THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 5, 1996 TAG: 9607040016
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 42 lines
Those looking to beat the summer doldrums might consider a driving tour of the route followed by Ulysses S. Grant as he pushed Robert E. Lee's forces toward Petersburg in the spring of 1864.
The newly marked, 150-mile trail is the second installment in what eventually will be four auto tours of major Civil War campaigns enacted in Virginia. Maps are available free from Civil War Trails, 1-888-CIVIL-WAR (1-888-248-4592).
The newest offering, ``Lee vs. Grant: The 1864 Campaign,'' takes tourists to 35 major historical sites starting at Germanna Ford, west of Fredericksburg. It was there that the Union army under Grant crossed the Rapidan River and launched what has been described as the ``bloodiest and most decisive campaign of the Civil War.''
The trail concludes at the Petersburg National Battlefield, where Lee's forces were trapped during a nine-month seige.
Following mostly secondary roads, the ``Grant vs. Lee'' trail is marked with interpretive signs informing visitors of the momentous events that occurred along its way.
A second auto tour, following ``Lee's Retreat'' from Petersburg to Appomattox, was completed last year and is also available. Two additional trails eventually will mark the ``1862 Peninsula Campaign,'' in which Union troops unsuccessfully tried to attack Richmond from the east, and the ``Northern Virginia/Shenandoah Valley Campaign,'' in which Confederate Gen. Thomas J. ``Stonewall'' Jackson made his mark.
For these drives through history, Virginians can thank the Metropolitan Richmond Convention and Visitors Bureau, various communities along the route and the federal government, which put up 80 percent of the $2 million cost.
The history evoked by these tours is not pleasant. Thousands of men died. More than a century later, scars remain.
But as Virginia races pell-mell toward a high-tech future, it is well to remember the tragedies and victories of a storied past. What better way to spend a warm summer day than meandering through the ghosts and byways of an earlier era? by CNB