from Chris
Stevenson Ridge recently played host to visitors from the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable. About 30 “Civil Warriors” made the trip, which focused on the 1864 Overland Campaign. Historian Kris White—my frequent collaborator and Emerging Civil War co-founder—spent Friday and Saturday showing the group around the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House battlefields.
Saturday morning, specifically, the group looked at the Spotsy battlefield before enjoying a BBQ lunch provided by our friends at Country Lane Catering at the battlefield’s picnic area. I met them there and chatted with them as we bussed over to Stevenson Ridge. There, we spent about an hour and a half looking at some of Stevenson Ridge’s earthworks and talking about Spotsylvania’s eastern front, which often gets overlooked in narratives about the battle.
With a wedding at 4:00, we had to hustle through so that we didn’t tromp through the ceremony site! Afterloading back onto the bus, the group returned to the national park and the site of the Bloody Angle—the battlefield’s most famous site—for a closer look and a chance to contemplate the larger the story.
It was a great day to be out on the field, and of course, it’s always such a treat to share SR’s story with visitors. If your group is ever interested in a tour of our Civil War earthworks, feel free to contact me at cmack@stevensonridge.com.