The Civil War began early and nasty in Missouri. By the time the first guns were fired in Charleston SC, the state had endured for years a tough and brutal border war as Missouri residents battled over the status of statehood in Kansas. Free soilers and pro-slavery men slid back and forth across the border … Read more
“I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.” — Abraham Lincoln Being the birthplace of both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, Kentucky seemed destined to occupy a strange and dangerous place in the Civil War. Both sides treated Kentucky with kid gloves after the shots were fired at … Read more
Download West Virginia Civil War Trails Map: West Virginia Civil War Trails Map [pdf 850K] and Narrative [pdf520K] Trails Invade beautiful Harpers Ferry with abolitionist John Brown; travel the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike through dramatic landscapes; and learn about the 1861 mountain campaigns. John Brown and Harpers Ferry plus Charles Town and Shepherdstown ‘The First Campaign,’ 1861 … Read more
Richmond was capital of the Confederate States of America from May 1861 until April 1865. Elements of the major battlefields are maintained by the Richmond National Battlefield Park. Although part of the city burned when it was evacuated in 1865, many sites associated with the Civil War in Richmond survive and are open to the … Read more
Andersonville Andersonville National Historic Site • 496 Cemetery Road, Andersonville GA 31711 • 912-924-0343 Union prisoners began arriving here at the new Camp Sumter from overflowing prisons in Richmond early in 1864. The facility, designed for 10,000, was quickly overwhelmed and overcrowded, creating miserable conditions. Of the more than 32,000 prisoners held here during the … Read more
Following the battle at Kennesaw Mountain and Sherman’s continuing effort to turn his flank, Johnston withdrew to fortifications just northwest of the Chattohoochee River, the last major natural barrier in front of Atlanta. Again Sherman was able to get around this position, crossing the river and directly threatening the city. Johnston was forced to abandon … Read more
The Civil War Trails program has installed more than 1,000 interpretive markers at Civil War sites in Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina. Driving tours following major campaigns have been created, and a series of regional brochures is available. Jump to Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina for a complete listing … Read more
Following the loss of Atlanta in early September 1864, Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood led his 38,000-man army north toward Middle Tennessee. The Confederates hoped not only to reclaim territory long lost to Union forces but also to scare Northern officials by moving quickly toward Nashville and the Ohio River. The Confederates also hoped to … Read more
Few places are more closely associated with early Civil War history than Charleston. Many know the story of the secession fever that gripped the state and the city, resulting in the signing here on Dec. 20, 1860, the document that took South Carolina out of the Union. And most can tell the story of the … Read more
From Atlantic coastal sites at Forts Fisher and Macon to Union cavalry operations in the western mountains, North Carolina offers a collection of Civil War sites as varied as its landscapes. Blockade running in Wilmington. Ironclads at Kinston and Plymouth. Sherman vs. Johnston battles in 1865. A surrender more than two weeks after Appomattox. “Lee’s … Read more