 Antietam and Gettysburg: Killing Fields That Changed America
Since the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, the Civil War has been the only conflict in which the very survival of the nation was at stake. Indeed, the issue of life or death for two nations lay at the heart of the war. If the North won, the Confederate States of America would cease to exist. If the South prevailed, the United States would be at risk for future secessions and divisions.
The pendulum of victory and defeat swung back and forth several times during the four years of the war. Two of the most important swings from Confederate triumph to Union success occurred in September 1862 at Antietam and July 1863 at Gettysburg.
On this tour, led by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Civil War historian James M. McPherson, we will visit those two battlefields where that pendulum swung most dramatically and desperate fighting turned back the tide of Confederate victory. The 23,000 men killed, wounded, and missing at Antietam on September 17, 1862, constituted the largest toll for any single day in all of American history. The 50,000 casualties of both sides in the first three days of July 1863 at Gettysburg were the largest for any battle in the Civil War.
The best way to learn how and why the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg changed America is to walk the hallowed ground where so many gave “the last full measure of devotion.”
TOUR INCLUDES
8 DAYS / 7 NIGHTS
- Historian Guide: James M. McPherson
- Services of a professional tour director
- Deluxe motorcoach transportation
- All admissions to included features
- Seven nights hotel accommodations
- Seven breakfasts, three lunches, and four dinners
- Welcome briefing
- All taxes, baggage handling, & gratuities on included features
- Suggested reading list
COST:
Per person double occupancy - $3,045
Per person single occupancy - $3,495
Click to request a 2009 printed Travel Guide. |
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ITINERARY
Sunday, May 3
Gathering day at the Embassy Suites Dulles Airport for a welcome briefing and group dinner hosted by Jim McPherson and HistoryAmerica TOURS.
Monday, May 4
South Mountain: Start at the battlefields of South Mountain, Fox’s, Turner’s, and Crampton’s Gaps, where in 1862 the Army of the Potomac sought to break through and rescue the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry. After a visit to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park you will end the day at the historic Gettysburg Hotel where you will spend the next five nights.
Tuesday, May 5
Antietam: Head south today and see where repeated Union attacks from dawn to dusk on September 17, 1862, pushed the out-numbered Confederates to the edge of disaster but failed to score a decisive victory.
Wednesday, May 6
Visit the acclaimed National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland, for a special HistoryAmerica tour. Return to Gettysburg to spend the afternoon at the new Gettysburg Battlefield Visitor Center with its famous cyclorama, “A New Birth of Freedom” feature film, special exhibits gallery, and bookstore.
Thursday, May 7
Gettysburg: Walk the hallowed ground of the first two days of the battle: the hills west of town where the two armies first collided, the Peach Orchard, the Wheatfield, Devil’s Den, and Little Round Top.
Friday, May 8
Gettysburg: Learn how fighting at East Cemetery Hill raged on the evening of July 2 and what took place at Culp’s Hill the next morning. Tour East Cavalry Field before walking the climactic Pickett’s Charge.
Saturday, May 9
Lee’s Retreat: Follow the route of Lee’s retreat from Gettysburg to the Potomac River at Williamsport, where the Army of Northern Virginia was trapped by high water before finally crossing at Falling Waters. Your farewell dinner will be at the Embassy Suites Dulles Airport.
Sunday, May 10
Depart the Embassy Suites at your leisure following breakfast.
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