CIVIL WAR SEMINARS & TOURS

ITINERARY

​

GENERAL INFORMATION:
 

· Conference based at Hampton Inn in Vicksburg, MS.

​

Conference Location:

Hampton Inn

3330 Clay Street, Vicksburg, MS 39183

601-636-6100

​

 All participants are responsible for arranging hotel accommodations for the seminar, which is not included in tour price. $139/night double occupancy plus tax.

Pricing includes breakfast for Hampton Inn guests. Special pricing for participants based on room availability.  When making reservations, mention Chambersburg Civil War Tours or use Group Code CWS online at Hilton.com. 

​

· Continental breakfast for Hampton Inn guests each morning. 

​

· Check-In will be in the hotel lobby about 1 hour before the day’s activities begin. You only need to check-in once.

​

· Each participant will receive a packet of tactical maps and a name badge at check-in

​

· Classroom sessions will be held in the Hampton Inn conference room.

​

· Bus tours will leave from the Hampton Inn parking lot at the specified time.

​

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30

 

· Lectures held at Hampton Inn Conference Room

· Lunch included

· Dinner on your own

​

8:30  a.m.—12 p.m.  Morning Lectures

 

Lectures include:

· Welcome & Overview of Civil War Preservation Project by Karen Lowry

 

John C. Pemberton: A Redeemable General? talk by Larry Daniel

• Many Confederate generals in the Western Theater have been the subject of modern books in which the author attempted to redeem their sullied reputation. Could Pemberton's reputation be salvaged, or is it beyond redeeming? Is the Pennsylvania-born general part of a more complicated and nuanced story? We will look at the May 1863 Vicksburg Campaign and explore what Pemberton thought Grant would do, what he was capable of doing, and what ultimately happened.

 

From The Field: My Ordeal at Vicksburg.” General Grant portrayed by Dr. Curt Fields

​

12 - 1 p.m. Lunch provided at Hampton Inn

 

1 - 4:30 p.m.  Afternoon Lectures at Hampton Inn Conference room

 

Ironclads and Timberclads on the Mississippi and their Influence on the Vicksburg Campaign talk by Rick Martin

• The Vicksburg Campaign was not won by the Army alone. Ironclads and timberclads turned the Mississippi River into a decisive battlefield. The Vicksburg Victory was built on control of the Mississippi River.

​​

 

New Developments at Vicksburg by Megan Bankston & Shane Keil

• Learn about the ongoing project to build a new Vicksburg Civil War Visitor Center, a state-owned museum adjacent to the Vicksburg National Military Park, in partnership with the National Park Service and the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park & Campaign.

​

 

Ironclads, Cotton and Corn: The Civil War in the Mississippi Delta talk by Jim Woodrick

• While the Civil War in the Mississippi Delta is often viewed as a sideshow to the larger Union effort to capture fortress Vicksburg, the region was vital to Confederate forces as a means of sustenance and a way to control access to the Mississippi River. Historian Jim Woodrick will detail Grant's expeditions through the twisting bayous and backwaters of the Mississippi Delta and the region's important role in the Vicksburg Campaign.

​

5 - 7 p.m. Dinner on your Own

 

7 p.m. Thunder on the Mississippi: The Vicksburg Campaign Overview talk by Tim Smith

​

​

 
THURSDAY, OCT. 1
 

· Bus leaves from Hampton Inn

· Lunch included

· Return by 5:30 p.m.

· Dinner on your own

 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Grant's Road to Vicksburg: The Battles that Opened Vicksburg Bus Tour Led by Tim Smith 

​

Sites to Visit:

​

• Vicksburg National Military Park Visitor Center

• Chickasaw Bayou Battlefield

• Grant’s Canal

• Grand Gulf

• Port Gibson

• Windsor

• Bethel Church

• Grant’s route of march northward to Auburn, seeing Willow Springs, Rocky Springs, and Cayuga

​

Return to Hotel by 5:30 p.m.

 

Dinner on your own.

 

 

 

 FRIDAY, OCT. 2

 

· Bus leaves from Hampton Inn

· Lunch included

· Return by 5:30 p.m.

· Dinner on your own

 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. From Raymond to the Big Black: The Turning Battles of 1863 Bus Tours Tour Led by Tim Smith 

​

Sites to visit:

• Grant’s march to Dillon’s Plantation and Raymond

• Raymond battlefield

• Jackson battlefield

• Old Capitol

• Champion Hill battlefield

• Big Black River battlefield

 

Return to hotel by 5:30 p.m.

 

Dinner on your own

 

​​

 

SATURDAY, OCT. 3

 

· Bus leaves from Hampton Inn

· Lunch included

· Return by 5:30 p.m.

· Dinner on your own

 

8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Lines of Fire: The Stockade Redan, 3rd Louisiana Redan and Railroad Redoubts bus tour led by Tim Smith

​

 

Sites to visit:

• Vicksburg National Military Park Stockade Redan assaults and approaches

• Old Courthouse Museum

• 3rd Louisiana Redan and Great Redoubt assaults and approaches, including Illinois Monument and Shirley House

• Railroad Redoubt area assaults and approaches

• Southern siege lines no longer in the park and Mississippi River batteries

 

Return to hotel by 5:30 p.m. Dinner on your own.

​

​

SUNDAY, OCT. 4

​

· Bus leaves from Hampton Inn

· Lunch on your own

· Return by 12:30 p.m. & Conference Completion

 

8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Gunboats and Civilians: War on the Mississippi

 

Sites to visit:

• McRaven House - experience wartime Vicksburg through one of its most historic and story-filled homes

• USS Cairo Museum - explore a restored Civil War ironclad and its remarkable river-war artifacts. The USS Cairo’s re-discovery and recovery was a pivotal moment in Ed Bearss’ legacy

• Brief Background of USS Cairo related to the career of Ed Bearss: In the 1950s, while serving as a historian at Vicksburg National Military Park, Bearss conducted extensive research that helped pinpoint the wreck location of the USS Cairo, which had been sunk by a Confederate torpedo on the Yazoo River in 1862. His work led to the successful location of the wreck in 1956. Bearss was also deeply involved in the efforts to raise the gunboat in the 1960s. The recovery of the USS Cairo became one of the most significant naval archaeological achievements of its time, and Bearss’ scholarship helped interpret the vessel’s historical importance for the public.

 

Return to hotel by 12:30 p.m. & Conference Completion

​​

​

​

​

Seminar registration fee schedule:

​

____$935 Members Conference Package (Entire program)

____$975 Non-Members Conference Package (Entire program)

____$250 Wednesday Only

____$250 Thursday Only

____$250 Friday Only

____$250 Saturday Only

 ____$200 Sunday Only

​

*Early Bird Pricing - Save $30 when you register for the Members or Non-Members Conference Package by July 15, 2026. Use code VICKSBURG30 for Members, code VICKSBURG301 for Non-Members when registering online.

​

·