For two decades the CWEA has been operating tours of Civil War sites connected with the Confederate capital at Richmond.  Inevitably those tours have been driven by certain themes: Dahlgren’s Raid, the Seven Days battles, the Overland Campaign, Stuart’s Ride Around McClellan, and many more.  That reliance on themes has meant that many miscellaneous sites of interest have fallen through the cracks.  Day #1 of this tour, “Civil War Sites Seldom Seen,” is designed to draw attention to important places off the beaten path.  The only common denominator in this tour is that all the Civil War sites we will visit on Saturday, October 24, are places where our veteran tour leader has never taken any CWEA group before, and in all probability places where no other CWEA tour has visited. In fact, in most cases no group of any sort ever has visited many of the places. 

 

Although the precise itinerary has not been set, we promise to visit a mixture of out-of-the-way battlefield sites, monuments, historic homes, forts, and hidden earthworks. Many of CWEA’s loyal travelers are drawn to tours by the opportunity to see unusual and sometimes inaccessible Civil War sites.  This tour fits that bill. 

 

Saturday’s tour will be a mixture of driving and walking.  It will not be the sort of intensive walking tour for which CWEA is well known. Several battlefield and city excursions will require modest walking - some of it in the woods, but this will not be a physically taxing expedition. Likely stops are the site where A. P. Hill was first buried; an entirely unknown intact Confederate fort in Richmond's modern west end; several historic houses; a slum on the edge of town that includes three original ward buildings from Winder Hospital, the second largest hospital in the Confederacy; and Shockoe Cemetery, where R. E. Lee's grandchildren and daughter-in-law are buried (all 3 died during the war).

 

Our Sunday tour also will be a combination bus and walking tour, with a bit more walking than riding. We will spend three hours on Sunday morning touring Civil War sites in downtown Richmond, using 19^th century photographs to enhance the experience, and standing where the cameras were. This is a companion to the CWEA tours that have examined the eastern end of wartime Richmond in previous years, using the same format.  In this year’s edition we will extensively study Capitol Square and its many wartime features, including the building where Jefferson Davis kept his wartime office. Other highlights will include exterior stops at three of Richmond’s wartime churches, visits to the sites of Richmond’s three most famous Civil War hotels, and a walk along portions of the canal, visiting sites of Civil War importance. A short side trip on the bus will take us to the site of the house where Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart died in May 1864. In every case we will seek to match up 1865 photographs with the modern scene.

 

We hope you’ll join us for this unusual and detailed tour!

 

About Our Tour Leader

 

Robert E. L. Krick is an experienced and popular battlefield tour guide of the Civil War in the Eastern Theater, whose special expertise is the Richmond area. For sixteen years he has been developing and leading Civil War tours of downtown Richmond and the battlefields surrounding it. He is the author of The 40^th Virginia Infantry and Staff Officers in Gray, a biographical register of the staff officers of the Army of Northern Virginia.

 

Program Schedule:

 

Saturday, October 24

8:15 AM                        Depart by Bus from Crowne Plaze Richmond West, Richmond, VA

12:30PM                        Lunch

5:00 PM                         Arrive Back at Crowne Plaze Richmond West

 

Sunday, October 25

8:15 AM                        Depart from Crowne Plaze Richmond West

12:00 N                          Arrive back at Crowne Plaze Richmond West

 

Registration Fees (Lodging not Included):

q $ 245 if Paid by Credit Card       q $ 225 if Paid by Check, Credit Voucher or Other Credit

 

If You Must Cancel we will refund 100% of your fees paid. However, to receive a 100% refund, you must allow 30 days from the date of our receipt of your notice of cancellation

 

What is Included in your Registration Fee:

·        the services of an expert historian chosen for his knowledge and experience

·        transportation to sites as indicated

·        Saturday lunch

·        refreshments and snacks during the tour

·        map package

Base Location and Lodging: Our program will be based at the Crowne Plaza Richmond West, I-64 and West Broad Street, 6531 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23230 where we have reserved a block of rooms at the special rate of $79.00 + tax per night. To reserve a room under our block, call 804-285-9951and identify yourself as a registrant for the CWEA tour. Or register online at www.crowneplaza.com/richmondva and enter your Group Code as CWE