Fredericksburg, VA

9-24 thru 9-27-14

We camped south of Fredericksburg, VA, that gave us easy access to the four Civil War sites of Fredericksburg (Dec 11-12, 1862), Chancellorsville (April/May, 1863), The Wilderness (May 5-6, 1864), and Spotsylvannia Court House (May 8-21, 1864). These different battlefields are within 17 miles of each other making for easy driving. We were lucky to spend 4 days here and devote a different day to each batttlefield.

The National Park Service has purchased the land where the battles occurred. They have done a wonderful job of restoring the battlefields to what they looked like during the battles. The visitors centers are also very well done with excellent films and thorough explanations of what took place during the battles.

There are driving tours through each of the battle sites that are marked with interpretive signs and monuments. We particularly enjoyed walking some of the trails through the hardwood forests to battle sites.

It is hard to comprehend that 105,000 casualties occurred during these four battles. Such a large loss of life. The Fredericksburg area is half way between Washington and Richmond (the capital of the Confederacy) and was a strategic point for both the Union and the Confederacy.

We are thinking of friends Debbie and Fred as they have visited these battlefields as part of their quest to visit all 390 National Park sites. And they did visit all of them. Congratulations.