American Civil War - Peninsula Campaign
- Peninsula Campaign
Shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War (1861–1865), the Union Army attempted to capture the Confederate Capital located in Richmond, Virginia by launching a prolonged campaign in Southeastern Virginia. In late March 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac – 121,500 men strong – under General George B. McClellan landed at Fort Monroe located at the tip of the Virginia Peninsula and proceeded westward. The story of the “Peninsula Campaign” from its beginning to its end, its victories and defeats, its strategy and tactics are the subject matter of this tour. Join us to revisit history, walk the well preserved battlefield and relive the battles at their actual sites.
Day 1
8:30am Depart for Hampton, VA with your Colonial Connections Guide
9:30am-11:30am Guided tour of Fort Monroe See where the campaign started. Visit the Casemate Museum, walk the ramparts, see where Jefferson Davis was imprisoned at the end of the war and where Lt. Robert E. Lee was billeted. See the beautiful Chapel of the Centurions with its Tiffany stained glass windows and the Lincoln Gun, a cannon of massive proportions, while learning the fascinating history of this moated fort as well as its present use as the home of TRADOC - The US Army’s Training and Doctrine Command.
11:30am Depart for Newport News, VA
12:00pm Boxed lunch at Newport News Park
12:30pm-2:00pm Explore the Warwick Line This afternoon we’ll cross a bridge into history and explore Dam 1 along the Warwick River where we’ll walk through Confederate earthworks and learn how General Magruder fooled General McClellan and extended the Civil War for over two years.
2:15pm Visit Lee Hall Mansion Completed in 1859, Lee Hall Mansion was home to affluent planter Richard Decauter Lee, his wife Martha, and their children. One of the last remaining antebellum homes on the Virginia Peninsula, Lee Hall Mansion was used as a headquarters by Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnston and John B. Magruder during April and May of 1862. Hundreds of artifacts, including a tablecloth from the USS Monitor, are on display in the museum's 1862 Peninsula Campaign Gallery.
3:30pm Visit Endview Plantation. The three wars fought on American soil have all left their traces at Endview Plantation. The Revolutionary War brought 3,000 militia to its fresh water spring. The War of 1812 saw its use as a training ground, while the Civil War found Endview serving as a Confederate captain's home and a hospital for both sides. Built in 1769, Endview was home to members of the Harwood and Curtis families for over 200 years. An ongoing archaeological program and historic maps have identified the locations of several outbuildings, including a smokehouse, kitchen and barn. Artifacts from the site, as well as pictures and memorabilia of the Harwood family, are also on display.
4:15pm Tour Concludes.
Day 2
9:00am Depart for Hampton, VA with your Colonial Connections Guide.
10:00am-12:30pm Cruise aboard the Miss Hampton II. This double-decked tour boat provides narrated cruises of the Hampton Roads Harbor and Chesapeake Bay. As you enter the Harbor, you will sail the waters of Captain John Smith and the first Jamestown settlers. The tour continues past historic Fort Monroe and the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in America. After an awe-inspiring view of the Chesapeake Bay the cruise will stop for a 30-minute guided walking tour of the Civil War Island Fortress of Fort Wool. Afterwards, get an in-depth view of the lethal warships at the Norfolk Naval Base (the world’s largest naval base) home to aircraft carriers, nuclear-powered submarines and various types of support ships making up the United States Atlantic Fleet. The return trip to Hampton features a captivating narrative of the famous Battle of the Ironclads: the Monitor and the Virginia (Merrimac). Learn why that battle paved the way for the landing of the Army of the Potomac at Fort Monroe.
1:00pm Lunch on your own in Historic Yorktown.
2:30pm Guided tour of the Yorktown Battlefield. Best known as the scene of decisive battle of the American Revolutionary War where American victory was achieved, the Yorktown Battlefield was also the anchor of the Warwick Line during the Civil War. Both battles involved siege warfare and you’ll discover why one succeeded and the other failed.
3:45pm Visit Redoubt Park and Fort Magruder. At redoubts one and six (Fort Magruder) and the Bloody Ravine, we’ll observe how a spirited defense delayed a numerically superior army and allowed the Confederate troops to retreat to an area around Richmond. Once the retreat was complete, General Robert E. Lee took command and successfully defended the Confederate Capital which was not captured until the very end of the war in 1865.
8:30am