Civil War Tour

January 26, 2021

Civil War Tour

After studying the Civil War I wanted to help my kids connect to the people and the places involved in the Civil War. So I put together a tour we started at Antietam, then we went to Appomattox Court House, the Mariner's Museum, followed by Bull Run, and ended with Gettysburg. It was a wonderful road trip and we all learned a lot.

Stop 1 Antietam Battle field

The single most bloody day of the Civil War took place here. Some of the highlights of this battle field are the monument to Clara Barton. She was called the Angle of the Battle field and she was hit by a stray bullet here while attending to a solider. She was the nurse that started the American chapter of the Red Cross. My daughter adored her and she loved seeing the red bricks from her home that made the red cross on her monument. Another highlight to see was bloody lane. It was an old sunken farmers road and during the battle it became a massive grave. Both sides had a hard time getting across the dip. At the end of bloody lane there is a look out tower that was constructed after the battle. Another highlight is Burnside bridge. Sideburns are named after general Burnside. The bridge there was an important crossing point. They have a nice visitors center as well as ranger talks. My kids always like getting the junior ranger badges too.

Bloody Lane

Walking to the look out tower through the bloody lane trail

Inside the look out tower

Listening to ranger talks

Burnside Bridge

Clare Barton Memorial made with bricks from her home.

My daughter working on her junior ranger badge

Stop 2 Appomattox Court House

This is another fantastic stop. Appomattox Court House is the town where Lee surrenders to Grant and the war is officially over. It is a National Park and has a visitors center and several buildings you can explore. Our favorite part of Appomattox Court House is the McLean house. It is said that the civil war begins and ends in the McLean home. The McLean family's first home was in Bull Run. There home was hit during the first full battle of the war. So the family moved to a small little town away from all the action. However, it is in their home that Lee and Grant write up terms to end the war. They also have slave quarters in the Park with several interesting artifacts. Another interesting stop in the park is the home that they used to print release of service papers to give to the soldiers. The kids earned their junior ranger badges and we even enjoyed a picnic there too.

The Mclean House

The room where Lee surrenders to Grant

Slave quarters

Release of duty papers

The kids earning their junior ranger badges

Stop 3 The Mariner's Museum

Technology changes war. Two major advances in the navy during the Civil War were ironclad ships and the revolving turret. The USS Monitor had both. It was a modern marvel at the time. The ship sank during the war but has since been found and many artifacts from the USS Monitor can be found at this museum as well as replicas you can get on. They are also constantly working on excavating and restoring parts of the USS Monitor and all their work is on display for visitors. It's a lot of fun to watch them do their restoration work. This is a fantastic stop on a Civil War tour.

Stop 4 Bull Run

Bull Run is considered the first actual battle of the civil war. Stonewall Jackson earns his nickname here and some of the first monuments after the war were erected here. There is a nice visitor center and the ranger led talks are great. The battle field is not nearly as big as some of the other battle fields. The kids earned another Junior Ranger badge here as well.

This monument use to have live amination on it.

"There stood Jackson like a stone wall"

Ranger talk

Maddy earning her junior ranger badge

Stop 5 Gettysburg

I was so surprised with how huge Gettysburg was! We scheduled 2 days to see it and we could have done more. It's huge and the town has a lot to offer too. Our kids favorite area is Devil's Den and Little Round Top. They have giant boulders that the kids will really enjoy. The kids also liked seeing the place where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. My oldest son is horribly allergic to horses so just my daughter and I did the horse back tour and it was so fun. I highly recommend this kind of tour. We didn't even make it to the visitors center. We did do a driving tour and enjoyed stops at Picket's Charge and the Eisenhower lookout tower. There are lots of historic buildings in town. We really enjoyed the Dobbin House Tavern. It is the oldest building in Gettysburg, it served as a stop on the underground railroad, and it served as a field hospital during the civil war.