A 2019 BGES Civil War Field University Program: Civil War and the Gulf Coast

All eyes were on . In March 1862, a great clash of ironclads in Hampton Roads changed the face of warfare forever, and the great Federal Army under George B. McClellan had moved to the Virginia Peninsula in anticipation of a decisive campaign that would end the war. However, more than 1,000 miles away, perhaps the most important operation in the South was forming off the Mississippi Coast.

New Orleans was the most developed city in the new Southern Confederacy. A cosmopolitan and truly international destination with many European consulates, it was a major American port with powerful international banking relationships. Inexplicably, it was very poorly defended and stripped of manpower—in short, it was ripe for the picking. Once taken, a controversial general stirred the blood of the locals and earned the nickname of Beast. After the war, leaders of the defeated Confederacy gravitated to New Orleans, and its president moved to the Gulf Coast to complete his memoirs. This is a great program with superb sites and wonderful stories—a weekend well spent!

Friday, April 5, 2019

6:30 PM. Meet at the Country Inn and Suites Hotel in Slidell to pick up your reading books, meet your fellow travelers, and receive the opening lecture from historian Len Riedel on “Blood in the West, the Soft Underbelly 1861–1862.” We then will head for dinner, which is provided.

Saturday, April 6, 2019

8:30 AM. We are off early today to head for the mouth of the Mississippi River to discuss the battle of New Orleans. We will examine the Head of Passes and walk the area around Fort Jackson before discussing the nighttime battle and passage of the forts. We then will head back to New Orleans, enjoying a late Cajun lunch en route. The afternoon will be devoted to the Confederate Museum on Camp Street. Lunch is included.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

8:30 AM. Let’s get out early this morning to get a good parking place for a walking tour of the French Quarter, where we will speak about Civil War New Orleans and the occupation by the Federal army under the command of Beast Butler. First, however, we will have chicory coffee and beignets at the famous Café du Monde. We will let you go to lunch—perhaps you will select Johnny’s Po Boys, or a muffaletta sandwich at the Napoleon House, or maybe a meal at the Gumbo House. In the afternoon, we will look at key sites in the Garden District and the battery area that defended the city against an attack from the North. Our day will finish at the famous Metairie Cemetery, where Gen. and other Confederate luminaries are buried.

Monday, April 8, 2019

8:30 AM. After the war, the area became a magnet for the defeated Confederates. No name was more important that , who would die in the city and lay in state at what is now the Civil War Museum of New Orleans. His funeral and burial at Metairie Cemetery was the largest in the city’s history. His life had taken a dramatic change, and we are headed to his home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and his presidential library. Beauvoir survived Hurricane Katrina and is a wonderful climax to this great tour. As we return to New Orleans, we will stop at and talk about Forts Pike and Macomb. Book your departure flights after 6 PM—we will have you at the airport by 4:30 PM. Lunch is included.

NOTE: This program was added to accommodate visitors from England who are going on our “And the British Kept a Coming, Andy Jackson, The Creek Indian War, and Battle of New Orleans” program (March 31–April 5) from Nashville. A great combo if your schedule permits.

About the Faculty:

Len Riedel is the Executive Director of the Blue and Gray Education Society. A retired Air Force officer with a Master’s degree in History from Old Dominion University, Riedel has conducted more than a hundred different tours. But this is his home town, and he is looking forward to telling you about the area during the war. He is the editor of National Geographic’s best-selling The Civil War, A Traveler’s Guide (2016).

Hotel Information:

This program will be based at the Country Inn and Suites in Slidell, . The inclusive price is $101.41 per night ($89 plus tax). We have set up a block of rooms in the name of the Blue and Gray Tour. Call 985-326-8888 and ask for the Blue and Gray Tour block.

Transportation:

The servicing airport is New Orleans (MSY). Southwest Airlines serves New Orleans. This makes one-way tickets affordable—in case you want to join us for our Andrew Jackson program March 31–April 5. This major metropolitan area is also served by Amtrak. The airport has a full range of ground transportation options. If you plan to go into New Orleans at night, you may want a rental car.

Recommended Reading:

You will be provided with a reading book and maps upon arrival. The following books are suggested to enhance your readiness for the program. Amazon.com has a program to support non-profits IF YOU SIGN UP to support Blue and Gray Education Society (EIN 54-1720582) at AmazonSmile. When you sign up there rather than the normal Amazon site, one-half of one percent of your purchase price will be provided to BGES as a donation from Amazon. This will apply not only on this purchase but others you may make at other times.

William Cooper: Jefferson Davis, American

Chester Hearn: Admiral David Glasgow Farragut: The Civil War Years

Chester Hearn: The Capture of New Orleans, 1862

Chester Hearn: When the Devil Came Down to Dixie: Benjamin Butler in New Orleans

Michael D. Pierson: Mutiny at Fort Jackson: The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans

Registration Form Civil War New Orleans and the Gulf Coast A 2019 BGES Civil War Field University Program Presented by Len Riedel April 5-8, 2019

Name: ______

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Registration includes two lunches and a dinner, all paid admissions, a reading book with maps, the academic program, support of a professional historian, tour director and transportation by passenger van. We will also provide snacks and bottled water.

______Registration $690

______Current BGES member $625

______Teacher/full time student with identification $575

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Mail to BGES Seminars, PO Box 1176, Chatham, VA 24531, or fax credit card registrations to 434-432-0596 . You may also register on line at www.blueandgrayeducation.org.