Wednesday, April 24 (7:00 pm) – Saturday, April 27, 2019 (5:00pm)

Led by: Edward G. Lengel

HQ: Rock Hill, South Carolina

Tour Registration: $495.00

The year 1780 was a pivotal turning point in British strategy as London renewed its effort to crush the American rebellion. The British high command decided to concentrate its efforts in the Southern colonies, where reinforcements from the local Loyalist population was much anticipated. Charleston was captured in May, bagging an American army of 5,000 men. Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates’ army was routed at Camden in August. Lt. Gen Charles Lord Cornwallis thought the war should move north to Virginia, a source of men and supplies for the Rebels. Cornwallis’s strategy would trigger the battles of Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Guilford Courthouse in late 1780 and early 1781.

At our opening “meet and greet” on Wednesday evening, Ed Lengel will provide a brief lecture on the August 16, 1780 Battle of Camden, which shattered—for a time, at least—the military reputation of General Horatio Gates and seemed to forever destroy patriot hopes in the Carolinas. As our bus departs the following morning, Ed will set the stage for the unlikely series of battles that completely reversed the course of war in the south. [Read more…]

Wednesday, May 1 (7:00 pm) – Saturday, May 4 2019 (5:00pm)

Led by: A. Wilson “Will” Greene

HQ: Colonial Heights, Virginia

Tour Registration: $495.00

With the release of A. Wilson Greene’s A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg Volume 1, America’s History LLC is proud to offer a companion tour led by the author. Will Greene’s book covers the Petersburg Campaign from its inception on June 15 through the Battle of the Crater. This period entails the first three Union offensives against the Cockade City and will roughly coincide with the outline of the tour.

The First Offensive, June 15-18, involved wide-ranging attacks that pushed back two Confederate defense lines. On Day 1 our tour will cover those four bitter days of fighting, including the preliminary engagement at Baylor’s Farm. Prepare for extensive walking through seldom seen portions of Petersburg National Battlefield, far removed from the tour road.

The Second Offensive, June 22-24, encompassed movements across the Jerusalem Plank Road toward the Petersburg (& Weldon) Railroad. Little of this ground is preserved, but we will make a couple of stops to explain the course of the combat. The bulk of our second day will be spent following the massive Wilson-Kautz cavalry raid, including visits to battlefields at Staunton River Bridge, Sappony Church, and Reams Station.

The Third Offensive unfolded on both sides of the James River. The First Deep Bottom operation north of the James preceded the infamous Battle of the Crater, both of which we will visit on Day 3. 

Parts of the tour will involve a good deal of walking, some of which is off trails, so attendees who wish to participate in all of the tour stops should be prepared with the appropriate footwear. [Read more…]

Friday, May 17, 2019 (8:00am-5:00pm)

Led by: Dr. David Preston

Tour Leaves from Fort Ticonderoga

Tour Registration: $125.00 – SOLD OUT!

America’s History LLC is proud to continue its partnership with Fort Ticonderoga by again offering a special one-day tour. For the first time, a tour will be offered prior to the Fort’s War College of the Seven Years’ War. Our tour leader, Dr. David Preston, is also the keynote speaker at this year’s War College.

Dr. Preston recently completed a report, based on new archival research, entitled “Colonial Saratoga: War and Peace on the Borderlands of Early America” commissioned by the Saratoga National Historical Park. The NPS Historic Resource Study explores Saratoga’s colonial background and its development as a logistical hub for British operations from 1755 to 1760. Fort Hardy and other British posts in the Hudson-Lake George corridor crucially anchored road networks, bateaux routes, warehouses, and barracks, all of which enabled British armies to project their power deep into the continent’s interior in unprecedented ways. [Read more…]