AGEOD Forums

Hi,

I am driving from Orlando to Houston in November. I have a week to drive the route. Please can anyone recommend one or two must see civil war sites that I could visit? The route will take me to New Orleans for 2 nights. I would really like to visit Vicksburg but think this might take me too far out of the way, what do others think?

Your thoughts are most appreciated.

No too much along that route. Fort Pickens maybe. Is anything left of Vicksburg, since it was a siege?

If past hurricanes have not taken it I think that Jefferson Davis’s last home was in or around Pascagoula Mississippi. Of course you will have to go through Mobile and I think some of the forts are still there. Also there is Ft. Massachusetts on Ship Island off of Biloxi where the invasion army staged before moving on New Orleans.

Fort Jackson south of New Orleans is also open to visitors.

Other than Forts the Gulf Coast is rather devoid of battle sites. You would have to go via North Alabama and Mississippi to catch any good ones. But it would be like 800 miles out of the way.

If you Google battle sites in those states there were once several web pages for them. Maybe there are some closer to the coast that I don’t know about.

There may be battle sites on the way from the Red Sticks War with the Creeks though.

Is it safe to assume Olustee is been there and done that for you?

Listen to Ol' Choctaw.
Ft Jackson for sure. Plantations Butler visited, which are nice sites. Mobile's forts. Pensacola.
Not the best route for battle sites, but some interesting places.

Port Hudson, there was some real fighting and according to wikipedia the sites are partly preserved.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Hudson_State_Historic_Site

Thank you for the tip. Olustee is new to me. Coming over from the UK and previously been to Virginia but this is one I shall be sure to look up...Cheers.

Some really interesting sites have been mentioned and I'm grateful. I will look them up. Durk, do you know which historic plantations particularly might stand out as worth a visit on a tight timeframe?

General Malaise wrote:Thank you for the tip. Olustee is new to me. Coming over from the UK and previously been to Virginia but this is one I shall be sure to look up...Cheers.

In that case I certainly recommend it, The state park is just off the main highway that runs north out of Orlando. Olustee was the only thing resembling a "major" battle (basically just a division-sized force on both sides) in the state of Florida.

http://battleofolustee.org/

I don't know if Baton Rouge would be convenient on the route you will be taking but if it is, I would suggest checking to see if there is state park or anything there for the Battle of Baton Rouge. Another relatively small action compared to the big Virginia battles but about the closest thing you'll find to an actual "major" battle in this theater.

[color="Blue"]Moved this to the history club, since it doesn't concern the game itself [/color]

On my recent visit to the USA for a holiday, I passed through the Battle of Olustee after a canoe trip on the Suwannee River. The Battle of Olustee is a Florida State Park that is unmanned. There is a visitor’s centre with a video on the battle and some other civil war items. A 1 mile walking path takes you through the battle. If you can go there during the annual re-enactment or exhibition, I hear thousands of people will be there.

wsatterwhite wrote:In that case I certainly recommend it, The state park is just off the main highway that runs north out of Orlando. Olustee was the only thing resembling a "major" battle (basically just a division-sized force on both sides) in the state of Florida.

http://battleofolustee.org/

I don't know if Baton Rouge would be convenient on the route you will be taking but if it is, I would suggest checking to see if there is state park or anything there for the Battle of Baton Rouge. Another relatively small action compared to the big Virginia battles but about the closest thing you'll find to an actual "major" battle in this theater.