Great Commanders Series: Lee vs. Grant in the Overland Campaign of 1864 June 12-15, 2013

Wednesday, June 12 (7:30pm)-Saturday, June 15 (5pm)
Fredericksburg, VA
Led by A. Wilson “Will” Greene
Tour Registration: $495.00

LeeVSGrantSpring 1864 found the great armies of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Maj. Gen George G. Meade facing each other along the Rapidan River. But that situation would soon change as a new man from the western theater, Lt. Gen Ulysses S. Grant took command of all Federal armies. Grant would be in the field, not at a desk in Washington; Meade would have to adapt to a new command structure. Grant had set his sights on Lee’s army. He was out to destroy the fabled Army of Northern Virginia and in the course of time capture Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy.

Our tour will focus on the Overland Campaign from April to June 1864 and include all the major engagements and some lesser known ones as well. Our tour leader, Will Greene has previously led two tours for America’s History. He has garnered a reputation for putting all things in perspective: strategy, tactics, command decisions, personalities, human interest stories and “what if” scenarios. His knowledge and sense of humor make him one of the most popular Civil War historians leading tours today.

We’ll start our tour on Thursday at the Wilderness battlefield, where the opening round of a bloody slugfests began. We’ve allotted a full day to understanding what happened at the Wilderness. We’ll stop at Saunders Field where a seesaw fight erupted on May 5. Some of the heaviest combat of the battle occurred in the fields surrounding the Higgerson House. You’ll also see the Chewing Farm which was occupied by both armies during the battle. A highlight of the Wilderness battlefield is the Widow Tapp Farm where Lt. Gen. James Longstreet rescued Lee’s army from disaster. One of the “Lee to the rear” incidents occurred during the Tapp Farm fighting. You’ll also see where Longstreet was wounded by “friendly fire.” And we’ll visit “Ellwood,” an 18th century home that served as headquarters for Maj. Gen. Gouverneur Warren. Spending a day at the Wilderness will give you an appreciation for why it is important to continue the fight to save land on this battlefield.

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Defending the Highlands: the Hudson Valley in the Revolutionary War August 22-24

Thursday, August 22 (7:30pm)-Saturday, August 24 (5pm)
Led by William Welsch & Bruce Venter
Tour Registration: $325.00

Defending_the_HighlandsBenedict Arnold’s plot to sell West Point to the British in 1780 is undoubtedly the most famous story associated with the Revolutionary War in New York’s lower Hudson River Valley region. But many other events occurred during the period 1777 thru 1783. These environs teemed with Patriots, Redcoats and Tories who played the part of heroes, spies and scoundrels during the war.

On Friday morning our first stop will be Fort Montgomery, the site of British General Sir Henry Clinton’s successful attack on American forces in 1777. This stop will complete the story of the British campaign of 1777 for those who have been with us on the Saratoga and Mohawk Valley tours. From Fort Montgomery, we will travel to the Stony Point battlefield, where General “Mad Anthony” Wayne staged his surprise nighttime attack on an unsuspecting British garrison in July 1779.

Lunch will be at the historic ’76 House in Tappan, where British Major John Andre, Arnold’s youthful co-conspirator, was held prisoner before being hanged on orders from General George Washington. After lunch you’ll see the Dutch church where Andre’s trial was held and the site of his execution.

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George Washington and Braddock’s Campaign to Fort Duquesne September 11-14, 2013

Wednesday, September 11 (7:30pm)-Saturday, September 14 (5pm)
Led by Douglas Cubbison
Tour Registration: $495.00

edwin-willard-deming-the-shooting-of-general-braddock-at-fort-duquesne-pittsburghThe astute observer of 18th century events and British Whig politician, Horace Walpole observed, “The volley fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America set the world on fire.” Walpole’s words ring true. The Virginian he was referring to was, of course, a 22-year old militia major named George Washington. Washington’s actions in western Pennsylvania are credited with starting the French and Indian War in America. Besides George Washington, Braddock’s Campaign of 1755 will introduce many personalities who became famous during the American Revolution: Daniel Morgan, Daniel Boone, Thomas Gage, Charles Lee, Adam Stephen and Horatio Gates.

On Thursday morning our tour will start at Jumonville Glen, a seldom visited site where Washington’s militia and his “ally,” a Seneca chief named “Half King” ambushed a sleepy French force under Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville. This site is truly pristine and the story of Washington’s first military action will unfold at this off-the-beaten track locale. Our next stop will be the reconstructed palisades of Fort Necessity which Washington built after defeating the French. It was in the “Great Meadows” that the young Virginian met his first defeat as a military commander. Fort Necessity has a very fine museum and book store. In the afternoon we will visit the ruins of Fort Cumberland located at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church where the fort’s walls are visible within the church’s basement. After leaving Cumberland, Maryland we’ll drive along Braddock’s route and see some of his army’s campsites. Our last stop of the day will be the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny River.

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Burgoyne’s Campaign of 1777: The Early Stages – September 20, 2013

Friday, September 20  (8am-5pm)
Led by Douglas R. Cubbison
In conjunction with the 10th Annual American Revolution Seminar meeting at Fort Ticonderoga
Tour Registration: $125

Fort_Ticonderoga,_Ticonderoga,_NYAmerica’s History is proud to announce a new partnership with the Fort Ticonderoga Association whereby we’ll offer a one-day tour of the early stages of British Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne’s campaign of 1777. Led by noted author and historian, Doug Cubbison, we will visit many sites important to this campaign including Mount Defiance, Mount Hope, Burgoyne’s lines around Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Hubbardton battlefield and Skenesborough Harbor (present-day Whitehall.)

During the summer and fall of 1777, one of the great military campaigns of world history was fought in the dense forests and rolling fields of upstate New York and Vermont. John “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne led a combined force of some 9,000 British Redcoats, German hirelings, vengeful Tories and blood-thirsty Indians. This army descended from Canada, aiming to cut off the American middle colonies from their New England neighbors.

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Nathan Bedford Forrest in Western Tennessee and Mississippi – September 25-28, 2013

Wednesday, September 25 (7:30pm)-Saturday, September 28 (5pm)
Led by Thomas Cartwright
Corinth, Mississippi
Tour Registration: $495.00

Nathan Bedford ForrestLast year America’s History followed Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest thru Middle Tennessee as he created a reputation as one of the premier commanders of the War Between the States. We’ll continue that trek this September with one of the most knowledgeable and zealous historians of the “Wizard of the Saddle,” the incomparable Thomas Y. Cartwright. Forrest was indeed a skilled battlefield tactician, cavalry leader and raider who evoked controversy during the war and in the aftermath of reconstruction. He was a truly larger than life individual. Our 2013 Forrest tour will show you some of his most famous and infamous actions in Western Tennessee and Mississippi.

On our first day we’ll travel to the battlefield at Brice Crossroads (or Brice’s Cross Roads, if you prefer) in Mississippi, one of Forrest’s most storied victories. It is still studied today by members of the U.S. Armed Forces as a classic tactical battlefield maneuver. Interpretation of what happened here on June 10, 1864 is made easier by the battlefield’s pristine condition. We’ll extensively walk the battlefield to give you a solid understanding to Forrest’s ingenious tactics against the Brig. Gen. Samuel Sturgis. We may even stop at the “gravesite” of John Wilkes Booth which is a few miles from the battlefield. Time permitting we are planning to make a stop at Fallen Timbers, where another unique Forrest escapade occurred in 1862.

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Driving Dixie Down: Stoneman’s Raid of 1865 in North Carolina – November 1-2, 2013

Thursday, October 31 (7:30pm)-Saturday, November 2 (5pm)
Winston-Salem, NC
Led by Chris Hartley
Tour Registration: $295

StonemansRaidIn March 1865, in a driving rainstorm, Federal Maj. Gen. George Stoneman led a column of some four thousand blue cavalrymen out of Knoxville, Tennessee. They rode eastward, launching a cavalry raid that would take them deep into the heart of the Confederacy. Over the next two months, Stoneman’s cavalry galloped across six Southern states, fighting fierce skirmishes with Confederate forces and destroying enemy supplies and facilities. When the raid finally ended, Stoneman’s troopers had brought the war home to dozens of communities that had not seen it up close before. In the process, the cavalrymen pulled off one of the longest cavalry raids in U.S. military history, and left behind an impact that still echoes in The Band’s 1969 hit recording, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”

Stoneman’s 1865 raid was so vast it would difficult to cover the entire span in two days. But it is possible to understand the raid by focusing on one area. Yankee troopers rode through the Piedmont of North Carolina in early April. In this tour, we will visit sites in the Piedmont area that figured prominently in Stoneman’s operation.

On Friday morning we’ll visit Moody’s Tavern, Moratock Iron Furnace and Old Salem, a historical community which looks much like it did in 1865 when a brigade of Stoneman’s raiders briefly made its headquarters there. In Salem the town square, Home Moravian Church, Blum Printers, the Single Sisters House and the Boner House, sites of both drama and levity, will be interpreted. We’ll also visit the Moravian Cemetery. We’ll have lunch at the historic Salem Tavern. After lunch, we’ll visit Mendenhall Plantation and Store to understand the action at Jamestown. You’ll also see the Jamestown Mill, Jamestown Depot site and the gun factory sites.

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A Conference on the American Revolution and Tour of Yorktown Battlefield

Friday, March 23-Sunday, March 25, 2012
 Williamsburg Hospitality House in Williamsburg, VA
Registration and sign-in starts at 6pm on Friday

Our first presentation will be at 7:45 PM on Friday, March 23 with: 

Edward G. Lengel, Head of Faculty: “General George Washington”

Saturday’s program (includes lunch) will start at 8:30 AM with presentations by:

John Hall: “Washington’s Partisans: Early American Warfare Reconsidered”
Joshua Howard: “Into the Breach: Nathanael Greene’s 1781 South Carolina Campaign”
Mark Lender: “What Kind of Victory: Washington, the Army and Monmouth Reconsidered”
Paul Lockhart: “The Whites of Their Eyes: Bunker Hill and the First American Army”
Andrew O’Shaughnessy: “The Men Who Lost America: British Politicians and Generals”

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Forts, Fights and Frigates: The War of 1812 in Maryland

Thursday, April 19 (8:00am-5:00pm)
Leaving from the Baltimore Tremont Hotel
Led by Dr. John V. Quarstein
Tour Registration Fee: $155 

The War of 1812 in MarylandAmerica’s History’s third annual tour for the Company of Military Historians will focus on the theme of this year’s conference: the War of 1812. We have enlisted the award-winning and very popular speaker and historian, Dr. John V. Quarstein as our tour leader. A life-long resident of the Eastern shore, John is steeped in the history of the Chesapeake area. He currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Virginia Bicentennial of the War of 1812 Commission.

We have designed this tour so it will not duplicate other 1812 sites you may be visiting during the conference with the Company.

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Cavaliers in Gray: Stuart’s Ride Around McClellan, Hampton’s Beefsteak Raid, Haws Shop and Trevilian Station

Thursday, May 31 (5:30PM) to Sunday, June 3, 2012  (4:00pm)
Led by Horace Mewborn, Scott Mauger, Rick Britton and Bruce Venter
Based in Richmond, VA
Tour Registration Fee: $475.00

 

In the Eastern theatre, the names Jeb Stuart and Wade Hampton evoke images of fabled Confederate cavalry successes against their Union opponents. Our tour will highlight some of these classic operations with the chance to walk a number of private property sites, not accessible to the general public.

In Stuart’s Ride around McClellan’s Army of the Potomac in 1862 we will visit Hickory Hill, the Wickham family home (private property) where Stuart stopped the night of June 12 to visit Williams Wickham who was recuperating from a battlefield wound. Then it’s on to historic Hanover Court House where the Gray Cavalier ran into a detachment of Federal cavalry. As we follow Stuart’s plume, we’ll have a chance to stop at the site of the 1864 cavalry battle of Haws Shop. Returning to Stuart’s ride we will see many sites associated with it like Linney’s Corner, Old Church, Tunstall’s Station, Garlick’s Landing, Talleysville, Forge Bridge, Charles City Court House and Rowland’s Mill where Stuart stopped for a cup of coffee. As we return to the hotel we’ll come past Yellow Tavern, the battle site where Stuart was mortally wounded in 1864.

We’ll begin Hampton’s 1864 Beefsteak Raid at Violet Bank, Robert E. Lee’s headquarters during the Petersburg siege where he and the South Carolinian discussed the raid. From there, we’ll see Wilkinson’s Bridge where Hampton crossed Rowanty Creek, then stop at Belsches’ Mill where he picked up his guide for the raid. We’ll also see Cook’s Bridge, Laurel Springs, Sycamore Church where Tom Rosser attacked the 1st D. C. Cavalry and the Harrison Farm site where the cattle were corralled. We will stop at Edmund Ruffin’s Farm (private property) where his old house still stands. We’ll see Cocke’s Mill, the site of James Dearing’s defensive position against a Federal effort to retrieve the herd and the Donnan House site where Hampton’s aide gave a captured cow to 12 year old Margaret Donnan. We’ll go to Hawkinsville where cattle crossed the Jerusalem Plank Road while Tom Rosser blocked the road at Ebenezer Church, Freeman’s Ford where the cattle crossed the Nottoway River and the intersection of the Boydton Plank and White Oak roads where the herd was penned after reaching Confederate lines.

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Bombs Bursting in Air: The War of 1812 in Virginia and Maryland

Wednesday, June 13 (7:30PM) to Saturday, June 16, 2012  (5:00pm)
Led by John Quarstein
Tour Registration Fee 
(Single Occupancy): $795
Tour Registration Fee (Double Occupancy): $775

The War of 1812’s Bicentennial starts this year and America’s History is offering a tour led one of the foremost historian’s of the Chesapeake Bay, a significant theater of that war. A life-long resident of the Eastern shore, John Quarstein is steeped in the history of the Chesapeake area. He currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Virginia Bicentennial of the War of 1812 Commission.

Virginia and Maryland saw notable actions that rival those in Canada and New York. A collateral benefit of this tour is that we’ll be in the Hampton Roads area during Operation Sail as the tall ships cruise nearby. Opt-Sail will give you a visual image of Age of Sail, so important to understanding the naval actions of the war.

On our first day we’ll visit Fort Norfolk on the Elizabeth River, one of the best preserved examples of pre-1812 fortifications to survive largely unchanged since the War of 1812. After leaving Norfolk, we’ll see Craney island, the site of a British attack on June 22, 1813. Craney Island was an important American position because it defended Norfolk, Portsmouth, Gosport Navy Yard and the U.S.S. Constellation. We’ll also stop in the city of Hampton on the Roads, where 2,000 British troops attacked 450 Americans on June 25, 1813. Civil War and pirate tales will also be included while were near the famous site of the fight between the Monitor vs. the Virginia and Blackbeard’s Point. Our last stop of the day will be at Fort Monroe. Although the fort was built after the war to beef up American coastal defenses, there are plenty of War of 1812 stories that are associated with the area.

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