In pursuing the ghosts of the Civil War through the fields and forests of Virginia, one keeps bumping into Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
On a grassy rise at Manassas, just south of Washington, Stonewall Jackson's granite statue scans the field from the spot where he earned his nickname by holding fast against a Union attack.
A few hours' journey to the west, along Skyline Drive, are the gaps and ridges of the Shenandoah Valley, where he built his reputation by baffling the Union with a grueling series of long, fast marches.
Toward the middle of the state, on the shoulder of a two-lane road 10 miles west of Fredericksburg, is the spot where he and Robert E. Lee mapped out Jackson's boldest stroke of the war -- a sweeping march through the woods at Chancellorsville to surprise the Union army just as it was sitting down to dinner.
Finally, a mile or so from that spot, is the place where Jackson got his bloody comeuppance -- mortally wounded by his own skittish troops as they fired through the night at his approaching clatter.
It took Stonewall Jackson nearly two years to complete that meandering ride into history, but today one can cover the same ground with a few easy battleground day trips. For Marylanders interested in the Civil War who already have made the obligatory stops at Antietam and Gettysburg, the jaunts to Virginia are the next natural step.
Such trips are best divvied up region by region, unless one is prepared to overdose on history with an entire weekend on the highway. To help get you going, here are three suggested itineraries, each of which can be done in a single day:
First and Second Manassas: This is the shortest and simplest othe trips, and the best one to start with, if for no other reason than it was the site of the first major battle of the war, on July 21, 1861. This was the fight that awakened the North to the possibility of a long, grim war. Hundreds of spectators had rattled down from Washington in buggies to view what they figured would be a glorious victory, only to turn tail and run after Union forces did the same.
Of course, this was where "Stonewall" earned his name, supposedly when South Carolina Gen. Barnard Bee shouted the description to rally his men. To enhance one's appreciation of the spot, take along writer Shelby Foote's description of the moment, from his three-volume narrative "The Civil War":
Then, as the tide turned again, the Federals exerting the pressure of their numbers, in war as in peace the fire-eaters looked to Virginia. On a ridge to the rear -- as Johnston and Beauregard had observed, arriving at this moment -- Jackson's Virginians were staunchly aligned on their guns. "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall!" Bee shouted. "Let us determine to die here and we will conquer."
The battleground, by virtue of its relatively small size, may be the easiest place in which to "see" a battle in the mind's eye as it must have unfolded. Several vantage points on the mostly open tract offer views of all the major points of action at First Manassas -- and, so far, no shopping mall or housing development has come along to spoil the view.
Second Manassas was fought in the same general area Aug. 28-30, 1862, but sprawled across about four times as much land. That means it is not so easily absorbed, and is best toured in a car, stop by stop. A brochure put out by the National Park Service, available at the First Manassas Visitor's Center, clearly outlines the route. To get there, take Interstate 66 south off the Washington Beltway, then exit north on Virginia Route 234. The entrance will be on your right after a short distance.
Fredericksburg-Chancellorsville-the Wilderness-Spotsylvania: Sure, that sounds like a lot of battle to cram into one day -- and it is, because each of these fights was a big one. The first two were among the Confederacy's most decisive victories (Chancellorsville, with Stonewall Jackson's daring flank attack as the crowning blow, is considered to be Lee's craftiest tactical achievement). The latter two, savage conflicts fought back to back in May 1864, were the first two battles in U.S. Grant's inexorable final push to Richmond and Appomattox.
Don't be scared off by all these big names bunched together. The battlefields themselves are bunched. None is farther than a few miles from the next, and an easy-to-follow driving tour of all four is outlined in a National Park Service brochure available at the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor's Center. That battle, because it was the first of the four, is where you want to begin a tour.
It's about 100 miles south of Baltimore, or roughly a two-hour trip. Exit east off Interstate 95 onto state Route 3 at Fredericksburg, then follow the small brown signs to the Fredericksburg Battlefield Park, about two miles away.
Those used to the open expanses of Gettysburg and Antietam, where one can gulp down vast battlefield panoramas from a single vantage point, should be prepared for a different experience.
At Fredericksburg, the only one of these four battles that would have lent itself to this treatment, houses now crowd the fields where thousands of Union soldiers fell during their futile assault on the Confederates massed in the sunken road. A large portion of that road has been preserved, as has the towering green expanse of Marye's Heights, which was the bulwark of the Confederate position, and which now is a cemetery for the battlefield dead.
Moving west from Fredericksburg, one finds that the countryside of the other three battles has changed relatively little.
It is here that the going can be disappointing for those expecting sweeping views. These battlegrounds sprawl across woods, farm fields and thickets of brier, and their key points of action can only be seen and savored in bits and pieces. To pull the pieces together, it helps to take along books describing the battles.
The site of the bivouac where Lee met Stonewall Jackson to plan the latter's decisive attack at Chancellorsville, for instance, might seem little more than a glorified turnout on a small highway without an accompanying passage from Shelby Foote's narrative: It brings the spot to life with its description of the scene in the spring of 1863. Some snatches:
When Lee woke he saw the gaunt figure of Jackson bending over a small fire a courier had built. Rising, he joined him and the two sat on a couple of hardtack boxes the Federals had left
behind the day before. . . . The two sat talking, warming their hands at the meager fire, until the glimmer of dawn showed the staff officers returning from their scout. . . . Lee spoke, raising his head to look at his lieutenant: "General Jackson, what do you propose to do?"
Among the most vivid reminders of the war are the trenches and cannon pits that still are molded in the ground nearly 130 years later. These are particularly impressive at the Wilderness battleground.
Richmond-Petersburg: It takes more than three hours to reach Petersburg, but if one is already going to Richmond then the extra 20 miles or so are worth it. Of particular interest here is the Petersburg National Battlefield, where "the Crater" still looms as a 30-foot-deep monument to one of the war's oddest but most inspired efforts of the war.
It represents the Union's attempt to blow a hole -- literally -- in Confederate lines during the long siege of the city, when a regiment of Pennsylvania coal miners burrowed a 500-foot tunnel beneath the Southern line, then filled the tunnel with gunpowder and lit the fuse. But instead of running around the hole created by the explosion, thousands of Union troops ran into the hole, where they were quickly surrounded and fired at.
In and around Richmond is a smattering of small battlefield parks, such as Cold Harbor and Fort Harrison, with some trenches to be seen and a few self-guided touring trails. But the city's chief attraction is its Museum of the Confederacy, which is next to the White House of the Confederacy, the executive mansion used by Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Off Interstate 95, one should take Exit 10 in Richmond and follow the signs to the museum.
If one is feeling especially robust while on this trip, a detour west to Appomattox Court House, the place where Lee surrendered to Grant in April 1865, might be possible. It's about a 90-minute drive.
If you go . . .
Manassas National Battlefield Park: Hours of the visitors' center are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., open every day except Christmas. Admission is $1. Grounds are open until dark. Phone: (703) 754-7108.
Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park: The park also encompasses the Chancellorsville and Wilderness battlegrounds. The main visitors' center -- and best starting point -- at the Fredericksburg battleground is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekends, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Admission is free. A second visitors' center, at the Chancellorsville battleground, has the same hours and also is free. Phone: (703) 373-6122.
Richmond: The main visitors' center for the 10 battlefield parks scattered around Richmond is at the site of the old Chimborazo General Hospital, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission free. There is also a visitors' center at Fort Harrison, eight miles southwest of Richmond off state Route 5. Same hours, no charge. Phone: (804) 226-1981.
The privately run Museum of the Confederacy and adjacent Confederate White House charge admission fees, with discounts for children, and no charge for those under age 7. Adults pay $4 for each tour, or $7 for both. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondaysto Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. Phone: (804) 649-1861.
Petersburg: Battlefield Visitors' Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the grounds are open until dark. Admission is $3 per car. Phone: (804) 732-3531.
Appomattox Court House: Buildings open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Grounds open until dark. Admission is $2 per adult, but free for adults over 62 and children under 17, and no more than $5 total for any carload. Phone: (804) 352-8987. For more information on Civil War sites in Virginia, and for a calendar listing dates of battle re-enactments, living history exhibits and other special events related to the Civil War, write the Virginia Division of Tourism, 1021 E. Cary St., Richmond, Va., 23219; phone (804) 786-4484. There also is a storefront office in downtown Washington that keeps plenty of pamphlets and brochures in stock, at 1629 K St. N.W. Phone: (202) 659-5530.