One-tank road trip: Shenandoah Valley battlefields
Pennsylvania monument on the eastern side of the New Market battlefield, just off of U.S. Route 11 (the Valley Pike)
Debi and I spent Saturday afternoon at the Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia. These are definitely the most spectacular caves I have ever toured! Very impressive indeed! They were discovered in the decade after the Civil War and were exploited to help draw tourists' dollars to the war-torn Luray Valley.
We drove back to our hotel in Winchester on U.S. Route 11, pausing at a few places to take in the Civil War scenery and various wayside markers. Among our early stops was the Battlefield of New Market, where I briefly took a few photos of a section of the battlefield I had not been to before. The New Market battlefield is well preserved, and is about three hours from York. There, the VMI cadets gained fame for their charge on Sigel's Yankees.
We paused briefly at several other fields and historical sites en route to Front Royal before swinging back to Winchester - among them Fishers Hill, Toms Brook, Strasburg, and others.
Jubal Early suffered one of his many defeats in the Valley at the 1864 Battle of Fisher's Hill. Much of the old battlefield is still in decent shape.
Another one of the Fisher's Hill battlefield markers.
Tomorrow I will post photos of several other battlefields we visited on Sunday before heading back to York.
