Best battlefield to visit.

[major bill]

Most people who visit the Battle of Gettysburg site are very impress, some even feel a odd sense of awe, some visitors are almost overcome with emotions. I was wondering which other battlefields causes the same sense of awe.

I have been to perhaps 30 Civil War battlefields. Some were huge parks some not so much so. I would say Gettysburg caused me the most sense of awe, with Antietam being in second place. I was also impressed with Vicksburg (perhaps the tall hills had to be attacked had something to do with this). I much enjoyed Shiloh but did not get the same sense of awe. Bull Run is nice, but the feeling of awe was not as strong. In general I enjoy visiting sites where home town units fought, but this interest in local units does not fill me with awe.

Has anyone else felt this almost overwhelming sense of emotions at some battlefields.?

 

[John Winn]

The closest I came to "overwhelming emotions" was at Cold Harbor where I stood at the exact spot in the remains of the original breastworks where my great grandfather's battery was positioned. While not a large, developed park like Antietam (a very good battlefield to visit) or Gettysburg, Cold Harbor does have quite a bit of trench works still visible. There are also extensive trench remains at the Fredericksburg battlefield. Seeing those and standing on Marye's heights was pretty moving.

 

[Yankeedave]

Murfreesboro. i felt so claustrophobic. bizzare battle on bizarre terrain.

 

[bdietzler73]

Most people who visit the Battle of Gettysburg site are very impress, some even feel a odd sense of awe, some visitors are almost overcome with emotions. I was wondering which other battlefields causes the same sense of awe.

I have been to perhaps 30 Civil War battlefields. Some were huge parks some not so much so. I would say Gettysburg caused me the most sense of awe, with Antietam being in second place. I was also impressed with Vicksburg (perhaps the tall hills had to be attacked had something to do with this). I much enjoyed Shiloh but did not get the same sense of awe. Bull Run is nice, but the feeling of awe was not as strong. In general I enjoy visiting sites where home town units fought, but this interest in local units does not fill me with awe.

Has anyone else felt this almost overwhelming sense of emotions at some battlefields.?

You know, I tend to feel the most emotion at Gettysburg. I had so many relatives fight there and just to think what they went through during the battle always has an impact on me. I think about the thousands of men who were killed and wounded in the battle and what they had to go through. When I climb the towers and look out over the vast fields, forests and hills that make up the battlefield, I think about the massive battle that took place there, all the men and equipment and just how loud the battle was. I have been to several battlefields, not just Civil War battlefields and this one always seems to "get to me".

I have been to Antietam a few times and have gotten some emotional feeling there as well. The more I go and the more I understand about a battle field the more emotional I get I think. But no matter where I visit, my feelings are always the strongest at Gettysburg.

 

[bdtex]

Most people who visit the Battle of Gettysburg site are very impress, some even feel a odd sense of awe, some visitors are almost overcome with emotions. I was wondering which other battlefields causes the same sense of awe.

I have been to perhaps 30 Civil War battlefields. Some were huge parks some not so much so. I would say Gettysburg caused me the most sense of awe, with Antietam being in second place. I was also impressed with Vicksburg (perhaps the tall hills had to be attacked had something to do with this). I much enjoyed Shiloh but did not get the same sense of awe. Bull Run is nice, but the feeling of awe was not as strong. In general I enjoy visiting sites where home town units fought, but this interest in local units does not fill me with awe.

Has anyone else felt this almost overwhelming sense of emotions at some battlefields.?

I haven't been to enough yet to give a good answer. 12 to be exact. Had a first-time trip to Vicksburg planned in October but had to cancel. The biggest and most developed I've been to is Chickamauga and down to the smallest and mostly undeveloped Wauhatchie. Haven't been to Shiloh,Antietam,Gettysburg or anywhere in Virginia north of Richmond yet.

I have had moments like you described at each one of battlefields I have visited. You know you are on hallowed ground the moment you set foot on 'em. The one that made me feel the way you described most of the time I was there was Cold Harbor. I was there on a cold Monday morning in January and maybe saw 3-4 other people there while I was there. Not many monuments there but remnants of earthworks everywhere. Being there in the dead of winter when the vegetation is down is the closest one can get now to what it was like in 1864 when all the trees were cut to construct fortifications and clear fields of fire. I didn't wanna leave.

 

[bdtex]

I have a good friend that lives in Amelia Court House,VA. He told me when he went to visit Manassas he had to leave because he could "feel death" there.

 

[alan polk]

I haven't been to enough yet to give a good answer. 12 to be exact. Had a first-time trip to Vicksburg planned in October but had to cancel. The biggest and most developed I've been to is Chickamauga and down to the smallest and mostly undeveloped Wauhatchie. Haven't been to Shiloh,Antietam,Gettysburg or anywhere in Virginia north of Richmond yet.

I have had moments like you described at each one of battlefields I have visited. You know you are on hallowed ground the moment you set foot on 'em. The one that made me feel the way you described most of the time I was there was Cold Harbor. I was there on a cold Monday morning in January and maybe saw 3-4 other people there while I was there. Not many monuments there but remnants of earthworks everywhere. Being there in the dead of winter when the vegetation is down is the closest one can get now to what it was like in 1864 when all the trees were cut to construct fortifications and clear fields of fire. I didn't wanna leave.

I certainly hope you are able to reschedule your trip to Vicksburg. I also hope your wife is better now and has recovered.

 

[johan_steele]

Shiloh and Chickamauga do that to me. Allatoona Pass is one that caught me unawares as it was both larger and smaller than I had expected. Walking the fields of battle gives a good understanding of the terrain even though usually quite changed walking the field imparts an understanding of the distances.

 

[Yankeedave]

Shiloh and Chickamauga do that to me. Allatoona Pass is one that caught me unawares as it was both larger and smaller than I had expected. Walking the fields of battle gives a good understanding of the terrain even though usually quite changed walking the field imparts an understanding of the distances.

At 'todays' cold harbor i saw the union right. when i saw it it was trenches built in white sand in a burnt pine forest. it probably wasn't an authentic appearance but it was stark and memorial.

 

[John Winn]

... Walking the fields of battle gives a good understanding of the terrain even though usually quite changed walking the field imparts an understanding of the distances.

Absolutely. I'd not been to any Civil War battlefields (well, as an adult) before the September Gettysburg gathering trip. I got to see nine on the trip and the sense of distance - especially artillery ranges - was one of the most profound experiences I hadn't really expected. It's one thing to look at a map but, as cartographers often say, the map is not the territory. Seeing the actual ground and positions of the troops just puts a whole different perspective on things.

I was surprised at Antietam that one can see most of the battlefield from the visitor's center deck. Way more up close and personal than I had imagined. Same with Cold Harbor. Some of the opposing trenches weren't more than thirty feet apart.

 

[nitrofd]

It is not a battlefield but Andersonville is the place that most affected me.hard to describe the feeling but it grabs by the gut.

 

[Yankeedave]

a counter attack by Jackson at second manassas. in the lowlands between the woods and high ground to the union rear. swappin spit in the fog...

 

[Yankeedave]

Ditto on the Crittenden road at cedar mountain. places at are still there.

 

[bdtex]

I certainly hope you are able to reschedule your trip to Vicksburg. I also hope your wife is better now and has recovered.

Thanks. Hope to reschedule it for January, weather permitting. I love winter campaigning. She is recovering. Thanks again for your kind words. They help more than you know.

 

[bdtex]

Absolutely. I'd not been to any Civil War battlefields (well, as an adult) before the September Gettysburg gathering trip. I got to see nine on the trip and the sense of distance - especially artillery ranges - was one of the most profound experiences I hadn't really expected. It's one thing to look at a map but, as cartographers often say, the map is not the territory. Seeing the actual ground and positions of the troops just puts a whole different perspective on things.

I was surprised at Antietam that one can see most of the battlefield from the visitor's center deck. Way more up close and personal than I had imagined. Same with Cold Harbor. Some of the opposing trenches weren't more than thirty feet apart.

I see we both have an affinity for Cold Harbor.

 

[major bill]

I haven't been to enough yet to give a good answer. 12 to be exact. Had a first-time trip to Vicksburg planned in October but had to cancel. The biggest and most developed I've been to is Chickamauga and down to the smallest and mostly undeveloped Wauhatchie. Haven't been to Shiloh,Antietam,Gettysburg or anywhere in Virginia north of Richmond yet.

I have had moments like you described at each one of battlefields I have visited. You know you are on hallowed ground the moment you set foot on 'em. The one that made me feel the way you described most of the time I was there was Cold Harbor. I was there on a cold Monday morning in January and maybe saw 3-4 other people there while I was there. Not many monuments there but remnants of earthworks everywhere. Being there in the dead of winter when the vegetation is down is the closest one can get now to what it was like in 1864 when all the trees were cut to construct fortifications and clear fields of fire. I didn't wanna leave.

I like Vicksburg and felt same awe there but do not fully understand why. It probably had something to due with the imposing bluffs and seeing the Mississippi River. Like I said, I found Shiloh more imteresting but did not get that certian feeling of being overwhelmed at Shiloh.

 

[bdtex]

I like Vicksburg and felt same awe there but do not fully understand why. It probably had something to due with the imposing bluffs and seeing the Mississippi River. Like I said, I found Shiloh more imteresting but did not get that certian feeling of being overwhelmed at Shiloh.

Can't wait to visit both. Both on the list next year hopefully.

 

[Yankeedave]

I've done events at vicksburg in the summer. people actually live in mississippi?

 

[alan polk]

I've done events at vicksburg in the summer. people actually live in mississippi?

Naw, just white tail deer and a few possums. Every now and again a few hunters cross the state line to take a look-see

 

[Drew]

I've visited a lot of battlefields in the East, more yet to do. The one that gives the heebee jeebees is Mansfield, Louisiana.

It's just an exotic place and that an entire Union expeditionary force was turned around and sent home from there is fascinating.