Question of the Week: What site is at the top of your Civil War bucket list?
What is your bucket list battlefield, historic site, or museum related to the Civil War that you haven’t visited yet?
What is your bucket list battlefield, historic site, or museum related to the Civil War that you haven’t visited yet?
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield.
Gettysburg
Shiloh
Andersonville.
Fort Sumter
Perryville, KY. By all accounts, it is a “throw back” to its original character.
I’m currently reading Chris Mackowski’s new book on Spotsylvania Court House (which is excellent by the way) so it is on the top of my list.
Spotsy is well worth the trip.
I’ve been to most at this point but have never been to Ford’s Theater. Probably going to hit that next summer. Runner up would be Stones River.
I would choose Vicksburg. I would like to see the environment along the river and why the city could endure the siege for so long.
Fort Jefferson and Dry Tortugas. National Park. That visit allows me also to spend time in Key West, the departure point for the site.
I haven’t been to Pea Ridge or Wilson’s Creek. I’d like to visit Olustee battlefield in Florida and I also hope to stop at the David Farragut Museum in Knoxville sometime.
Been to Olustee – not kept up, not too much too see.
If you make it to Pea Ridge, which is a really nice battlefield, make sure that you stop in at the Battlefield park at Prairie Grove. It’s about 40 miles South of Pea Ridge, right near Fayetteville, AR. I missed it when I went to Pea Ridge, drove right by it on my way home. It’s a nice little battlefield, with a good museum and Visitor’s center. Very helpful and friendly people. Well worth the time.
Vicksbirg
I’ve never been to Vicksburg, and was hoping to this year. I want to do it right, do the whole campaign and the siege lines. Next year!
I recently crossed Monoacy off the list, showing my spouse the site where her ancestor, Lew Wallace, saved Washington. Antitiem/Sharpsburg is up next.
As an aside, when visiting Monoacy I had an odd experience with a Park Ranger. The Ranger apparently saw the cap I was wearing, then looked at me funny and said “I certainly hope not.” I was baffled, but let it pass. Only after later reflection did I realize that he must have thought that my “Emerging Civil War” cap was intended as some sort of prediction. Hopefully he has since received an education in what ECW represents.
Monocacy is one of my favorites, such a great site.
Valverde. I’ve gotten as close as possible, but what isn’t under the Rio Grande is mostly inaccessible private land.
Vicksburg, Bentonville, Perrryville, and New Orleans. New Orleans and Vicksburg will hopefully be checked off in the upcoming new year.
Two smaller places I’d like to visit are Ball’s Bluff and Shepherdstown. I hit the major spots; Monacacy, Antietam, South Mountain, Harper’s Ferry a couple years ago. After watching some of the ABT videos, though, I’d like to see the less publicized sites.
Kennesaw, Corinth, Shiloh and Vicksburg are all on my list, but Gaines’s Mill is at the top, which is where my great, great, great grandfather, a Union Private from New York, received a wound that he survived, but that changed his life forever.
I’d love to visit Shiloh, Donelson, Vicksburg and Pea Ridge, the latter being one of the places my ancestor fought at, under the Portly Price!
Shiloh,Chickamauga, pretty much all of Tennessee
I would love to paddle Steele’s Bayou in my canoe.
Shiloh
I want to – and soon shall – visit Glendale, the site of the last real opportunity for the South to win the war – or at least bring it to a halt – where one of my ancestors was killed, one of his friends was killed beside him, and another lost a finger.
Have seen pretty much all the the major battlefields and many less publicized ones. Really enjoyed New Market. Will be visiting Pea Ridge and Wilson’s Creek soon. Sadly Little Round Top was closed when we visited Gettysburg recently (missed the reopening by a couple of weeks) so that and Fords Theatre at the top of the list. Then time to revisit my favourites and lesser known sites.
Vicksburg. Haven’t been to that one yet.
1. Sand Creek.
2. Centralia – many changes/additions made since I was last there (in 2001).
3. Fort Jefferson.
4. Milliken’s Bend.
Champion Hill. There is a small, yellow paperback that says why. Grant Wins the War