Offbeat Civil War Tours, Part 2

[Ed Wetschler]

For the first page of this story, click here. 

 

 

Segway Tours of Battlefields

Petersburg and Spotsylvania, plus Richmond, VA

To some people, Segways on these hallowed grounds (90,000 casualties) are a sacrilege; to others they just look goofy. But folks, they are practical. “These battlefields are huge, so most people can't cover them by foot,” says Trent Adams ofSegway of Richmond. “And unlike cars, Segways let you explore the parts of Petersburg National Battlefield Park in the order in which events happened. Besides, on Segways, you can ride into the fort, and you can ride right up to the crater.”

Uh, crater? That's right. Union soldiers created it when they set off gunpowder in a mine. “The explosion,” says Adams, “was kind of bigger than they'd expected.”

Segway of Richmond, whose tours start at $45, is also rolling out (heh heh, a little Segway humor) a new Civil War tour of Richmond, capital of the Confederacy. For Segway tours of nearby Spotsylvania National Battlefield, contact Old Town Segway Tours. 

 

Buckboards and Bikes

Antietam National Battlefield Park, MD

With 23,000 casualties, the Battle of Antietam, near Sharpsburg, was the bloodiest 12 hours of the Civil War. After the battle, hundreds of civilians rode onto the fields in buckboards to pick up the dead. You can visit Antietam in an authentic, hand-made buckboard, too; contact Bonnymeed Stables: 304 876 1307 or [e-mail] ($75).

Visitors are also allowed to ride bicycles on many Civil War battlefields, including this one. Contact Shepherdstown Pedal and Paddle for rentals ($30-$40). You could ride to the battlefield, as in this photo, but we recommend taking one of Pedal and Paddle's shuttles to Antietam.

 

This is Part 2 of a story that first appeared on IndependentTraveler.com. Click here for Part 3.