Civil War Tour 2009

Every year I spend a weekend on the road with an old friend touring Civil War battlefields. After unexpected back surgery earlier this Summer, I thought we might have to cancel this year. Instead, we decided to limit the driving and focus on Virginia (I had hoped to take in a few sites in Kentucky and Tennessee - perhaps next year).

We will begin with the eastern sites on the Petersburg front, including the Crater and Fort Harrison. I expect this will take the better part of a day to accomplish. From Petersburg, we will head to the North Anna Battlefield park. This is a county park with some of the best preserved earthworks in Virginia. Hopefully we can accomplish all of this on day 1. As we are leaving the night before to knock out most of the driving time to Petersburg, I think we can accomplish all of this, if I discipline myself not to detour every time I see a Civil War Trails sign.

Day 2 will begin with Trevilian Station, the first of two battlefields on our route established by private preservation groups and the efforts of the Civil War Preservation Trust. Continuing the focus on cavalry actions and privately operated sites, a tour of the Brandy Station battlefield is next. I have passed this battlefield many times en route to other sites, and it's about time I spent a day on the field. Given time, we will wrap up day 2 with a visit to Bristoe Station Heritage Park. A short loop trail in this county park surveys A.P. Hill's futile and costly assault on Federal troops positioned along a railroad bed.

If time permits, we may detour to the Wilderness battlefield for a few photos before the Super Wal-Mart destroys the viewshed. Hopefully the short-sighted sprawlocrats of Orange county will listen to the urgings of men and women with a longer view of history than their own and work with Wal-Mart to find a location that does not directly impact the battlefield. Given the tone of their public statements to date, I hold out little hope for a compromise. I may not have a vote in Orange County, but perhaps my wallet does. I will not be spending any money in Orange County, nor will I be stocking up on supplies for the trip at Wal-Mart as I usually do. Thanks, but I'd rather pay more.

A short drive on day 3 will bring us to Manassas. I plan to tour sites from both battles, starting with 1861 in the morning and wrapping up with 1862 in the afternoon. I am particularly looking forward to seeing areas along the unfinished railroad defended by Jackson's troops, as I have not been there since the park completed landscape restorations. As we will be visiting on the anniversary of Second Manassas, I hope to find time for a ranger program or two. My friend is also a member of the 5th New York (Duryee's) Zouaves. Each battle anniversary, the Fifth commemorates the regiment's sacrifice to buy time in the wake of Longstreet's assault, which crushed the Federal left. This will provide a fitting close to a weekend spent on hallowed ground.

Hope for the Sesquicentennial

Discussions of the upcoming sesquicentennial of the Civil War have been overshadowed by concerns that cash strapped states may scale down or even scrap commemorative plans as a result of budgets constrained by the recession. At least two states have managed to develop web sites for their sesquicentennial programs despite trying times.

I stumbled across North Carolinas site while searching for information on the Burnside Expedition in 1862. The site includes a chronology of the various campaigns in the state, a number of historical articles, maps by Mark A. Moore (these are first rate), and a list of events planned at various state historic sites. Definitely worth a look, and a great effort that other states ought to take note of. Visit the site at www.nccivilwar150.com/default.htm.

Virginia has also cobbled together an impressive site, though it seems much of the content is in development. Clicking an interactive map opens a list of events, both historical and current, for a given county, though this section needs quite a bit more work. The state has involved local round tables in the planning stage, and as Governor Tim Kaine is a staunch supporter of Civil War battlefield preservation, it is safe to assume Virginia’s commemorative programs will be substantial. Virginia’s site is http://www.virginiacivilwar.org/index.php.

Hopefully more states will follow suit with their own sesquicentennial programs. Bills have been introduced her in Maryland to establish a commission, but support may be lacking. Let’s hope Maryland’s lawmakers have the foresight to look beyond the current budget crunch and plan a meaningful program. If nothing else motivates them, perhaps the thought of increased tourism may spur them to action.

The USS Monitor Center

The duel between the USS Monitor and CSS Virginia is perhaps the most famous ship action in American history. To many, the fight sounded the death knell of wooden ships and ushered in the era of modern naval warfare. Whether you agree or not, a visit to the USS Monitor Center in Newport News, Virginia is a must for anyone with an interest in the battle of Hampton Roads and the strange new ironclads that fought to a stalemate there in 1862.

The USS Monitor Center is part of the Mariner’s Museum. While I visited mainly to see the center, the larger museum contains hundreds of interesting exhibits and model ships, including a notable gallery on the age of Nelson. Whether you intend to see the entire museum or not, consider a visit. The Monitor Center alone is worth the price of admission.

A full scale replica of the Monitor’s turret stands just beyond the Nelson gallery in the main museum. Near the turret is a Dahlgren replica mounted on a naval carriage. This is an impressive cannon, and I wonder how the battle might have been different had the Monitor’s crew used full instead of half charges for their guns.

Within the center itself are reconstructed officer’s cabins, videos of uniformed reenactors portraying various crew members, and a room containing the red distress lantern the Monitor’s crew hung above the turret shortly before she passed beneath the waves. One room contains a scene of the CSS Virginia in dry-dock. A replica of the bow of this massive vessel stands across the room, and as I moved through the exhibit, I entered by the port side and saw a reconstruction of the inside of the ship and peered through one of the gun ports on the bow.

The Battle Theater presents the story of the battle of Hampton Roads using stunning CGI graphics and surround sound in a three-sided theater – this is truly something to see and was one of the highlights of the visit. Another film details the efforts to raise the turret and preserve various artifacts from the ship, and the center includes a full-scale model of the turret as it was found on the bottom of the ocean, the guns upside-down and everything encrusted with sand and mud and debris. Beside this display is a cutaway model of the turret including one of the massive Dahlgrens mounted on it carriage.

Imagine walking on the deck of the Monitor as she was in 1862 and standing beside the massive gun turret. At the Monitor Center, you can (almost). Just outside the museum stands a full scale replica of the Monitor. I was truly impressed by the size of the ship. Plates on the deck detail various aspects of the ship and its crew.

Back inside the museum, the last gallery of the center focuses on the engines and the area beneath the massive turret. The cutaway replica of the turret stands immediately above. As conservation continues, this area may eventually contain the Monitor’s engines. On the way out, visitors can see the huge tanks containing the Monitor’s turret, engines and guns. Reversing the decay of ages will take several years at the least. Still, as I gazed down at the Dahlgren guns in their murky chemical bath, I was moved by the realization that I stood before one of the guns whose blasts marked the end of the age of sail and ushered in the age of iron.

I planned to spend two hours at the Mariner’s Museum and the USS Monitor Center. I spent five hours there, and it was well worth it. If your next Civil War tour takes you anywhere near Newport News, Virginia, plan to spend some time here.