Belle Grove (National Park Service)
Please Note: This tour has a rescheduled date (originally Oct. 15, 2017).
Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley was both a crucial invasion route and the breadbasket for the Confederacy during the Civil War, and as a result, it was a much-fought-over region. After the Union Army seized control of the valley and burned much of the crops, Confederate General Jubal Early staged a last hurrah to wrest back control. What followed on October 19, 1864 was a remarkable two battles in one: a surprising Confederate victory in the morning, and a smashing Union counterattack in the afternoon, made possible by Union General Phil Sheridan’s famous ride from Winchester. The battle was a lost cause for the Confederacy, as President Abraham Lincoln was reelected three weeks later with a mandate to win the Civil War, and after the war Jubal Early became a leading proponent of the Lost Cause myth of why the South lost.
Join author and historian Garrett Peck on a daylong tour of the last major battle in the Shenandoah Valley, a sequel to the New Market and Fisher’s Hill tour from this past spring. The tour includes a visit to Belle Grove Plantation, a National Trust property at the center of the battlefield. Lunch is included at the Historic Wayside Inn.
Fringe stop at about 8:25 a.m.
Dress for outdoor walking.
