Take a glance at our list and see how many Civil War sites you’ve been to!
The bloodiest battle on American soil, the American Civil War, was fought between the Union and Confederate states.
Initiated by the election of Abraham Lincoln, it began on April 12th, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina and ended on April 9th, 1865, when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
The North won, and the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified on December 6th, 1865: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for the crime of which the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to its jurisdiction.”
All these years later, this conflict plays a significant role in America’s military, social, political, and human history. Although how it’s systematically taught in schools varies enormously by state.
But out of the classroom, nothing beats walking in the footsteps of our country’s heroes and seeing the scenes of struggle and sacrifice where an estimated 625,000 men lost their lives firsthand.
Here are our 6 most bucket list-worthy American Civil War sites, preserved for all the future generations. Besides bringing the earliest chapters of our country’s story to life, they’ll also take you back to a time of the blue battling the grey.
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Thank you for this post. I’m sharing it.
Thank you so much for this informative article. We will be travelling through these areas in the next few months. Will bring this list with us for sure.
Surely, Appomattox is a must visit and would bump Palmito from your list of “to seven”. Anyone reading Lincoln’s words that guided General Grant’s terms of surrender will think long and hard on the struggle this nation faced during Reconstruction and the bitter cost of this war.
Mom was born in Keedysville, just a few miles from Antietam. We went there often when visiting uncles, cousins, and other family. Uncle lived in Boonsboro, just a mile or so from the gates of Antietam. One friend’s house is the backdoor to the battlefield and burial site. Across the street from the cemetery is where most of them are buried now.
You can feel and sometimes see the spirits at all the battlefield sites.