Virginia Civil War Battlefields And Sites

Since 1982, the renowned Civil War historian James I. "Bud" Robertson's Civil War Sites in Virginia: A Tour Guide has enlightened and informed Civil War enthusiasts and scholars alike. The book expertly explores the commonwealth's Civil War sites for those hoping to gain greater insight and understanding of the conflict. But in the years since the book's original publication, accessibility to many sites and the interpretive material available have improved dramatically. In addition, new historical markers have been erected, and new historically significant sites have been developed, while other sites have been lost to modern development or other encroachments. The historian Brian Steel Wills offers here a revised and updated edition that retains the core of the original guide, with its rich and insightful prose, but that takes these major changes into account, introducing especially the benefits of expanded interpretation and of improved accessibility. The guide incorporates new information on the lives of a broad spectrum of soldiers and citizens while revisiting scenes associated with the era's most famous personalities. New maps and a list of specialized tour suggestions assist in planning visits to sites, while three dozen illustrations, from nineteenth-century drawings to modern photographs, bring the war and its impact on the Old Dominion vividly to life. With the sesquicentennial remembrances of the American Civil War heightening interest and spurring improvements, there may be no better time to learn about and visit these important and moving sites than now.

142 two-color maps vividly depict battlefield action Detailed local driving directions guide visitors to each battlefield site Of the 384 Civil War battlefields cited as critical to preserve by the congressionally appointed Civil War Sites Advisory Commission, 123-fully one-third-are located in Virginia. The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide is the comprehensive guidebook to the most significant battles of the Civil War. Reviewed by Edwin C. Bearss and other noted Civil War authorities and sanctioned by the National Park Service and the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, no other guidebook on the market today rivals it for historical detail, accuracy, and credibility.

What did the Civil War mean to Virginia-and what did Virginia mean to the Civil War?

To most history travelers, Virginia is the Civil War. It is the state where the Battles of Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, Petersburg, the Wilderness, and Manassas took place. The city of Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. Appomattox saw the surrender of Lee to Grant. The campaigns that were fought here were led by some of the war's most visible leaders -- Lee, Jackson, Grant, Meade, Sheridan, Stuart, Mosby.This guide also includes West Virginia, which was created from a section of Virginia early in the war.

No other event in American history has so indelibly shaped the country than the American Civil War. Virginia provided the setting for countless bloody clashes and decisive battles. Average Americans from all over the Union and the Confederacy made their way to the Old Dominion, only to give their lives for the causes they held dear. Virginia captures the essence of the American Civil War, as it was the site of the first, and last, major clash. The state held the capital of the Confederacy while simultaneously bordering Washington, DC. Additionally, Virginia was the site of infamous battles, such as Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. The commonwealth was also the location of Gen. Robert E. Lee's dramatic capitulation to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox. The American Civil War was one of the first armed conflicts to be heavily documented through photographs. In recent years, the Library of Congress has compiled many of these images, helping to make this journey through history possible.