Civil War Trails Chesapeake VA

One of the best ways to understand history is to explore the places where certain events happened. Civil War trails in Virginia offer a unique way for your family to learn about their history just by driving. Your Chesapeake Mazda dealer, Cavalier Mazda, is in the heart of a variety of historic trails at 1552 S. Military Highway in Chesapeake and will help families fascinated by history get the right car. Several sites preserving Civil War history are along the trails, but others are also available.

Key Trails

You will need a car to explore the Peninsula Campaign Trail. This trail traces the path of one of the most significant parts of the Civil War. The trail starts near Fort Monroe in Hampton, which has been a key defensive position to Virginia and America for centuries. The fort is between the York and James Rivers, which forms a narrow strip of land known as the Middle Peninsula. This is where the United States army landed in 1862 and developed its strategy to take Richmond, which was the Capital of the Confederacy. The idea was to march the 100 miles to Richmond and quickly end the war.

Fort Monroe was always manned by the Union army, even though Virginia had seceded. Other forts in Norfolk were taken over by the Confederates including the Gosport Naval Yard. This is where the USS Merrimack was converted to the CSS Virginia, the first ironclad warship for the Confederate army. A marker notes the site and is a short drive from Cavalier Mazda, at 1552 S. Military Highway. There is an overlook in Newport News for you to see where the first naval battle between ironclads took place. Interpretive materials are on the site for your family to check out. It is a short drive from the Peninsula Campaign trail, but worth the time.

Advancing To Richmond

Driving your new car will keep the family comfortable as the trail continues past other historic sites. It follows route 60 nearly to Yorktown, before the trail heads to Williamsburg. On the way are preserved historical sites featuring Confederate earthworks that were used as fortifications against the advancing Union Army. You can see them at Young's Mill and Lee's Mill historic park. Eventually the Union Army was stopped and the Confederate Army started moving north towards Washington D.C. The Union troops withdrew to sail up the Potomac river and defend Northern Virginia and the United States Capital.

Staying In Hampton

You can also find a variety of sites in the City of Hampton related to the Civil War. Confederate troops were in control of the city in 1861 and when the Union Army approached, the city was burned to avoid its capture. The only structure remaining was St. Johns Church. It was already 130 years old when the city burned and was rebuilt after the war. Visitors still find this a popular site. There is a marker that shows it shares a trail with Fort Monroe and leads to the Emancipation Oak.

Historical Civil Rights Sites

This is another stop on the driving trail in Hampton that has significant cultural meaning. The tree is at the entrance to Hampton University and is where the Emancipation Proclamation was read. The significance of this event is that the area was a key destination for escaped slaves. The port in Hampton was an important stop on the Underground Railroad and slaves that escaped to Fort Monroe were allowed to stay in safety in the burned out city. Markers on the Hampton driving trail note the location of Slabtown, where former slaves built make shift shelters.