Bull Run &
Harper’s Ferry
Howard Coffin
Civil War Tour
May 16-19, 2016
Howard Coffin is a seventh-generation Vermonter with six ancestors who served with
Vermont regiments in the Civil War. He has written four books on Vermont Civil War
history. Coffin makes history come alive, once prompting travel writer and
commentator Will Curtis to say that every Vermonter should take a Coffin battlefield
tour.
ITINERARY
What’s included
3 nights’ lodging , Hampton Inn or equivalent
10 meals: 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 3 dinners
Gettysburg Cemetery Ridge, Dobbin House Inn, Monocacy Battlefield,
Harper’s Ferry, Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, First Bull Run,
Second Manassas, Railway Cut, Visitor Center Museum
Commentary by Howard Coffin
Luxurious motor coach transportation
What’s not
Gratuities (Tour manager, Howard Coffin, driver)
Optional traveler’s insurance
Price per person
$849 Quad / $879 Triple / $949 Double / $1199 Single
*20% deposit due at reservation
*Balance due by March 18, 2016
Day 1 – Travel via motor
coach to Gettysburg;
Howard Coffin
commentary & video;
Gettysburg Cemetery
Ridge
Day 2 – Monocacy
Battlefield; Harper’s
Ferry
Day 3 – First Bull Run;
Visitors Center Museum;
Battle of Second
Manassas; Railway Cut
Battlefield
Day 4 – Return home
with additional Q&A
with Howard
POB 8585 * Burlington, Vermont 05402
* 802-540-0055 * [email protected]
Bull Run & Harper’s Ferry Itinerary
With commentary by Howard Coffin
Day 1 - Monday
Today our travel through the Champlain and Hudson Valleys brings us through areas important during the
Revolutionary war and the war of 1812. We will enjoy videos, narration, and discussions about the battles prior
to our arrival at our hotel. Dinner is served at the Dobbin House Inn, the oldest building in Gettysburg (1776.)
The Dobbin House Inn has been restored and filled with period antiques. This evening in Gettysburg we visit
Cemetery Ridge where Vermont regiments played a major role in the defeat of Pickett’s Charge
Lodging: Gettysburg, PA
Day 2 – Tuesday
This morning we make the short drive to Frederick, Md., and tour the lovely Monocacy battlefield. There, in
rolling farm country along the Monocacy River, a small army under Lew Wallace, that included the Tenth
Vermont Regiment, fought a much larger Rebel army under Jubal Early. The one day fight probably saved
Washington, D. C. from capture. This is one of America’s best preserved and loveliest battlefields, and
Vermonters played an important role here.
In the afternoon we tour Harper’s Ferry, said by Thomas Jefferson to be the loveliest place in America. Here
John Brown staged his 1859 raid that got the Civil War going. Also here an 11,000 man army, that included
Vermonters, was captured by Stonewall Jackson. The setting, where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meet,
is in the shadow of great cliffs and mountainsides.
Lodging: Frederick, MD
Day 3 - Wednesday
Today, we tour the battlefields of First and Second Bull Run, at Manassas, Virginia. The Visitors Center
Museum is one of the Civil War’s best. First Bull Run was the first big battle of the war, where Thomas
Jackson won his nickname “Stonewall.” The more dramatic, and far larger, battle of Second Manassas, a year
later, saw Robert E. Lee, Jackson, and James Longstreet inflict a surprise defeat on a Union army under John
Pope. The battlefield is much as it was in 1862 and includes mile on mile of roads and trails bringing us to the
famous, and lesser-known, sites. Among them is the haunting and remote “Railway Cut,” where Jackson’s
Confederates made a desperate stand, and the ridge where Vermonters were engaged in their first important
fighting of the Civil War.
Lodging: Frederick, MD
Day 4 – Thursday
We will start our last day with an early morning grand finale Howard Coffin style!. During our journey home,
we’ll have time for discussion and videos.
POB 8585 * Burlington, Vermont 05402
* 802-540-0055 * [email protected]