lee's retreat

As a history buff, I was really excited about following Lee's Retreat. What a novel idea to provide driving directions to locations where battles and skirmishes took place and then have radio broadcasts at those locations describing the events leading up to the battle. To my great disappointment, most of the radio broadcasts didn't work. If you take this trip, first download the script of these broadcasts so that you can at least read what happened. Also, the map of Lee's retreat does not provide enough detail and these rural roads are not well marked so the whole trip for the tourist can be difficult. Be sure to download detailed maps of the area if you can find them. In short, this attraction has great intent and would provide the Civil War buff with an interesting day of exploring the back country of Virginia, but they really need to get their equipment working and better mark the route. Perhaps they need to provide GPS coordinates for each battle site.

Enjoyed the drive and seeing the distance covered by these amazing men in the Confederate army. Drive gets a little long before you reach Appomattox, but good scenery and interesting history. Some of the radio broadcasts at the individual sites were not working. Fortunately, I had downloaded the texts of the broadcasts, so got the value from the stops.

Great drive into history. Felt Petersburg did not value its place in history and failed to commemorate 150th anniversary of Siege of Petersburg. Was this racially motivated?. The other sites on the way to Appomattox seemed more aware of the significance. Looking forward to returning to America and Lee's Retreat next year/

Lees retreat covers the roadways, scenic stops and attractions from Petersburg and Richmond heading West to a dozen or more key stops. Its well marked and several locations have exhibits and other sights to visit. The parks associated with the retreat are a testament to the pride the local government and people of Virginia have in their heritage. Its been a blessing to be posted here and anyone who has not done the drive and visited the hallowed ground will regret that oversight. Its simple, enjoyable and makes for several different weekend excursions. Do it! Happy travels.

Traveling, even if mostly by car, in the footsteps of Lee's retreat and the end of the Civil War is fascinating--not to mention, the countryside in that area is beautiful.

I recently attempted to drive the Lee's Retreat route in reverse from Appomatox. The only guide I had was a standard road atlas and a route I traced from the Lee's Retreat website. The route is well marked with signs and the recorded information you get over your car radio helps you imagine what it must have been like. My only word of caution is to definitely leave enough time in your day to make the drive. On paper the distances don't seem that far apart, but some can be many miles (and seem even longer) especially when driving the rural roads of the Virginia countryside.

One of the most interesting projects that the people who run Virginia Tourism came up with in recent years is Lee's Retreat. Before one of our trips to visit Civil War sites in Virginia, we read a story about the new initiative. The idea was to follow the entire route of the Army of Northern Virginia after the fall of Petersburg, from Sutherland Station northwest of town all the way to Appomattox, where General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army. The route goes through rural Virginia, through small towns like Amelia Courthouse and Jetersville and Farmville, to the battlefield at Sailor's Creek where Lee lost a quarter of his army and finally to Appomattox. On our last trip, an audio tape was available, providing a much better feel for the trip and a lot of background information. For Civil War buffs, it is a must trip. And it is a very enjoyable addition to your travel itinerary, an education into a little known aspect of the war. You can obtain a tape and other information on Lee's Retreat at the Old town visitor's center in Petersburg. It takes a couple of hours to make the trip but it's worth the time.