Spring Campaign 2027
SPRING CAMPAIGN 2027:
Southwest Virginia
For Virginia Tech’s annual Spring Campaign in 2027, we'll be exploring the Civil War riches of our own backyard. Though far from the storied battlegrounds of Manassas and Gettysburg, Southwest Virginia played an important role in the war, providing critical transportation links, manpower, and natural resources like lead, coal, and salt. Lincoln himself referred to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which connected Lynchburg and Bristol via our own Montgomery County, as the “gut of the Confederacy.”
Our tour will begin in Blacksburg with visits to local plantation homes where the stakes of the war over slavery were so palpable. At Smithfield we’ll learn about William Ballard Preston, the delegate who proposed Virginia’s ordinance of secession. At Solitude, the oldest building on Virginia Tech’s campus, we’ll hear the stories of the Fraction brothers, who escaped slavery, volunteered to fight in the Union armies, and later returned home only to be met with gunfire from their former owner.
We’ll tour several area battlefields. In the expert hands of April Martin of the Wilderness Road Regional Museum, we’ll explore Cloyd’s Mountain and New River Bridge, where Confederates unsuccessfully fought to repel Union attacks on the all-important Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Brian McKnight, celebrated author and UVA-Wise professor, will guide us around Saltville, the “salt capital of the Confederacy.” Reflecting the immense value of salt before modern refrigeration, Saltville saw two clashes between Union and Confederate forces, including the infamous “Saltville Massacre” in which Confederate troops killed dozens of African American Union prisoners. We’ll also visit locations in Abingdon and Emory connected to legendary figures Champ Ferguson and John Hunt Morgan.
The rugged mountains of Southwest Virginia will provide a dramatic backdrop for our exploration of lesser known aspects of Civil War history. The Spring Campaign offers a wonderful way to extend your Civil War Weekend experience and experience history where it happened.
Previous spring campaigns:
March 29 - April 1, 2026. Spring Campaign: South Carolina’s Lowcountry. A three-night field trip to South Carolina’s Lowcountry, home to some of the Civil War’s pivotal moments: the start of the fighting at Charleston’s Fort Sumter; the formation of the first Black regiment to fight in the war; the disintegration of slavery in the sea islands; the Battle of Honey Hill and, ultimately, occupation by Sherman’s troops.
March 30- April 1, 2025. Spring Campaign: Gettysburg. A two-night field trip to Gettysburg and Frederick, Maryland, including a tour of Gettysburg with Licensed Battlefield Guide Dave Weaver, a visit to the National Museum of Civil War Medicine led by Dana Shoaf, and a guided tour of the Monocacy Battlefield.
March 24-26, 2024. Spring Campaign: Fredericksburg. A two-night field trip to the historic sites of Fredericksburg, Virginia, including downtown Fredericksburg, the battlefields of the 1864 Overland Campaign, Spotsylvania, the Fredericksburg National Cemetery, Richard Kirkland Memorial, and the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery, led by historian and tour guide John Hennessy.
March 27-29, 2022. Spring Campaign: Antietam. A two-night field trip to Harpers Ferry and Antietam, led by retired National Park Service historian Dennis Frye, exploring the place where John Brown tried to spark a massive slave rebellion, as well as the crucial battle that paved the way for Lincoln’s preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
March 24-26, 2019. Spring Campaign: The Virginia Peninsula. A two-night field trip to the historic sites of the Virginia Peninsula, including Fort Monroe, battlefields of McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, and The Mariners’ Museum, led by expert guide Jonathan White.
March 18-20, 2018. Spring Campaign: The Shenandoah Valley. A two-night field trip to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, including a visit to the historic town of Lexington and a tour of “Stonewall” Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign, led by expert guide Jonathan Noyalas.
March 19-21 2017. Spring Campaign: Petersburg. An optional two-night field trip immediately following Civil War Weekend. We enjoyed a memorable trip to the city where the Civil War entered its final stages, including a guided tour of Petersburg National Battlefield, a behind-the-scenes visit to Pamplin Historical Park, and meals in historic restaurants.