Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours offers two American Civil War Tours each fall, Civil War: This Hallowed Ground and Civil War: Mississippi River Campaign. In 2017, for the first time, we will offer these two tours back-to-back on our Double Feature Civil War Tour: Eastern and Western Theatres.
This an added bonus for Civil War history buffs on two fronts: You can learn about the campaigns waged in both the Eastern and Western Theatres on one tour and also save $800 taking the two tours together!
Civil War Tour: This Hallowed Ground
October 14 – 22, 2017
Our This Hallowed Ground Civil War Tour gives guests a panorama of the major events that began and ended the Civil War, starting with First Manassas, culminating with Gettysburg and breathing the air of finality at Appomattox. This tour begins and ends near Washington D.C. At there end of the tour we will fly from Washington Dulles International Airport to Memphis, Tennessee.
Civil War Tour: Mississippi River
October 22 – 30, 2017
The Mississippi River was the major interstate highway of the 19th century America and key to the confederacy. It was also the strategic focal point of the Civil War. Whoever held the great river would control the continent. Without it, neither side could supply itself. This tour begins in Memphis and ends in New Orleans.
Double Feature Civil War Tour Highlights
Civil War Tour: This Hallowed Ground
- 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.
- Shenandoah Valley, Harpers Ferry: We conduct a study of Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign where he won a series of lopsided victories while being vastly outnumbered. Harpers Ferry during the war and John Brown’s raid, the prelude to war are included.
- 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.
Civil War Tour: Mississippi River
- Mississippi River in Memphis: Review the naval battle and campaigns that led to the Union’s eventual control of the river
- Shiloh: Tour one of the Civil War’s most beautifully preserved battlefields, where a bloody struggle that took place on April 1862, and then on to Corinth, MS, the vital rail link that was General Grant’s objective
- Vicksburg: Study of the siege of Vicksburg and the battles that made up Grant’s campaign to seize this stronghold that controlled the river
- Natchez Trace: Drive the Natchez Trace to the city that bears its name and is a showpiece of Old South preservation with its many antebellum homes and plantations
- Port Hudson, LA: Get a glimpse of the longest siege in American history—the Confederates surrendered here only after Vicksburg fell
- New Orleans: Walk the world-famous French Quarter, relax, shop and explore the unique blends of cuisines and cultures that make the Crescent City different than any other
