We are so excited to be able to invite you to join us this summer and fall on 6 outstanding American History and Civil War Tours in the United States. Interested in seeing some jaw-dropping scenery with your history? Travel with us on our Lewis and Clark Tour or Crazy Horse and Custer Tour. Want to retrace the sacred battlefields and sites of the Civil War? We’ve got three great tours that cover the Eastern Theatre, Western Theatre and Mississippi River. Want to explore the origins of the history of America? Join us on our Revolutionary War Tour, where our expert historians will share stories of the battles that raged across the northern theater and the key players in that drama.
Lewis and Clark: Undaunted Courage Tour
August 15 – 26, 2021
Experience jaw-dropping vistas in every bend of the trail and relive the dramatic story of Lewis and Clark and you follow in the footsteps of these explorers on our Lewis and Clark Tour. As part of Stephen Ambrose’s research for his best-selling book, Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, the Ambrose family spent vacations traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail on foot, canoe and horseback. Our tour is based on his journey following the path of the explorers from Great Falls, Montana to the Pacific Coast. The authenticity of this Lewis and Clark Tour is unrivaled.
Lewis and Clark Tour Highlights
- The Lewis and Clark Train Interpretive Center and the C.M. Russell Museum: Center has indoor and outdoor exhibits that Stephen Ambrose called “the best anywhere;” Russell painted 4,000 works of art depicting the American West
- Lemhi Pass on the Continental Divide and the headwaters of the Missouri River: Dinner cruise on the “River of No Return”
- Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area: Commemorates great moments in the exploration of the West
- Fort Clatsop: Expedition’s winter camp on the Pacific Ocean
Revolutionary War Tour
August 24 – September 2, 2021
Our Revolutionary War Tour explores the origins of the conflict, the battles that raged across the northern theater and the key players in that drama. They involved Patriots, Loyalists, Redcoats and Native Americans. We’ll walk battlefields where ragtag rebel forces clashed with one of the most feared armies in the world. We’ll meet the famous, the infamous, and the villainous figures who played out the dramatic struggle to forge a new nation.
Revolutionary War Tour Highlights
- The US Constitution and the Battle of Bunker Hill – In Charlestown, Massachusetts, we visit the U.S. Navy’s most historic ship, as well as the site of the war’s first great battle.
- Springfield Armory: The finest collection of American arms in the world. Special Access: Curator’s presentation on colonial weaponry.
- Saratoga and Bennington Battlefields – The Saratoga Campaign of 1777 changed the course of the Revolution.
- Fort Stanwyx and the Battle of Oriskany: Surprising revelations at rarely visited sites in New York’s Mohawk Valley where American determination (and trickery) helped seal the fate of Burgoyne at Saratoga.
- Fort Ticonderoga: This beautifully restored fort overlooking Lake Champlain saw pivotal battles in both the French & Indian War and the American Revolution.
- Battle of Valcour Island/Lake Champlain: Board a replica of the gunboat Philadelphia, Benedict Arnold’s diminutive Lake Champlain flagship.
Crazy Horse & Custer: War on the Great Plains Tour
August 28 – September 3, 2021
On our exclusive new tour through Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana, author, historian, television and motion picture consultant John P. Langellier, Ph.D. will share the stories of Crazy Horse and Custer and others based on more than a half century of passionate study of these legendary figures.
Relive their times and be immersed into the diverse cultures of these determined warriors. Walk the vast lands where buffalo and wild mustangs roamed, the iron horse roared across the tracks, and lonely frontier forts stood as bastions of westward expansion. Return to those exciting days of yesteryear set against the backdrop of history versus Hollywood with screenings and discussions of classic film and TV.
Civil War: Mississippi River Campaign Tour
October 16 – 24, 2021
The Civil War tour is led by our Director, Mark Bielski, who personally designed this tour and did his doctoral research on the Civil War at the University of Birmingham, England. We visit the sites and battlefields fought along the Mississippi River, including Memphis, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Port Hudson and New Orleans, in a trip designed to reconstruct the struggle for the river and the key transport routes of the Confederacy.
“The tour was more than I had expected. It was a moving experience to actually walk the ground and have the battles, events and sites explained in a clear and understandable manner. I would highly recommend that any of my Civil War buff friends take advantage of your company.” – Col. Garth Holmes
Civil War: This Hallowed Ground Tour
September 18 – 26, 2021and October 8 – 16, 2021
This tour gives you a panorama of the major events that began and ended the Civil War. We study the military campaigns and strategies and delve into the causes as well as the people who were willing to sacrifice their lives and property. You will learn from, and be inspired by, the skill, the courage, and the endurance displayed by the generation that brought us through the Civil War.
Civil War: This Hallowed Ground Tour Highlights
- Manassas, Gettysburg, Appomattox: This tour is a study of the causes behind the conflict and the major battles that began and ended the Civil War, starting with First Manassas, culminating with Gettysburg and closing with the surrender at Appomattox.
- Harpers Ferry: We visit Harpers Ferry at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, where John Brown staged his infamous raid that failed to incite a slave rebellion. He was captured and hanged there. Stonewall Jackson later captured the town, arsenal and entire Union garrison as a prelude to the Antietam Campaign.
- Antietam: Antietam was the site of the bloodiest day of war in American history when, on 17 September 1862, there were 23,000 casualties.
- Gettysburg: At Gettysburg we study the three days that marked General Lee’s final attempt to score a major victory in the north.
- Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania, Wilderness: We tour the area of four major battles: Confederate victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville leading up to Gettysburg; then Spotsylvania and the Wilderness Campaign fighting to keep the Grant’s Union armies at bay.
Our optional Shenandoah Valley pre-tour follows the two great ‘Valley Marshals’: Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and Philip “Little Phil” Sheridan. Join us as we explore how these commanders dominated events in the Valley; Jackson in 1861-1862 and Sheridan in 1864.
Civil War: Rivers, Rails & Mountains Tour
October 2 – 10, 2021
On this Civil War tour, a Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours exclusive, we cover the battles that raged from Atlanta to Chattanooga to Nashville, where the mountains and rivers over which the rails ran soon became crucial battlegrounds for control of the deep South.
Civil War: Rivers, Rails & Mountains Tour Highlights
- The Atlanta Campaign: We begin our study of the struggle for control of this crucial Southern city. The many pivotal battles fought in this region give us an appreciation for the commanders and men on both sides as well as how the rivers, rails and mountains came into play.
- Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain: We discuss the strategies and tactics employed by both sides and visit specific sites such as Brown’s Ferry and scenic Lookout Mountain for the “Battle above the Clouds.”
- Stone’s River/Murfreesboro: The New Year of 1863 opened with the battle that shocked the nation with its destruction.
- Franklin: Confederate General John Bell Hood went on the offensive pushing north and hoping to defeat the Union army in Tennessee and march to the Ohio River—and beyond.
- Nashville: Hood did not give up after Franklin, but moved his weakened army on Nashville.
