BGES 2025-2026 Civil War Program Schedule
Every battlefield has stories to tell, and Blue & Gray brings those stories to life through expertly guided Civil War tours led by some of the nation’s most respected historians. Whether your interest lies in a specific campaign, a broader theater, or simply deepening your understanding of the war, our lineup of tours offers something for everyone.
What sets Blue & Gray apart is access. Thanks to the reputation and relationships of our tour leaders, many of our itineraries include visits to sites rarely open to the public. These exclusive opportunities provide an unparalleled perspective and a richer understanding of the events and people that shaped each battle. Scroll through our upcoming tours and you’ll find a thoughtful, balanced selection spanning all major theaters of the conflict—each designed to illuminate history and tell the stories in a way few others can.
NEW 2026! FIELD UNIVERSITY PROGRAM
BGES’S 2025 FIELD UNIVERSITY PROGRAM
The Fight for Kentucky: Part 1 From Camp Wildcat to Mill Springs and the Cumberland Gap, the Winter 1861-62 Kentucky Campaign, with Lee White, from Richmond, KY | October 2-5, 2025
After the Confederate firing upon and capture of Fort Sumter on April 15, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called on the remaining Union states to provide volunteers to suppress the insurrection in the seven seceded states. Join historian Lee White as he leads you across the key sites in this pivotal early campaign in the Bluegrass State. With fresh analysis and in-depth narrative, Lee brings new perspective to Kentucky’s contested winter of 1861–82.
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The Chancellorsville Campaign:, with Greg Mertz, October 29 – November 2, 2025; from Fredericksburg, VA
Widely considered Gen. Robert E. Lee’s greatest military victory, the Battle of Chancellorsville is also one of the Civil War’s most complex and paradoxical engagements. Facing an enemy twice his size, Lee—alongside his trusted subordinate, Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson—executed a bold and risky flanking maneuver that remains a case study in military strategy. The result was a decisive Confederate victory over the numerically superior Union Army of the Potomac, led by the newly appointed and overly confident Maj. Gen. Josephb Hooker. But the victory came at a steep cost: the mortal wounding of Jackson by friendly fire..
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Longstreet’s East Tennessee Campaign: Knoxville, with Colonel Ed Lowe, from Knoxville-Farragut, TN | November 7-9, 2025
Following the rousing victory at Chickamauga, Georgia, in September 1863, which forced the defeated Federal Army of the Cumberland to fall back into Chattanooga and led to the dismissal of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, Gen. Braxton Bragg and his Southern troops formed a ring along the high ground surrounding the “Scenic City,” as Chattanooga has been called. From the Tennessee River east of the city, along Missionary Ridge, and up to the towering heights of Lookout Mountain, Bragg’s men effectively bottled up the beleaguered blue-clad soldiers who were now under the direction of Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas.
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Shiloh and Corinth: The Spring 1862 Campaign: with Dr. Timothy B. Smith, November 12-15, 2025; from Corinth, MS
Following the stunning Union victories at Forts Henry and Donelson in spring 1862 and the subsequent fall of Nashville, the Confederate heartland lay exposed. Forced to retreat across Tennessee, Southern forces regrouped in north Mississippi and Alabama, converging at the strategic rail junction of Corinth. There, Confederate Gen. Albert S. Johnston prepared a bold move to crush the aggressive United States’ Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s army, which had paused at Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River near a modest Methodist church named Shiloh.
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The Stones River Campaign, with Dan Masters, November 20–23, 2025; from Smyrna, TN
In the busy month of December 1862, as the Union suffered resounding defeats at
Fredericksburg, Virginia, and along the steep banks of Vicksburg, Mississippi—including the failed Chickasaw Bayou expedition—newspapers in both the North and South carried headlines that alternately sank and lifted morale. Yet amid these high-profile battles, a less publicized but arguably more significant campaign was unfolding in the heart of the conflict: middle Tennessee.
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BGES’S 2026 FIELD UNIVERSITY PROGRAM
The Wilmington Campaign: “Last Rays of Departing Hope” with Dr. Chris Fonvielle, February 11–15, 2026; from Wilmington, NC
In late 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee warned North Carolina authorities: “If Wilmington falls, I cannot maintain my army.” The message was abundantly clear. The survival of the Army of Northern Virginia, and thus the Confederacy, depended upon Wilmington’s survival as the last major seaport open to foreign trade.
For more than three years, Confederate blockade runners had smuggled vital supplies, weapons, equipment, and food through the Union naval cordon off the Cape Fear coast and into Wilmington’s docks. From there, war material moved by rail to the front while civilian goods bolstered the home front.
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Forrest and the Streight Raid: with Norman Dasinger, February 20-22, 2026; from Gadsden, AL
In April 1863, while Union operations in the Western Theater lagged and Confederate raids threatened Federal supply lines, Union Gen. William S. Rosecrans ordered Col. Abel Streight to lead a fast-moving raid into northern Alabama and Georgia to cut the Western & Atlantic Railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta.
Streight’s column would move east from northeast Mississippi while Brig. Gen. Grenville Dodge struck Tuscumbia, Alabama, as a diversion. More than 2,000 mounted Union troopers—many on mules, which Streight believed were better suited to Appalachian terrain—pushed across northern Alabama toward Georgia.
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The Atlanta Campaign, Part 2 – New Hope to Kennesaw Mountain with David (Dave) A. Powell, April 15-19, 2026; from Kennesaw, GA
William T. Sherman called Georgia’s Etowah River his “Rubicon”—a decisive line whose crossing marked his intent to take the war to Gen. Joseph Johnston’s Army of Tennessee and press on to Atlanta.
Since the Federal army’s main supply line, the Western & Atlantic Railroad, ran through the formidable Allatoona Pass, Sherman chose not to assault that fortress directly. Instead, he temporarily cut loose from the railroad and marched overland through the rough country south of the Etowah toward Dallas and, ultimately, Marietta.
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Blue and Gray Education Society (“BGES”) Return Policy for Cancelations
BGES is a non-profit, educational organization. All registrations are open-ended and may be refunded if circumstances require the customer to cancel. Our normal policy is to give a 100% refund of the registration fee for cancellations made before the event, except for any non-refundable vendor costs that are incurred, if any. All refunds are determined and approved by the Executive Director of the BGES. In the event of a tour cancellation by BGES, BGES is not responsible for associated travel costs incurred by a tour member, including but not limited to hotel lodging, airfare, or other transportation costs.