Wednesday, November 15 (7pm) – Saturday November 18, 2017 (5:00pm)
Led By: Horace Mewborn and Wade Sokolosky
HQ: New Bern, NC
Tour Registration Fee: $475
One of the most overlooked campaigns of the Civil War may be General Ambrose E. Burnside’s successful amphibious expedition to capture New Bern, North Carolina in March 1862 and the subsequent capture of Fort Macon in May. New Bern also became the staging area for Brig. Gen. John G. Foster’s strategic raid on Goldsborough nine months later. Another understudied battle is the March 1865 action at Wise’s Forks, the second largest battle fought in North Carolina during the war. This tour will remedy both of these shortcomings for Civil War enthusiasts who want to visit outstanding sites on newly preserved land along with some on private property.
On our first day we will visit the recently preserved battlefield at New Bern and several associated sites around the city. The battle of New Bern was extremely important to the Union war effort because this victory allowed Federal forces to establish a foot hold in the Tar Heel state for the rest of the war. A portion of the battlefield is owned by the New Bern Historical Society which has constructed walking trails to various Confederates fortifications and batteries and has installed excellent interpretative signs and maps. The remainder of the battlefield, on private property, will also be visited. [Read more…]
The 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 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 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.
New Jersey has been called the Cockpit of the Revolution, with more battles and encampments occurring here than in any other state. Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth are familiar names of New Jersey battlefields. This tour will provide an opportunity to visit some of the other important, but less well known, sites in this state. This is not a campaign tour as such, but rather a survey of important places and critical events that impacted both the state and the Revolution.
America’s History’s bus tour for the Company of Military Historians’ annual meeting will focus on the Civil War’s first major campaign in the East. The call was “On to Richmond” when Union and Confederate armies collided near Manassas Junction, the battle that became known as First Manassas or First Bull Run as it was known in the North.
On paper, Union Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick’s plan, approved directly by Lincoln, to release some 13,000 Federal prisoners, “burn the hateful city” of Richmond and capture or kill Confederate President Jefferson Davis, had all the earmarks of success. As one Michigan officer recalled, “The rationale of the raid was a hurried ride, timely arrival, great daring, a surprise, a sudden charge without a moment’s hesitation – success.” Even Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. Wade Hampton felt “the enemy could have taken Richmond” except for some rebel luck. But in execution the Kilpatrick–Dahlgren Raid was a dismal failure; and a major embarrassment to Lincoln when controversial orders were found on the dead body of the expedition’s subordinate commander, the dashing and well-connected Col. Ulric Dahlgren.
Our tour this summer will continue the study of Benedict Arnold as one of the foremost combat commanders of the Revolutionary War. Last year we investigated Arnold’s career in Connecticut as both a patriot and a traitor. This year’s tour will follow his career in the first two years of the war when he excelled on land and water. We will also learn about his enterprising relationship with the wily Ethan Allen during their joint venture to capture Fort Ticonderoga and how he handled Horatio Gates when he served under the Northern army commander on two separate occasions during the war.
The Sullivan-Clinton campaign against the Iroquois in 1779 has been described as implementing a “scorched earth” policy for no useful purpose other than eradicating Indians, or a failed attempt to capture Fort Niagara. No campaign of the American War for Independence has been more inaccurately described or remains more controversial than the Continental Army’s invasion of the Iroquois Confederacy in 1779. This tour is designed to follow the main effort of that offensive as conducted by troops commanded by Major General John Sullivan. Sullivan’s troops took the war to the very heart of the territory controlled by the Six Nations of Iroquois who had allied themselves with the British Crown. At the tour’s end you’ll decide if the campaign was a success or a well-executed failure.