How about going further West before returning East?
I'd suggest the Missouri-Arkansas border region.
We'd have Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove all together in driving distance, all very, exceptionally well preserved battlefields that don't get enough love from the Civil War community, (the Grant-Lee obsessions of so many drives me bonkers, there were other leaders), and Springfield, Missouri and Fayetteville, Arkansas have grown so much to have excellent accommodations. As for the growth it is extremely bad, before to long Prairie Grove and Wilson's Creek will be completely surrounded by urban growth, so now, or next year rather would be a good time to see them before it's completely ruined.
Besides, they are real gems in comparison to battlefields in Virginia, Tennessee, or Mississippi. Not covered in hundreds of monuments, the ground is pretty close to how it was back then and one get a way better idea of how it looked than in Vicksburg or other places.
Just a thought....