My itinerary covered the following ACW battlefields in order of visit:
1. Fredericksburg
2. 1 st and 2 nd Manassas (Bull Run)
3. Wilderness
4. Spotsylvania Court House
5. Harper’s Ferry
6. Antietam (Sharpsburg)
7. Shenandoah Valley
8. Perryville
9. Cumberland Gap
10. Stones River (Murfreesboro)
11. Chickamauga
12. Chattanooga
13. Shiloh
14. Vicksburg
15. Champion Hill (Bakers Creek)
16. Big Black River

I was alone with Allie from Harper’s Ferry onwards. We had a good time despite cool temperatures, some rainy (and snowy) days and the occasional setback like construction. I had a very good “TripTik” prepared by the CAA (same as AAA in the US) in Ottawa prior to my departure so I had a good idea of how far I was travelling and where I was going (besides crazy). I also stopped at state information centres to collect maps of the states that I was entering and other useful information.

The Jeep was loaded with essential supplies (clothes, books, cameras, first aid kit, sleeping bag, water and snacks, Allie’s things, road hazard kit and many other useful items). The vehicle was also taken to the Jeep dealership for a thorough inspection and maintenance work. I also bought a special harness for Allie that connected to the passenger side seatbelt (to prevent her being injured by sudden stops and other violent actions).

One other important detail was to make hotel reservations with a chain that allowed pets and had Internet service via dataports on the telephones in each room. I wanted to stay in touch by e-mail and also write these articles after each battlefield tour.

My tours had to be timed to consider park closures and sunsets. Sometimes, I had to rush the final portion so that I could see things in the fading light. I usually spent more than the suggested amount of time doing these tours because of filming and reading at the many stops. The battles for Chattanooga required a full day because of the distance between Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain.

Of note, my articles are not written with the aim of describing the battles, but rather to give details about my visits and what I found interesting. Readers are recommended to try the many resources that I list as purchases throughout the newsletter. They provide much more historical information than I could squeeze into these pages.