Fort Sumter National Monument
Charleston, South Carolina
Located three miles offshore from Charleston Harbor and accessible only by boat, Fort Sumter National Monument is named after militia leader and hero Thomas Sumter and is one of the few remaining entities built after the American Revolution to help bolster America’s coastal defenses from occupation.
Built in 1829, Fort Sumter, a short ferry ride from both Liberty Square in Charleston and Patriots Point in nearby Mount Pleasant, remained an active walled fort until 1947. Visitors today will find a three-story relic with parade grounds, a history museum filled with original artifacts, ruins of the original structures, dozens of cannons and the like.
“Fort Sumter is really known as the site of the opening shots of the Civil War,” said Tim Stone, superintendent of Fort Sumter National Monument. “This primary notoriety makes it one of the best-known forts in the Western Hemisphere. As such, there is a dedicated pilgrimage here for re-enactment activities and such.”
This National Park Service site also includes Fort Moultrie, built in 1809, and Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse, both located on Sullivan’s Island. Fort Moultrie is a 30-minute drive from downtown Charleston; its namesake is Col. William Moultrie who, in 1776, saved the fort from British occupation. Today, it features some of the nation’s best collections of Civil War-era artillery.
Just a stone’s throw away is Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse, a unique triangular black-and-white block structure commonly known as Charleston Light.
Also in Mount Pleasant is the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. Twenty-eight acres remain of what was once hundreds of acres of a working slave plantation called Snee Farm. The exhibits here and at both forts tell the story of the enslaved Africans brought to the area and sold at Charleston’s Gadsden’s Wharf. It is also a major stop along the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor that extends from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida.
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
Kennesaw, Georgia
From the Union Army that stole a locomotive with the Confederate Army in hot pursuit to locals today saying they are “going to run the mountain,” Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield has a long and rich history.
Located five minutes from Marietta, Georgia, and 40 minutes from Atlanta, just outside of the city of Kennesaw, the 2,965-acre battlefield played a pivotal role in the Atlanta Campaign conceived by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the hopes of successfully ending the war.
“Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield is the most visited Civil War site in the U.S., even over Gettysburg and Arlington,” said Holly Quinlan, chief executive officer of the Cobb County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We are also one of only a few locations in the country that has cemeteries for both the Union and Confederate armies. The mountain was so significant in the last battles of the war, and you can get a sense of it by stopping at the different aspects here.”
The grounds encompass more than 22 miles of maintained interpretive trails, many named after significant battles here, and expansive open fields that offer breathtaking views of the Atlanta skyline, Stone Mountain and the surrounding community.
Visitors can walk, drive or take a shuttle bus to experience the numerous memorials and other historic structures that dot the property. History talks, educational programming and special demonstrations with period-attired re-enactors throughout the year are also part of the experience.
The museum features a 35-minute introductory movie about the Atlanta Campaign and the Battle of Kennesaw and is home to a wide array of artifacts and exhibits detailing the conflicts.
Approximately three miles away in Kennesaw, the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History provides its own perspective into the role of the railroads during and after the war. In Marietta, the Marietta Museum of History chronicles Marietta and Cobb County history dating back to the early Native American tribes.
Shiloh National Military Park
Savannah, Tennessee
Not far from the place where Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama meet is Shiloh National Military Park, spanning 4,200 picturesque acres. It was here that the Battle of Shiloh, named for the Shiloh Methodist Church located near the Union Army encampment, took place in 1862, resulting in an estimated 24,000 casualties in just two days.
“What makes Shiloh National Military Park unique among other national military parks is that there’s not a town around it and it’s not swallowed up with commercial development,” said Beth Pippin, tourism director of the Hardin County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It is rural, and the land has been kept scenic. When people visit, they are looking for that experience of what it was like 154 years ago to walk on the field and see all that happened here. It also has Indian mounds, and the Trail of Tears went through here, so the park is a historical site because of all of that.”
Visitors today can pay homage to the 4,000 fallen soldiers and their families at the United States National Cemetery, embark upon a 12.7-mile self-guided audio tour that features 20 significant sites and participate in a host of living history, monument dedications and other ongoing events.
Nearby is the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, which is considered part of Shiloh National Military Park; the center commemorates the Siege and Battle of Corinth and the role the city played as a strategic military railroad junction. In Savannah, Tennessee, Cherry Mansion was the one-time headquarters of Grant, and Savannah Cemetery is the final resting place of Alex and Queen Haley, grandparents of Alex Haley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Roots.”
