Sat, May 18
|Chancellorsville Visitor Center
New Date for Our Guided Tour of the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, May 18, 2024
Craig Howell will lead us through a 160th anniversary commemoration and picnic in this beautiful Fredericksburg park. See the reservation process in the event description text.
Time
May 18, 2024, 11:00 AM – 4:30 PM EDT
Chancellorsville Visitor Center, 9001 Plank Rd, Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA 22553, USA
About the Event
The Lincoln Group of DC's picnic and tour of the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House is now confirmed for Saturday May 18, 2024. Craig Howell will once again be our tour guide & coordinator.
We will assemble at 11 a.m. at the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitor Center, 9001 Plank Road, Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA 22553. After going through the exhibits and bookstore, we will lunch in the picnic area directly across the parking lot. Craig will review the background of military and political events leading up to the action at Spotsylvania. We will then consolidate into as few vehicles as possible by 1 p.m. to convoy down to our first tour stop at the Information center for the Spotsylvania Courthouse Battlefield, 9550 Grant Drive, Spotsylvania Courthouse, VA 22553.
Craig will guide us around the battlefield, stopping at several critical points along the way. Most of our time will be spent around the famed Mule Shoe Salient, where Robert E. Lee's defenses were uncharacteristically vulnerable and where Ulysses S. Grant made a number of ferocious if ultimately futile attacks. Most of our walking will be done in this area, sometimes on pavement, sometimes on trails. Generally our walking will be on level or gently rolling ground, and should not amount to more than a mile or two. We plan to depart the battlefield by 4 p.m. and head back to the Chancellorsville Visitor Center, where we should arrive by 4:30 p.m.
To reserve your spot, please RSVP to Craig; at craighowell1@verizon.net, or (202) 304-8736. Craig will organize a carpool from the DC area for those needing transportation, so let him know when you RSVP if you need a ride or if you can provide a ride. The carpool will gather for a 9 a.m. departure at the Kiss & Ride lot of the East Falls Church Metro Station at North Sycamore Street and 19th Street in Arlington. Carpool passengers should reimburse their drivers $20. (FYI, there are no other fees for this excursion.)
Illustration is detail of "Union assault at the Muleshoe salient," by Thure de Thulstrup, 1887 (Library of Congress).