From the French and Indian War to the Civil War, countless soldiers have fought and sacrificed on American soil to make our country and our world what it is today. Many of America's Byways travel through landscapes once wracked with war. On your byway journeys, stop and reflect at some of the many battlefields where war once raged and our fellow countrymen died. At these sites history becomes more than just dry facts and faded photos in a history book. Watch or participate in a battle reenactment, or take a guided tour among monuments, forts, cemeteries, and museums at crucial historic sites. Imagine the heroism and self-sacrifice of the leaders, the men they led, and the families who supported them amidst the horrors that once tore apart these now peaceful landscapes.
New York's Lakes to Locks Passage passes forts and battlefields from three of our nation’s earliest wars: the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. Visit Fort Ticonderoga in the Lake Champlain Narrows, where 4,000 French defenders repelled a force of 16,000 British infantry in 1758 during the French and Indian War. Travel south along the byway to Saratoga National Historical Park and stroll across the four-mile square battlefield. Witness reenactments of the Battle of Saratoga, where colonists turned the tides against the British during the Revolutionary War. As you travel the byway, picture Lake Champlain's tranquil waters hazy with smoke and noise as the outnumbered American fleet routed the British to end the War of 1812.
Visit Colonial National Historic Park on the Colonial Parkway in Virginia and see firsthand the monuments, relics, and ruins testifying of the birth of an independent nation. Here an epic two-part battle ensured the colonists' right to self-government. Admire statues and monuments as you learn about the Battle of the Capes at the Cape Henry Memorial. In 1781 Admiral Comte deGrasse led a fleet of French ships to engage the British at Cape Henry, successfully cutting off Charles Cornwallis' escape route. Relive George Washington's subsequent defeat of Cornwallis in Yorktown while embarking on a ranger-guided tour of the siege line and Yorktown's Main Street, or participate in an artillery demonstration.
On Lower Mississippi Great River Road visit Vicksburg and take a tour with a Licensed National Military Park Guide. On this two-hour trek you'll visit battlefields and important sites from Ulysses S. Grant's attack on the city at the end of the Civil War in 1863. Try to imagine the bleak final days of the two-month siege, as disease and starvation during the muggy Mississippi summer ravaged the Confederate Army's bodies and constant artillery shelling eroded their wills. In Vicksburg National Military Park learn about Civil War sea battles in the U.S.S. Cairo Gunboat and Museum. Raised from its resting place in the Yazoo River, the ironclad ship now houses weapons and artifacts left behind by its crew.
Not all military engagements in the United States consisted of brilliant generals and well-matched armies facing off across green battlefields. On the Native American Scenic Byway in South Dakota, spend a moment in silence on a horseback ride to hallowed sites in memory of the Sioux War. One such site is Wounded Knee, where an estimated 300 Sioux men, women and children were killed after shots rang out during the American Army's attempt to disarm the Lakota tribe. Pioneer Historic Byway in Southern Idaho tells a similar story at the Bear River Massacre National Historic Site. Stand near the memorial and read about how growing resentment due to clashes, kidnappings, and revenge killings led to a U.S. Army attack on a Shoshone village, killing over 200, 90 of whom were women and children.
Major civilizations typically have violent pasts, and the United States is no exception. For better or worse, these conflicts have drastically altered the path of American history. As you travel America's Byways, stand with pride where heroes were made and freedoms were won, mourn the tragedy of lost life and broken cultures, and absorb the lessons each battle has to teach.
