2020 Tours?

mkyzzzrdet

Corporal
Joined
Feb 23, 2013
JameN and I are thining of a week tour of the Fredericksburg -Spotsylvania-Wilderness-Chancellorsville area in late April 2020. But nothing definite yet.
However we very much like the "Forum" tours - has anybody considered anything for 2020? It seems like the Fredericksburg area would be a very good one. If there was a tour there next year - James and I would likely defer to that one instead!
 
I think you guys have a very good idea that I would support 100 percent. I have never been to any of those battlefields. David.
 
JameN and I are thining of a week tour of the Fredericksburg -Spotsylvania-Wilderness-Chancellorsville area in late April 2020. But nothing definite yet.
However we very much like the "Forum" tours - has anybody considered anything for 2020? It seems like the Fredericksburg area would be a very good one. If there was a tour there next year - James and I would likely defer to that one instead!
We started planning the Chickamauga 2018 Tour while the troops were at the 2017 September To Remember tour of Gettysburg. As far as I know, nobody is planning anything for 2020 yet though there was some discussion of other sites when we were picking this year's destination. I am relinquishing the Quartermaster position when we redeploy from Vicksburg. If anybody wants to start planning a 2020 gathering now, I am all for it.
 
I split that area over 2 days last spring. First Day: 1863 (Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville). Second Day: 1864 (Wilderness, Spotsylvania). That worked really well.
 
JameN and I are thining of a week tour of the Fredericksburg -Spotsylvania-Wilderness-Chancellorsville area in late April 2020. But nothing definite yet.
However we very much like the "Forum" tours - has anybody considered anything for 2020? It seems like the Fredericksburg area would be a very good one. If there was a tour there next year - James and I would likely defer to that one instead!
We started planning the Chickamauga 2018 Tour while the troops were at the 2017 September To Remember tour of Gettysburg. As far as I know, nobody is planning anything for 2020 yet though there was some discussion of other sites when we were picking this year's destination. I am relinquishing the Quartermaster position when we redeploy from Vicksburg. If anybody wants to start planning a 2020 gathering now, I am all for it.
1864 TN Campaign ?
Actually, as @bdtex can attest, the subject has been broached for Perryville in October in a recent (just in the last week) thread. At that time, I proposed that Eastern members would probably like to see a return to that side of the Appalachans, but I personally have no preference.
 
Actually, as @bdtex can attest, the subject has been broached for Perryville in October in a recent (just in the last week) thread. At that time, I proposed that Eastern members would probably like to see a return to that side of the Appalachans, but I personally have no preference.
In our decision about this years tour,Petersburg was discussed too.
 
The Carolina's campaign and the Atlanta Campaign was just wondering if either of these had ever been looked at
The issue with these tours is that unless there is a tour bus rented,it has to be at a place where folks can stick together in a car caravan or rendezvous at select points fairly easy. We did not do a tour bus at Chickamauga last year and aren't doing that this year at Vicksburg. The 2017 Gettysburg CWT tour did have a tour bus.
 
1864 TN Campaign ?
The Carolina's campaign and the Atlanta Campaign was just wondering if either of these had ever been looked at
The issue with these tours is that unless there is a tour bus rented, it has to be at a place where folks can stick together in a car caravan or rendezvous at select points fairly easy. We did not do a tour bus at Chickamauga last year and aren't doing that this year at Vicksburg. The 2017 Gettysburg CWT tour did have a tour bus.
Several things should be kept in mind when planning, as @bdtex has indicated. Logistically speaking, it has so far been preferable to hold these in a single location well-stocked with amenities like a central hotel or large, modern motel and nearby restaurants capable and willing to host a dinner. (Not a banquet or anything formal, but that can easily consist of 20-40 people.) It's easy for us retirees to find the time, but not all of our members fit into that category, so an approximately three-day weekend works best - if others are of a mind, they can come earlier or stay longer than that. The bus trip was strictly the quickly-taken-up offer by @Eric Wittenberg to follow Lee's retreat route from Gettysburg to the Potomac and Falling Waters Battlefield and took the greater part of a single day; other activities were on the Gettysburg battlefield itself. Also, a competent and willing coordinator is mandatory for working out the details of whatever it is we decide on; @War Horse , Bee, @bdtex , @lelliott19 , @ucvrelics , and likely others I'm leaving out have done wonderful and time-consuming work toward making at least the last two a success. Another related need would be members willing to make presentations at various locations.

As for your particular suggestions, I haven't been there, but would suppose that Bentonville would be the likely location for a Carolina Gathering, assuming it meets the above requirements. Atlanta of course offers a wealth of possibilities, but suppose the most likely would be the Marietta area with its wonderful Confederate and National Cemeteries, Kennesaw Mountain NBP, and Southern Railroad & Civil War Museum at Kennesaw. Either Franklin or Murfreesboro would be likely places, but despite their closeness to each other - only thirty miles - for conciseness, probably only one or the other should be the "theme" of a particular Gathering; of course, Franklin in the fall would be appropriate!
 
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Several things should be kept in mind when planning, as @bdtex has indicated. Logistically speaking, it has so far been preferable to hold these in a single location with well-stocked amenities like a central hotel or large, modern motel and nearby restaurants capable and willing to host a dinner. (Not a banquet or anything formal, but that can easily consist of 20-40 people.) It's easy for us retirees to find the time, but not all of our members fit into that category, so an approximately three-day weekend works best - if others are of a mind, they can come earlier or stay longer than that. The bus trip was strictly the quickly-taken-up offer by @Eric Wittenberg to follow Lee's retreat route from Gettysburg to the Potomac and Falling Waters Battlefield and took the greater part of a single day; other activities were on the Gettysburg battlefield itself. Also, a competent and willing coordinator is mandatory for working out the details of whatever it is we decide on; @War Horse , Bee, @bdtex , @lelliott19 , @ucvrelics , and likely others I'm leaving out have done wonderful and time-consuming work toward making at least the last two a success. Another related need would be members willing to make presentations at various locations.

As for your particular suggestions, I haven't been there, but would suppose that Bentonville would be the likely location for a Carolina Gathering, assuming it meets the above requirements. Atlanta of course offers a wealth of possibilities, but suppose the most likely would be the Marietta area with its wonderful Confederate and National Cemeteries, Kennesaw Mountain NBP, and Civil War & Railroad Museum at Kennesaw.

Good points about past meet-ups, James N.!

I have been to all those battlefields mentioned above, but I’d be willing to go again because it’s been awhile. There is A LOT to see in that “Golden Triangle” of CW Virginia, besides Fredericksburg, etc., including Chatham Manor, Ellwood and Stonewall’s arm, Salem Church, Stonewall’s death “shrine” at Guinea Station—the problem would be more like narrowing it down rather than finding things to do, I think. And as for having a central place to stay, eat and socialize, the Fredericksburg area was (unfortunately in some cases) on the cutting edge of suburban sprawl a decade and a half ago—plenty of places to stay, etc.
 
As for your particular suggestions, I haven't been there, but would suppose that Bentonville would be the likely location for a Carolina Gathering, assuming it meets the above requirements.

Regularly being involved with events at Bentonville--including one earlier this year and one coming up next March, as just two examples--I can tell you that the Friends of Bentonville Battlefield schedule the hotels for their events in Smithfield, which is not quite 20 miles away. Bentonville battlefield is literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by turkey farms, whereas there are quite a few hotel choices in Smithfield. When we did the tour event in April of this year, we stayed at a Sleep Inn in Smithfield.
 
We did not do a tour bus at Chickamauga last year and aren't doing that this year at Vicksburg.
Right. And some of the problems with renting a bus are as follows:
1) It costs $ and these CWT group events have traditionally been free. How to divide the cost if someone is only going to be on the bus one day?
2) Someone has to sign the bus contract and be committed to pay - even if no one comes
3) Contracts typically have to be signed and paid pretty far in advance - so someone could sign and pay and wind up out their $ if others don't participate or pay. How to set the fee to divide the cost without knowing how many will eventually decide to come?
4) Someone has to collect the $ from each person on the bus and deal with it.
5) Some people will decide, "Ill just drive and save the $" which isn't really fair. They get the benefit of the tour without contributing to the cost
6) Im sure there are other headaches I havent even thought of. :nah disagree:
 
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Right. And some of the problems with renting a bus are as follows:
1) It costs $ and these CWT group events have traditionally been free. How to divide the cost if someone is only going to be on the bus one day?
2) Someone has to sign the bus contract and be committed to pay - even if no one comes
3) Contracts typically have to be signed and paid pretty far in advance - so someone could sign and pay and wind up out their $ if others don't participate or pay. How to set the fee to divide the cost without knowing how many will eventually decide to come?
4) Someone has to collect the $ from each person on the bus and deal with it.
5) Some people will decide, "Ill just drive and save the $" which isn't really fair. They get the benefit of the tour without contributing to the cost
6) Im sure there are other headaches I havent even thought of. :nah disagree:

This is why a place like Savannah could be fun
 
You could always look at Savannah GA plenty to see. with the houses, cemeteries, forts
This is why a place like Savannah could be fun
To elaborate, although I haven't been there since 1989, I easily remember: Forts Jackson, McAllister, and Pulaski; Sherman's Headquarters (not likely open to the public); the large city cemetery featured in the movie Midnight In the Garden of Good And Evil where I believe McLaws and Bartow are also buried; nearby Beaufort and St. Helena Island, S.C.; various locations were Glory was filmed; and plenty of hotels and restaurants of varying cost.
 
To elaborate, although I haven't been there since 1989, I easily remember: Forts Jackson, McAllister, and Pulaski; Sherman's Headquarters (not likely open to the public); the large city cemetery featured in the movie Midnight In the Garden of Good And Evil where I believe McLaws and Bartow are also buried; nearby Beaufort and St. Helena Island, S.C.; various locations were Glory was filmed; and plenty of hotels and restaurants of varying cost.

Yes North Laurel Grove as well as Bonaventure Cemetery I also think at one time a civil war tour was offered you can also visit the Sorrel house as well plus you can't beat the good seafood.
 
Yes North Laurel Grove as well as Bonaventure Cemetery I also think at one time a civil war tour was offered you can also visit the Sorrel house as well plus you can't beat the good seafood.
Bonaventure was the one I was thinking of, though there's also Colonial where Nathaniel Greene was originally buried before being moved to the square beneath his obelisk. Pirate's House, 1776/Old Pink House, and a one-time brewery were my favorites for seafood there!
 
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