Trails”On to Richmond” was the battle cry of Northern politicians, military leaders and newspapermen as the war began. A quick, powerful thrust would cast aside Southern resistance, topple the Confederate capital and end the war. So went the promise. Maps made it look easy. Only 100 miles or so separated the two warring capitals. But … Read more
Shiloh National Military Park Shiloh TN 38376 731-689-5696 Cannon The first large-scale battle of the war was fought here near Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River April 6-7, 1862. The Confederate Army of the Mississippi led by Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, marching north from Corinth, Ms, managed to surprise U.S. Grant’s Union army camped near … Read more
Civil War came early in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Disputes within the Cherokee Nation, which had been “removed” from the tribe’s Eastern land in the 1830s, fractured the tribe into warring factions well before 1860. Other tribes also were suffering from internal friction. Slavery was not an issue, however, since many prosperous Indian families on … Read more
Download the 2016 revision of the Tennessee Trails Map: Tennessee Civil War Trails Map [pdf 1.2MB] Narrative [pdf 517K] The Tennessee Civil War Trails program began with installation of interpretive signs in the Franklin area and in Blountville. More than a dozen signs in Columbia and Franklin outline a critical phase of Confederate Gen. John … Read more
Although its location insulated the state from much of the major Civil War military activity, Alabama hosted the infant Confederate States of America and fueled the Southern military effort with its young men and critical iron industry. The port of Mobile on the Gulf Coast remained open well into 1864, providing the setting for one … Read more
Sherman and many of his officers and troops looked forward to exacting revenge on South Carolina, birthplace of the Confederacy and scene of the first shots fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Sherman predicted his march through South Carolina would be “one of the most horrible things in the history of the world.” For … Read more
Indiana, Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home, contributed more than 200,000 men to the Union cause. More than 10 percent never returned home. For a few days in July 1863, Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan threw a scare into the state during his daring raid into the Northern states. Lincoln City Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial Route 162 … Read more
Free, full-color map/brochures are available. To request a printed copy, please use one of the following methods: • Fill out our Free Info form for maps plus information about more Civil War sites in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia. • Call 800-MDISFUN. • Visit www.mdwelcome.org. PDF Maps to Download The maps are large, … Read more
Antietam National Battlefield Antietam National Battlefield Visitor Center 5831 Dunker Church Road, Sharpsburg MD 21782 301-432-5124 Intense fighting here in cornfields and woods, along creeks and roads, and around a tiny country church Sept. 17, 1862, resulted in the bloodiest single-day battle of the war. Federal losses were 12,410; Confederate casualties totaled 10,700. A driving … Read more
Atlanta History Center 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta GA 30305 404-814-4000 More than 1,400 Civil War-related objects are on display in the 9,200-foot “Turning Point: The American Civil War” exhibition. A year-by-year general overview features military, civilian and political themes. Open Monday–Saturday 10 am–5:30 pm; Sunday noon–5:30 pm. $14.50/adult (includes galleries and house … Read more