Civil War top sites 11-20

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Hampton Roads /
Mariners' Museum
Newport News

Virginia

The clash of the ironclads at Hampton Roads is among the Civil War's most compelling stories. The South converted the captured steamer Merrimack to the ironclad Virginia at the Norfolk naval yard. On 8 Mar 1862, she sank two large wooden gunships. The next day the Union's innovative gunboat Monitor arrived, sparking the world's first battle between ironclads. The fight was indecisive as between them, but the Monitor saved the Union fleet. The Virginia withdrew and was later blown up by the South when they abandoned Norfolk on 9 May 1862. The Monitor was lost in a gale off Cape Hatteras on 31 Dec 1862.

The wreck of the Monitor was discovered in 1973; the anchor recovered in 1983; and the turret and a gun in 2002. Preservation is underway at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, where a turret gun can be seen, visitors can walk the deck of a full-scale Monitor replica, and experience interactive exhibits. There are many artifacts to see, and hallway walls are lined with period art of the battle. The actual site of the clash can be seen while driving the Hampton Roads bridge tunnel (Interstate 664), or by boat.

An original turret gun from the U.S. Monitor, recovered from the Atlantic shipwreck in 2002, lies in a preserving solution at the Maritime Museum, while a dramatic 360° recreation of the "Battle of the Ironclads" is featured in the battle theater (June 2009)

June
2009

Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, Lincoln Museum, and House where Lincoln Died

Washington D.C.

On the night of 14 April 1865, just five days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre during a performance of Our American Cousin. The unconscious Lincoln was taken across the street to an upstairs bedroom in the Peterson home, where he died early the next morning. It was the tragic coda to America's monumental conflict.

Ford's Theatre, purchased by the federal government in 1866, is still used for theatrical productions, but Lincoln's box remains preserved as it was that fateful day, as is the Peterson house (House where Lincoln Died) across the street. An excellent Lincoln Museum is in the theatre basement. During our most recent visit (June 2009) the theatre and museum were undergoing renovations, so we must visit again to see the current interpretation. The site is a powerful and poignant one to visit.

Ford's Theatre at 511 10th St., Washington, D.C. (June 2009)

June 1967,
Aug 1997, June 2009

Museum of the Confederacy & Confederate White House
Richmond

Virginia

The Museum of the Confederacy at 1201 E. Clay Street, Richmond, Virginia, is right next door to the Confederate White House. Jefferson Davis and his family resided there during the Civil War. The Museum is spectacular, and each time I've visited it has taken at least a half-day to view all the exhibits which cover the entire war. The exhibits are superb and include many rare and evocative artifacts. One must take a tour of the Confederate White House (shown at right in a photo from the Internet) – it is lavishly decorated in Victorian furnishings and very interesting. Given his dyspepsia (an old name for acid reflux), he and wife Varina slept in a specially-made bed with a 45° upward angle at the head. They had six children here (two born during the war).

Although not a battlefield, this is the best museum in existence focused on the Civil War, and is remarkably even-handed in its interpretation. Having the Confederate White House next door just adds to the luster of this historic site.

June 1967,
Sep
1985,
Dec 1994

New Market
New Market State Historical Site & Virginia Museum of the Civil War

Virginia

This is a fairly new battlefield site that did not exist during my early trips back East. It is a jewel of a site in the Shenandoah Valley, featuring both the New Market battlefield and the adjacent Virginia Museum of the Civil War. As a battlefield there is not much beyond the main field of CSA Gen. John C. Breckinridge's attack on the center of Union Gen. Franz Sigel's troops on 15 May 1864, during the last desperate southern push to drive the Yankees from the Shenandoah. Only ~10,000 men were engaged (5K per side), but these included 247 cadets from Virginia Military Academy (inset left). Their story is heavily featured at the site and in the Museum.

During our visit in June, a "Living History" on farm life in the Shenandoah was underway at the historic Bushong Farm at the heart of the battlefield, adding much to the experience. The two-level museum had many unique artifacts and fine exhibits, not to mention a good film in the huge theatre. Although New Market was a small battle, and unimportant in the 'big picture,' its interpretation here is outstanding.

New Market Battlefield near Bushong Farm; living history at the Farm (inset; June 2009)

June 2009

Petersburg
National Battlefield

Virginia

historic photo of Battery 8, Dimmock Line, on Petersburg battlefield

Petersburg National Battlefield preserves a campaign, not a single battle. When Gen. U.S. Grant moved south in spring 1984, he was met by Gen. R.E. Lee in numerous battles discussed separately in this project (e.g., The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor). Blocked from taking Richmond frontally, Grant chose to bypass it and conduct a siege at Petersburg, cutting Richmond's supply line to the south. The siege took almost a year -- June 1864 to late March 1865 -- but did end the war. Important clashes during the siege included the Battle of the Crater (following the dramatic exploding of an underground mine below rebel lines on 30 July 1864) and Ft. Stedman (24 Mar 1865).

The tour route takes the visitor along the siege lines; alas, time has softened the landscape and, for example, "The Crater" now looks like a mild depression. During the summer, "Living History" exhibits often enliven visits; we certainly were entranced by the enactment of a Confederate cannon team during an August 1997 visit. In addition, the Civil War Trust has been acquiring additional land, and I suspect future visits will be improved by new interpretation and new sites.

"Living History" at Ft. Stedman, Petersburg Battlefield, as re-enactors
load and shoot a cannon as a Confederate battery team (Aug 1997)

June 1967, Aug 1997

Wilsons Creek
Wilsons Creek National Battlefield

Missouri

In 1861, Confederate efforts to hold Missouri were supported by State Gov. Jackson and Gens. McCullough and Price. Union Gen. Nathaniel Lyon decided to attack combined Confederate forces camped at Wilsons Creek in sw. Missouri. He planned a complicated assault that included an attack on the Confederate rear by Gen. Franz Sigel. It was a daring plan but much too complex for Union forces at this early stage of the war. They were routed by rebel counter-attacks, and Gen. Lyon killed on Oak Hill ("Bloody Hill") during the 10 Aug 1861 battle. The North would not gain control of Missouri until the Battle of Pea Ridge in March 1862.

The battlefield is wonderfully preserved as it was in 1861, in the "new style" without many rows of cannon or monuments (except at the site of Lyon's death). The visitor center's interpretive large-scale map of the battle strategy is excellent, and the tour route through this large battlefield site is impressive for its feel for the landscape.

Wilsons Creek meanders through the rolling foothills of southwestern Missouri within the preserved battlefield (March 1997)

Mar
1997

Fort Donelson
National Battlefield

Tennessee

U.S. Grant's campaign to capture Tennessee in early 1862 was the Union's first huge success. First, a combined river-boat & army operation captured Ft. Henry on the Tennessee River on 6 Feb 1862 [the site is today under a reservoir]. Then Grant marched overland and invested Ft. Donelson on the Cumberland 12-16 Feb 1862. A rebel break-out attempt was badly bungled, two southern generals slipped away at night (Floyd & Pillow), leaving it to Grant's old friend Simon Buckner to surrender the garrison. Grant answered Buckner's request for terms with his famous "unconditional surrender" message, and captured 8000 rebel soldiers.

This battlefield and the parapets of the fort are well-maintained, and there is a spectacular view over the Cumberland River. The Dover Hotel where the surrender took place is preserved as a separate site.

View of the Cumberland River from Confederate battery
at Ft. Donelson (Dec 2002)

Dec 2002

Chattanooga: Lookout Mt. & Missionary Ridge
Chattanooga National Military Park

Tennessee

After the loss at Chickamauga, U.S. Grant was given command of the Union army encamped at Chattanooga and surrounded by Braxton Bragg's Confederate troops on the highlands above. On 24 Nov 1863, the federals assaulted Lookout Mt. in the "Battle above the Clouds" and retook this high point. The next day, across the city, Union troops stormed the base of Missionary Ridge and kept right on going to the top, routing the entire Confederate army in perhaps the most unanticipated breakthrough during the War.

Lookout Mt. is well-preserved today, with stunning views of Chattanooga. This is such a spectacular visual treat that it rates highly, although a better designed battlefield experience would be welcome. Missionary Ridge is not part of the National Military Park. Unfortunately, it is a city park overrun with graffiti and winos, and if that weren't enough, developed private property everywhere precludes any decent views or interpretation. Some headway is being made by the Civil War Trust to acquire some new sites, but at the moment it is a work in progress with a gorgeous centerpiece on Lookout Mt.

A cannon at the top of Lookout Mountain overlooks
the city of Chattanooga (March 1997)

June
1967,
Mar
1997

Stones River
(Murfreesboro)
Stones River National Battlefield

Tennessee

After the southern loss at Perryville in Oct 1862, Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg withdrew south to Murfreesboro. The Union Army of the Cumberland, under Gen. W.E. Rosecrans (replacing Buell), followed. By the last month of 1862, the two armies faced each other across Stones River. Both commanders had the same plan of attack for the morning: feint with their right and attack with their left. In executing these maneuvers, the armies were still positioned facing each other at day's end, after incredible and heroic fighting, but at a 90° angle from where they had started. Bragg tried another attack on 2 Jan 1863, but it also failed; Bragg withdrew to Chattanooga. There is debate as to which side "won" the battle, but strategically it was a great Northern victory.

The battlefield road winds through thick cedars and the critical points are nicely preserved. Unfortunately, the battlefield was created much too small in size and urban shopping malls and car dealerships confront the visitor at the edges, detracting from the visit.

Blooming redbuds brighten a forest at the center of
Stones River battlefield (Mar 1997)

June 1967,
Mar
1997

Mansfield
Mansfield State Historic Site, and
Pleasant Hill

Louisiana

These back-to-battle battles in northwest Louisiana on 8-9 Apr 1864 turned back Union Gen. Nathaniel Banks’ ill-fated Red River Campaign. No one was really in charge of strategy, and things went awry when Banks’ Army left the safety of Naval support about half-way up the Red River, and marched inland. CSA Gen. Richard Taylor had spent a month retreating but attacked Banks’ strung-out forces at Mansfield. The charge pushed the Yankees back for miles but was costly in loss of field officers. What Taylor didn't know was that A.J. Smith’s battle-hardened western troops were in reserve near Pleasant Hill. When he renewed the attack on 9 April, the rebels were crushed by Smith’s “great right wheel,” and driven back to Mansfield. Smith urged Banks to continue the campaign but Banks abandoned the fight and retreated to New Orleans, leaving most of Louisiana in southern hands for the rest of the war. Southerners view Mansfield as a great victory (and ignore Pleasant Hill), but it was the Union command failures that doomed this campaign.

The Mansfield battlefield is preserved and boosts an excellent museum. All sites for the Pleasant Hill battle, fought the next day some 17 miles south, are in private ownership. There, one can visit a small cemetery, view roadside memorials, and see the fields across which the battle was fought. The Mansfield museum covers both battles very well. Purely by luck we happened to visit on 27 Apr 2014 – weeks after the true sesquicentennial – and learned that “phase three” of the Battle of Mansfield was to be re-enacted that day! This occurred on a portion of the actual battlefield not usually open to the public, and added immensely to our visit to this nicely-preserved site.

See full page on the Re-enactment

Re-enactment on Mansfield battlefield includes the 165th N.Y. Zouaves (upper) and CSA artillery (middle). Pleasant Hill battlefield is in private hands, viewed from a public road (bottom; all Apr 2014)

April 2014