Walking the Battle: Petersburg

 May 30, 2015, 8am - 8pm
3rd in the Civil War Battlefield Series

To honor the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War,  the Cornell and Columbia Clubs of Washington present an all-day guided bus trip to Petersburg/Richmond and other sites of the last days of the Civil War.

We will start the trip with a visit to the Cold Harbor battlefield, one of the bloodiest of the Civil War. We will continue to Ulysses S. Grant’s HQ at the siege of Petersburg, which includes a working plantation. Then we will go on to various parts of the Confederate and Union lines, including the Crater, where the Union exposed a giant mine to blast a hole in the Confederate defenses, and Blandford Cemetery, where over 30,000 Confederate fatalities of the battle are buried. We will have lunch on the battlefield and go the Visitor’s Center. Finally, on the way back, we will visit the Tredegar Iron Works, the largest producer of Confederate artillery during the war and site of a statute of Abraham Lincoln commemorating his famous visit to Richmond in April 1865.

Our guide will be Cornell Professor David Silbey, a Cornell alumnus and military historian who has published widely on modern warfare and has long experience walking Civil War Battlefields.

David Silbey is a military historian, focusing on modern warfare.  Dr. Silbey's first book, The British Working Class and Enthusiasm for War, 1914-1916 was published by Taylor & Francis in 2005.  His second book, A War of Empire and Frontier: The Philippine-American War, 1899-1902 was published by Hill & Wang in Spring 2007.  His third book, The Boxer Rebellion and the Great Game in China, 1900 was published by Hill & Wang in March 2012.  He received his BA from Cornell and his MA and Ph.D from Duke University.

Please note:

• Seats are limited, so please reserve your ticket(s) ONLINE early.
• Tour of battlefield includes riding bus, substantial walking on uneven ground, and climbing stairs.
• Bus will leave from Franconia-Springfield Metro promptly at 8am- expected return is at 8pm at the same location.

Prices (tickets are per person):

• ColumbiaDC member: $60
• Non-member: $70

Ticket includes:

• Round-trip chartered coach from the DC area
• Free all-day parking at pickup site
• Complimentary cold drinks and snacks served aboard
• Boxed lunch (vegetarian option available)