Historical excursion: Civil War Roundtable plans excursion in September | News, Sports, Jobs

Photos provided. Moved by the cries of wounded Union soldiers on the night of December 13, 1862, Confederate Sergeant Richard Rowland Kirkland will be remembered as the Angel of Marye’s Heights for climbing over the stone wall in the darkness to bring water and comfort to wounded and dying soldiers.

PARKERSBURG – The Civil War Round Table of the Mid-Ohio Valley is accepting registrations for its next outing, the Virginia Campaigns Field Trip, Sept. 13-15.

More than a dozen sites are planned, with interpretation provided by Scott Britton, executive director of the Castle Historic House Museum in Marietta, based on his research, personal memoirs, letters, official military records and other sources.

Don Phanz, author and historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, will speak about the legacy of the four bloody battles of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, among the most hotly contested areas of the Civil War.

The registration fee is $375 per person based on double occupancy and $495 for private accommodations. Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis and includes charter bus transportation, overnight accommodations at the Country Inn and Suites by Radisson, 656 Warrenton Road, Fredericksburg, admission and interpreters at each attraction, battlefield or site.

For more information or to register, call Nancy Arthur at 740 525-7479, email [email protected], or visit www.cwrtmov.org and click on “Field Trips.” Once registered, you will receive a more detailed itinerary, suggested reading and places to visit, recommended restaurants, and information for tourists and visitors to Fredericksburg and the National Park Service.

Photo provided. Ellwood Manor was a plantation settlement and field hospital during the Civil War. Stonewall Jackson’s arm is buried here.

Proceeds from the excursion will fund the Roundtable’s historical marking projects.

The bus departs from Marietta and Parkersburg on the morning of September 13th and returns on the evening of September 15th.

Sights and attractions on the itinerary include:

• Brandy Station Battlefield Park, site of the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War

• Visitor Center at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park

The stone wall at Marye’s Heights provided protection for Confederate soldiers from repeated Union attacks on December 13, 1862. Fifteen Union brigades stormed the wall, but all failed. The Battle of Fredericksburg saw the largest number of Confederate and Union soldiers fighting in a single battle of the Civil War: 172,000 men. With more than 18,000 casualties on both sides, it was one of the deadliest battles.

• Fitzhugh’s Crossing, George Washington’s childhood home and site of the decisive crossing of the Rappahannock River

• Battle of Marye’s Heights, site of the Sunken Road and the Stone Wall

• Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center, where the strategy of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson is still studied by military historians

• Battlefield of Chancellorsville, where Jackson was fatally wounded by friendly fire

• Ellwood Manor, the former plantation house, field hospital and resting place of Jackson’s arm

• The Wilderness Battlefield, where the first confrontation between General Ulysses S. Grant and Lee ended in a stalemate

• Mule Shoe Salient, Spotsylvania, scene of fierce hand-to-hand combat

• Fredericksburg National Cemetery, where a flag ceremony will be held to honor the local soldiers who never returned home

• Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Jackson’s home and burial site

• Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

• John Wesley Methodist Church, Lewisburg, W.Va., the gravesite of William Parks Rucker

• Battle of Lewisburg and Confederate Cemetery, the first battle of the 36th OVI in Washington County