n August 1864, artist James E. Taylor was sent by Leslie’s Illustrated Magazine to follow and record the fortunes of Union General Philip Sheridan’s army in the Shenandoah Valley. His sketches appeared in that publication but then languished for decades at Ohio's Western Reserve Historical Society. In 1989, Bob Younger and his Morningside Press collected these drawings and released them as the James E. Taylor Sketchbook: With Sheridan Up the Shenandoah Valley in 1864: Leaves from a Special Artist's Sketchbook and Diary.

Two decades later, photographer Dana MacBean and Peggy MacBean have retraced Taylor's steps from all those years ago and matched up his modern photographs to the original drawings that Taylor made. They have, to date, documented 95 percent of the illustrations in the Sketchbook creating in essence a "now and then" book. The MacBeans’ photos and Taylor's sketches will be presented side-by-side in a new book they will publish sometime in the relatively near future.

 

In October, using the original sketchbook as the model, the MacBeans, together with the dean of battlefield guides, Ed Bearss, will present a field tour that will be a visual and interpretive guide to the Sketchbook sites found in the Lower Shenandoah Valley of Berkeley and Jefferson counties in West Virginia. Referencing the topographical features and man-made structures, we will see where Taylor’s drawings remain true to form and where he used artistic license to fit the scene to the story line. And because Taylor was as much a story teller as an artist, we will explore his insights into events taken from mundane day-to-day encounters with people and places to complex battles and strategies. In so doing, we will find that many of the sites have changed very little over the years and look very similar to the artist’s sketches.

 

Our program will begin on Wednesday, October 13 with an overview and An Introduction to the James E. Taylor Sketchbook. Then on Thursday morning, we will begin our three full days of touring. Ed Bearss, in his inimitable style, will provide the historical narrative of the 1864 Valley Campaign as it plays out from stop to stop. Meanwhile, Dana and Peggy MacBean will reveal Taylor’s particular slant on the events and sites as we study and visit them.

 

On Thursday we will travel to Harpers Ferry, Halltown, Beall Air, Duffield Station, Shepherdstown, Bardane, Summit Point, Rippon, Wheatland, Eastland-Sublette, and will conclude the day at the beautiful Happy Retreat in Charles Town, home of Charles Washington, brother of George Washington.

 

On Friday, we will visit Williamsport, MD, Falling Waters, Martinsburg, the Opequon Creek stone bridge, Van Cleeve, Big Springs, Pikeside, Darkesville and Bunker Hill before finishing at the stately Harewood Estate at Cameron Depot.

 

On Saturday, we will tour the downtown area of Charles Town and the Court House, the John Brown hanging site and the Rutherford House where Sheridan and Ulysses S. Grant met prior to the Third Battle of Winchester. As a special treat, at the very end of the tour, we will visit Smithfield (Middleway) site of the colonial, paranormal story of the infamous “Wizard’s Clip,” illustrated and described so dramatically by Taylor in the Sketchbook. 

 

This is likely to be the first tour of this type ever presented of these particular sites. And what an artistic and historical tour-de-force this will be! During prime autumn weather when the leaves have turned to burnt red and gold, you will:

·        visit important Civil War sites that are seldom seen even by afficionados

·        more fully appreciate the enduring art of the legendary James E. Taylor

·        enjoy the idyllic beauty of old villages, bridges and historic homes that have changed little since 1864

·        meet expert local historians who will join our program from time to time – these include Steve French and Gary Gimbel, experts on Martinsburg, and John Frye, expert on the C. & O. Canal

·        have close access, in the evenings, to the Charles Town Races & Casino, in case such amusements may be of interest to you.

 

We hope you’ll come aboard with Ed Bearss, Dana and Peggy MacBean, and their supporting cast of guest historians - and embed with the troops as did James E. Taylor in 1864.

 

About Our Tour Leaders

Edwin C. Bearss is Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service and the most well known battlefield guide in America. He is acclaimed as one of the stars of Ken Burns’s award-winning

PBS series, The Civil War. While working for the NPS at Vicksburg in 1956, he helped locate and raise the ironclad gunboat Cairo, one of the most significant artifacts of the Civil War. He is the author of countless articles on the Civil War and many books including The Vicksburg Campaign; Forrest at Brice’s Cross Roads and in Northern Mississippi in 1864; Protecting Sherman’s Lifeline: The Battles of Brice’s Cross Roads and Tupelo, 1864, and most recently Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War.

 

Dana MacBean and Peggy MacBean are the co-authors of A Shenandoah Sketchbook: James E. Taylor Draws the Valley.

 

Wednesday, October 13

7:30 PM-9:00 PM       Introduction to the James E. Taylor Sketchbook

 – at Holiday Inn Express Charles Town (WV)

Thursday, October 14

8:15 AM                     Depart on Tour from Holiday Inn Express

5:30 PM                         Arrive Back at Holiday Inn Express

Friday, October 15

8:15 AM                     Depart on Tour from Holiday Inn Express

5:00 PM                      Arrive Back at Holiday Inn Express

Saturday, October 16

8:15 AM                     Depart on Tour from Holiday Inn Express

4:30 PM                      Arrive Back at Holiday Inn Express

 

REGISTRATION FEE (lodging not included):    $495

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

If You Must Cancel we will refund 100% of your fees paid.

What is Included in your Registration:

·        the services of expert historians chosen for their knowledge and experience

·        transportation to the sites as described

·        Thursday, Friday and Saturday lunches

·        refreshments and snacks during the tour        

·        information package

 

Tour base & Lodging: We will be based at the Holiday Inn Express Charles Town, 681 Flowing Springs Road, Ranson (Charles Town) WV 25438 where we have arranged a block of sleeping rooms at the group rate of $99.00 - Single or Double. Hotel guests will enjoy a complimentary daily hot breakfast. To reserve a room under our block, call 304-725-1330 and identify yourself as a registrant for the CWEA tour. You should MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

 

DIRECTIONS: Take Route 340 towards Charles Town West Virginia. Take Route 9 North toward Martinsburg. Take first exit onto Flowing Springs Road. At the first stop sign, turn right and Hotel is on the right.