1 Day "Crossroads of Conflict" Tour Summary
If you have a day to visit local Civil War sites, we recommend stopping by the Historic City of Fairfax Museum & Visitors Center first. Here you can learn about the many important moments in Fairfax Civil War history, including the spot where Gen. William Stoughton awoke to find himself captured by "The Gray Ghost," Captain John Mosby. Next head down to the Old Fairfax Courthouse, where the Confederate Army lost its first officer (and where George & Martha Washington's wills are kept). Then you'll swing into Ox Hill Battlefield Park in Chantilly, the site of a recent documentary film on the battle, before making your way west to Manassas National Battlefield Park. The park tells the story, in vivid detail, of the two major Civil War battles that occurred here. Visitors can tour important locations from both battles, hike through the same land where Union and Confederate soldiers marched, and see where so many lost their lives in defense of their beliefs.
2 Day "Crossroads of Conflict" Tour Summary
With two days in historic Fairfax County and the Washington D.C. region, you’ll have the opportunity to visit a number of important Civil War sites—museums, battlefields, a major fort, and even Arlington National Cemetery.
Start your first day with a trip to the Historic City of Fairfax Museum & Visitors Center, where you’ll learn about the many important moments in Fairfax Civil War history, including the spot where Gen. William Stoughton awoke to find himself captured by “The Gray Ghost,” Captain John Mosby. While in Fairfax, stop by the Old Fairfax Courthouse, and make a side trip to Ox Hill Battlefield, before venturing out to Manassas National Battlefield Park, site of two historic Civil War battles.
On day two, we recommend a visit to the Vienna Freeman Store and Museum, which served as a hospital for Union and Confederate Soldiers during the war. Next head over to the Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, where you’ll have an opportunity to tour this earthen fortification, built to defend Washington D.C. during the war. Next, at Arlington National Cemetery, you’ll be awed by the powerful sight of row after row of graves honoring our fallen soldiers. Once the plantation home of Robert E. Lee, and later a Union encampment, the site became a cemetery when the Civil War pushed Washington D.C.’s other cemeteries to capacity.
5 Day "Crossroads of Conflict" Tour Summary
For Civil War buffs who just can’t get enough battlefields, museums, forts, and more, the five-day “Crossroads of Conflict” tour is made for you!
On day one visit the Vienna Freeman Store, and Ball’s Bluff, the site of an important Confederate victory, and spend the afternoon at Gettysburg National Military Park, the site of three days of grim battle, the deadliest conflict of the war.
Day two begins with a visit to Sully Historic Site, and a stop at the Old Stone Church in Historic Centreville, a Union and Confederate hospital during the war. Next, take a tour of the Manassas National Battlefield Park, where two of the war’s important battles occurred, and walk in the footsteps of the soldiers. Finish your day with a visit to the Manassas Museum and a stroll through quaint Old Town Manassas.
Pop in to the Historic City of Fairfax to start day three, highlighted by a stop at the Fairfax Museum and Visitors Center. You’ll also see Mount Zion Church, alternately barracks, battleground, and eventually burial place during the Civil War, Aldie Mill, a supplier of grain to Union and Confederate forces, and Middleburg, where much of the town served as a makeshift hospital after the Second Battle of Manassas. Save plenty of time to visit the Historic City of Winchester, where you’ll end your day. The site of innumerable battles and skirmishes, this city actually changed hands over 70 times during the war!
On day four, visitors will swing into Historic Downtown Herndon, the site of a successful raid by “The Gray Ghost” Captain John Mosby. Then it’s up to Antietam, in Sharpsburg, Maryland, the site of the single deadliest day of fighting during the Civil War.
Day five pays a powerful tribute to the war’s end, with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, a Union encampment that became a cemetery when the Civil War pushed Washington D.C.’s other cemeteries to capacity. You’ll also visit the iconic Lincoln Memorial and the Freedmen’s Memorial which depicts Lincoln symbolically freeing the slaves. End the day with a visit to Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln was assassinated attending a performance, and a stop at the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum, the nation's only monument to African American Civil War soldiers.