and the Pendleton’s; William and Sandie. Then on to Helena, AR, and a visit to the Helena Confederate Cemetery to see the grave of Patrick Cleburne and the 50 or so soldiers killed at the July 4, 1863 battle of Helena. Also made a stop at Kennesaw Mountain NBP, the last major battlefield on my bucket list.

  3. I’ve traveled to Virginia twice. Each was a 12-13 hour drive one way. Once for a one-week stretch for the Antietam 156th anniversary battlefield tour, but I also visited the battlefields at Manassas, Richmond, Appomattox, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. At each place, I was following in the footsteps of the 7th Georgia Infantry. The second time was for a two-week visit for the Emerging Civil War Symposium this past August. Also went to Harper’s Ferry, Frederick for the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Winchester, New Market, Cedar Creek, the Seven Days Battlefields, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna (with the tour group), and revisited Antietam, Gettysburg, and Manassas. That trip was more for “I haven’t been and I want to see the places” because I had read about them so much in the last year.
    The craziest, impromptu trip for research that I’ve done was drive 4 hours to Franklin, Georgia to visit the grave of a soldier I had been studying for a book project. That was a “day trip” where I drove there and back home in one afternoon/evening. My husband and I also walked the whole of Vicksburg’s battlefield last November. That took two days.
    I’ve been to plenty other battlefields too, but those were just the “extreme” trips I’ve taken.

  4. In October 1995, I set out on a 34-day tour of Civil War sites around the country that covered about 6,000 miles. Starting in Maryland, I drove to West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, back to Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and back home to Maryland. Recently, I wrote a series of articles about this trip in a weekly column titled “Civil War Profiles” that I write for the Coastal Point newspaper in Ocean View, DE.

  5. As a resident of western Washington State I’ve made multiple trips east to visit and tour…the most distant destination was Washington D.C. and have made it to many major battlefields in the eastern and western theaters. As a descendant of both Union and Confederate soldiers this “pedigree” has allowed a balanced appraisal of the conflict. I was a resident of North Alabama for nearly 8 years (1964-1972) before I came to the knowledge of my ancestors participation – my interest during that time was pretty casual compared to post-1995 when I came to understand my family history. To put it mildly I would love to have those 8 years to enjoy a “do over” right in the middle of Dixie!

    1. Dale
      Please consider attending a Puget Sound CWRT meeting. Next up Ted Savas from Savas Beatie publishers this Thursday at China Harbor Restaurant, 2040 Westlake Ave N, Seattle.

      1. Thanks Mike…it’s tempting. I need to shake this nagging cold first; I’m thinkin’ I wouldn’t be popular sneezing and coughing through the meeting!
        I would like to meet Mr. Savas…publisher of my friend Sam Hood’s books.

  6. From Montpelier, Vermont to Santa Fe, New Mexico to visit and understand the battle of Glorieta Pass. Most of the holidays that my domestic partner and I had been on before had been to Civil war battlefields. She insisted that we take a vacation to someplace other than a Civil war site, so she picked Satna Fe. As she was confirming reservations, I told her to ask how far away was the nearest Civil War battlefield. When she heard that it was a half hour way, well………..

  7. We drove from Stones River National Battlefield to Wilson’s Creek in Missouri. We brought the park’s 1841 Six Pounder to participate in an eight gun battery.

  8. Farthest ‘west’ that I’ve been is Chickamauga and Chattanooga. On that same trip I drove past Tullahoma, but I was on my way to the Jack Daniels Distillery then! Sometime reasonably soon I hope to visit the significant CW sites in Kentucky and Tennessee and Mississippi, as well as those in Louisiana. Farthest south that we have seen is Pensacola.

  9. Across the Atlantic from England to visit Gettysburg 🙂 . I’ve been to Harpers Ferry and Chancellorsville as well, and the Atlanta Cyclorama but Gettysburg was the place I particularly wanted to see.

  10. I’ve been to Glorieta Pass near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Took the car driven battlefield tour offered by the NPS. It snowed on my way back to Santa Fe. Cold, but nice day. NPS guy was nice and informed even though is primary field of study wasn’t the Civil War but the Pecos pueblo culture and Spanish New Mexico.

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