Thoughts on a proposed trip?

randoke

Private
Joined
Jun 29, 2015
Location
Comanche County, Texas
Hey guys,

I did a trip this year to the Eastern battlefields. I'm tentatively planning a trip for May 2016. I live in Central Texas so this would be a driving trip.

Day 1 - drive to Vicksburg, MS and spend a little time late afternoon exploring the battlefield/city.
Day 2 - hit the battlefield all day. Drive 3 hours to Oxford.
Day 3 - See Ole Miss and Rowan Oak (Faulkner home.) Drive to Shiloh.
Day 4 - Shiloh.
Day 5 - Shiloh. Drive to Perryville afternoon.
Day 6 - Perryville.
Day 7 - Drive home.

Any thoughts? I'm fairly locked in on seeing Vicksburg, Shiloh and Perryville, though I know Perryville is out of the way given where I live and the other battlefields. I plan on having other trips in this area in the future. In the past, I've put in a good full day at a battlefield and it has satisfied me.

I've hired LBG at Gettysburg and Antietam and had two great experiences. Do any of these battlefields have that as an option?

Any other recommendations? I've searched threads on here about the battlefields but I wanted to seek advice. I generally tour all day and drive in the evenings so I don't mind long days. Any other things to see on the way? I also may add a day to build in some more flex time. I've considered adding Corinth. This is a rough sketch.
 
I've been to both Shiloh and Vicksburg. You could spend more than one day at each, particularly Shiloh, but one day will let you see most of both parks. The Corinth Interpretive Center is worth a visit, and since it's close to Shiloh you may as well stop in. I've never been to Perryville so can't comment, but if I were finished at Shiloh I'd probably head over to Chickamauga. I've been there twice and would love to go again.....for me it's a fascinating battlefield because the terrain is so different from the northern part of the field to the southern part. I've walked about 25-30 percent of it but would like to hit 100 before I get too old.
 
I seem both Shiloh and Vicksburg and hope you have better luck than I did.

For example my game plan was to stop 3 hours short of Vicksburg. Day 2. get up at 7 am, 1 hour to eat breakfast with my wife and 3 hours to drive to Vicksburg, 5 hours vising the battlefield, go out to dinner and rent motel.

My wife's agenda was to add 5 hours for stopping at antique shops during the 3 hour drive..

In the end I got to the Vicksburg battlefield 30 minutes before it closed. To be fair to my wife we did somehow get to spend an hour at Shiloh, well I was Shiloh and she got dropped off at a very nice large antique mall for an hour and a half. Still it was a great trip.
 
I seem both Shiloh and Vicksburg and hope you have better luck than I did.

For example my game plan was to stop 3 hours short of Vicksburg. Day 2. get up at 7 am, 1 hour to eat breakfast with my wife and 3 hours to drive to Vicksburg, 5 hours vising the battlefield, go out to dinner and rent motel.

My wife's agenda was to add 5 hours for stopping at antique shops during the 3 hour drive..

In the end I got to the Vicksburg battlefield 30 minutes before it closed. To be fair to my wife we did somehow get to spend an hour at Shiloh, well I was Shiloh and she got dropped off at a very nice large antique mall for an hour and a half. Still it was a great trip.
Me and my son so we're good there buddy.
 
An ambitious trip which will give you knowledge an inch deep and a mile wide I have spent a week a Vicksburg, twice and have been going to Shiloh since I was a little boy in the mid 1950's... have been to Gettysburg 3 times ( a week each) AND STILL HAVE NOT SEEN ALL I WANT TO SEE The point is not to see how many battlefields you can see, but how much you can learn from each visit
 
After you visit the Vicksburg National Military Park, stop and tour the Battle of Corinth sites. I would not miss this venue and it is about 22 miles south of the Shiloh National Military Park. After touring Shiloh, I would travel northbound near the US 22 and I-40 interchange and tour the Parker's Crossroads Battlefield. The visitor center is just south of I-40. As you travel eastbound on I-40 towards Nashville, try to stop by Franklin and tour the battle sites. You can schedule a personal tour at the Carter House or Lotz House. Thomas Cartwright and Jamie Gillum gave me a one-on-one personal tour which started at the Lotz House on November 30th, 2015 (battle anniversary). As you travel northbound on I-65 towards Louisville, Kentucky, try to visit the Abraham Lincoln birthplace and childhood farm at Hodgenville. The Perryville Battlefield is about 60 miles east of Hodgenville.

Bill
 
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Just wanted to agree with others that Corinth is nice. You're very close to a lot of sites in Tennessee, but given what you've said about liking to spend time, I think you've probably given yourself plenty to do. You might look up the Ole Miss area just so you can swing by some of the big old houses on your drive and wave at them. Rowan Oak is not a long tour and there's a lot in this area.
 
Was on an 8 day road trip saw Shiloh,Cornith , Stones river, Fort Donelson, Chickamuga&Chattanoga, Kennesaw Mountain, Andersonville Lookout Mountain, and Stone Mountain down South....Stopped at New Market and Gettysburg on the way home but you need more time to let it all sink in.....
 
Hey guys,

I did a trip this year to the Eastern battlefields. I'm tentatively planning a trip for May 2016. I live in Central Texas so this would be a driving trip.

Day 1 - drive to Vicksburg, MS and spend a little time late afternoon exploring the battlefield/city.
Day 2 - hit the battlefield all day. Drive 3 hours to Oxford.
Day 3 - See Ole Miss and Rowan Oak (Faulkner home.) Drive to Shiloh.
Day 4 - Shiloh.
Day 5 - Shiloh. Drive to Perryville afternoon.
Day 6 - Perryville.
Day 7 - Drive home.

Any thoughts? I'm fairly locked in on seeing Vicksburg, Shiloh and Perryville, though I know Perryville is out of the way given where I live and the other battlefields. I plan on having other trips in this area in the future. In the past, I've put in a good full day at a battlefield and it has satisfied me.

I've hired LBG at Gettysburg and Antietam and had two great experiences. Do any of these battlefields have that as an option?

Any other recommendations? I've searched threads on here about the battlefields but I wanted to seek advice. I generally tour all day and drive in the evenings so I don't mind long days. Any other things to see on the way? I also may add a day to build in some more flex time. I've considered adding Corinth. This is a rough sketch.
I think you should go. :D So far I've only been on four Battlefield Tour trips and each time the itinerary changed somewhat when I got there. I'm guessing that happens a lot when you go places you've never been before. You run across places/monuments/museums that you didn't know were there.
 
Hey guys,

I did a trip this year to the Eastern battlefields. I'm tentatively planning a trip for May 2016. I live in Central Texas so this would be a driving trip.

Day 1 - drive to Vicksburg, MS and spend a little time late afternoon exploring the battlefield/city.
Day 2 - hit the battlefield all day. Drive 3 hours to Oxford.
Day 3 - See Ole Miss and Rowan Oak (Faulkner home.) Drive to Shiloh.
Day 4 - Shiloh.
Day 5 - Shiloh. Drive to Perryville afternoon.
Day 6 - Perryville.
Day 7 - Drive home.

Any thoughts? I'm fairly locked in on seeing Vicksburg, Shiloh and Perryville, though I know Perryville is out of the way given where I live and the other battlefields. I plan on having other trips in this area in the future. In the past, I've put in a good full day at a battlefield and it has satisfied me.

I've hired LBG at Gettysburg and Antietam and had two great experiences. Do any of these battlefields have that as an option?

Any other recommendations? I've searched threads on here about the battlefields but I wanted to seek advice. I generally tour all day and drive in the evenings so I don't mind long days. Any other things to see on the way? I also may add a day to build in some more flex time. I've considered adding Corinth. This is a rough sketch.
Since you live in Central Texas and for future reference, bookmark this site:

http://hoodstexasbrigade.org

We have an annual symposium in Huntsville in November and a guided Battlefield Tour each year. Next year's tour is in June to Chickamauga.
 
I live in the Houston area. I'm hoping to do driving road trips to Vicksburg and Mobile Bay next year. Did day trips to Sabine Pass and Mansfield/Pleasant Hill this year.
 
I did a driving trip out to Vicksburg in September. The driving tour around the battlefield will take a few hours if you really want to do it right. I paid the $11 for the audio CD and thought it was well-worth it. One thing I'd point out is that you really need to walk the short trail to see the Kentucky monument (the only state monument not immediately visible from the road). The statue of Lincoln and Davis seemingly in conversation with one another is something to behold. I also tasked a few hours in the morning to drive out to the Raymond battlefield, because I have a particular interest in the 7th Texas Infantry. It's a well-done site, considering their limited resources.

Also, why Perryville as opposed to Franklin/Nashville or Murfreesboro?
 
Thanks for the tips. I'd love to spend multiple days at each of these places but that's not feasible right now.

I'm still refining this trip and have gotten some good tips here. I have a particular interest in Perryville and wanted to hit it this trip.
 
The Perryville Battlefield (Chaplin Hills) is a well preserved state run park. You will observe the same structures, hills and fields which the Federal and Confederate soldiers observed on October 8th, 1862. This battlefield is one of my all-time favorite American Civil War sites. You can download a good battle map on their website (Perryville Battlefield) and the Kentucky Parks website. If you need any assistance, please fire off a Personal Message to me.

Bill
 
Thanks to everyone for their help. I think I'm leaning towards postponing Perryville to another trip and focusing more on Vicksburg, Shiloh and perhaps another couple of other places in MS/TN.
 
Thanks to everyone for their help. I think I'm leaning towards postponing Perryville to another trip and focusing more on Vicksburg, Shiloh and perhaps another couple of other places in MS/TN.
With so many choices of places you wanna visit that you've never been to before,you really can't go wrong no matter what you decide.
 
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