Harpers Ferry changed hands eight times, a sought-after prize for its strategic position at the convergence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers (providing passage from the east to the Shenandoah Valley). He failed to incite revolt, but arguably hastened the path to war. In 1859, two years before the war, John Brown, the righteous, Bible-thumping, angry, and awesome abolitionist, raided the federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, attempting to rouse a slave rebellion and the conscience of the nation. Though he commuted in to the Oval Office daily-past encamped Union troops, field hospitals, and cemeteries-Lincoln felt most at home here, four miles from the White House. A less-visited but emotionally charged monument honors the United States Colored Troops and stands across the street from the African American Civil War Museum, which chronicles the war from the perspective of the African American soldiers, spies, nurses, and families.ĭon’t Miss: Lincoln’s Cottage at Soldiers’ Home, where Lincoln and his family retreated each June through November. Ford’s Theatre and Petersen House, sites of Lincoln’s assassination and death, retain a more funereal hush.
More than a mausoleum for Lincoln’s ideals, the memorial continues to serve as a site for civil rights rallies. First stop: the Lincoln Memorial, engraved with the texts of the Gettysburg Address and the 16th president’s second inaugural speech. You won’t find battlefields (unless Congress is in session), but Washington’s vital role in the Civil War-from the initial rupture of the Union to President Lincoln’s assassination just five days after the surrender at Appomattox-still looms large. © The National Trust for Historic Preservation So whether you’re planning a road trip dedicated to the Civil War, or just detouring on the way elsewhere, be warned: you may be in for a lifelong obsession. You don’t need to be a history buff to get caught up by these vivid stories. In Harpers Ferry, WV, the righteous anger of those who opposed slavery is palpable at John Brown’s Fort, where a band of abolitionists held federal troops at bay.
The savagery leading up to the war demands revisiting, too: the Slave Trail in Richmond, VA, goes past slave markets, burial grounds, and the Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail for “uncooperative” slaves (operated by a man married to a free African American wife!).
Check park websites to schedule your visit to coincide with the reenactments (or not-a few lonesome hours spent walking the battlefields can be at least as instructive). Parks also typically offer self-guided tours and orientation films and, on summer weekends, invite reenactors to stage skirmishes, decked out with muskets and wool uniforms. For play-by-play commentary on the battlefield, you can hire an NPS-licensed guide at Gettysburg or Vicksburg to ride along for two-hour car tours. The National Park Service set up a dedicated website and launched a Twitter feed, that tracks the war’s development (“June 27, 1862: Our line gives way! We flee for the bridges to our rear as the cavalry attempts to stop the advance and save our artillery” “July 7: A found newspaper reports the Federals have levied a tax on income above $600. “Much is the same as that day: there are still surrounding farms and unspoiled views of the Blue Ridge, so seeing the famous landmarks-the Cornfield, the Sunken Road-has a devastating power.” Millions of Americans seek out that kind of visceral connection at Civil War sites annually, and the next few years are the time to visit as special events commemorate the conflict’s 150th anniversary. “Antietam’s the most evocative and scary battle site I’ve ever been to, and the only place I’ve ever felt a ‘presence,’” says John Barton, a Virginia photographer and Civil War junkie. No matter how compelling a Ken Burns documentary can be, nothing beats standing on a Civil War battlefield for bearing witness to those four bloody years.