Woodbury Historical Tours

06/11/2025

On this day in 1610, Jamestown was abandoned.

After arriving to the devastation wrought by the winter siege of James Fort by the Powhatan, Sir Thomas Gates (who spent his winter wrecked on Bermuda) declared martial law and tried to re-establish control over the failing colony. But with no supplies or food, Gates buried the colony’s cannons and decided they were done. The survivors of the Starving Time and the wreck of the Sea Venture loaded back up on their ships and began the long trip back to England.

But a day later, near modern-day Newport News, they met an advance boat with Captain Brewster, captain of Lord De La Warr's personal guard, coming to tell the colonists the new governor was arriving imminently. Brewster forced Gates to turn back, which must’ve been heartbreaking for the survivors who believed they were on their way home. As Governor, Lord De La Warr would continue running the colony under martial law, oversee a clean-up of the fort that we find archaeologically, and increase threats and violence against the surrounding Powhatan nations.

Visit Historic Jamestowne on Saturday, June 14 to learn more about this pivotal moment and hear from Captain Brewster. Plan your visit or explore more history at historicjamestowne.org

06/08/2025

OTD in 1862, during the Great Slaveholder's Rebellion, Confederates under Richard Ewell were victorious in a clash with U.S. forces led by "The Pathfinder," John C. Fremont. The Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia, was part of Stonewall Jackson's celebrated 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

BATTLE MAP | American Battlefield Trust’s map of the Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia on June 8, 1862

06/06/2025

"Omaha Beach," Normandy, was one of the landing sites assigned to U.S. forces on D-Day (June 6, 1944). Casualties in that particular assault (killed, wounded, missing) numbered around 2,400. Photo: Google Earth

06/01/2025

OTD in 1864: The Battle of Cold Harbor
Fact #7: Cold Harbor was neither cold nor accessible by boat—the name is a confluence of Old High German and local branding.

The American Battlefield Trust's webpage presenting 10 important facts about the Civil War battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia.

06/01/2025

OTD in 1864: The Battle of Cold Harbor
"Fact #7: Cold Harbor was neither cold nor accessible by boat—the name is a confluence of Old High German and local branding."

The American Battlefield Trust's webpage presenting 10 important facts about the Civil War battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia.

05/29/2025

Here is another of the presentations at the Central Coast Conference ("Seldom Heard History of the Civil War Era") earlier this month in Monterey, CA. Victoria Bynum's fascinating monograph on the subject came out in 2001 (which inspired the 2016 movie of the same name).

Vikki tried to make it to Monterey from Texas, but utter chaos in the airline industry thwarted our best laid plans. I'm grateful that she was still willing to deliver her presentations electronically to our live theater audience.

After recounting the facts of Jones County farmers’ insurrection against the Confederacy, this paper analyzes how and why New South political leaders and wri...

05/28/2025

For more than a decade, I cajoled, harassed or begged anyone who knew a member of Congress to help me get to the top of the Capitol dome so I could reproduce this May 1865 picture of the Grand Review. When a kind American Battlefield Trust member helped me to do just that in 2010, I quickly found that the Civil War photographer was not atop the dome but rather at its base. 😱 it was still unforgettable though. If you are not afraid of heights and can climb a lot of steps and get the chance, I suggest you take it! Now, I need to access the base of the dome someday…

05/27/2025

John A. Reed

Grave Number 1 in section A of Custer National Cemetery occupies a corner of the burial ground with a sweeping view of the Little Bighorn battlefield. Reed had been there with Custer's troops in 1876, but he outlived Custer by 21 years.

Reed died in 1897 while stationed at Fort Sisseton, South Dakota, and was initially buried there. After Sisseton was closed down, Reed's remains were reinterred above the Little Bighorn River.

05/21/2025

War Logs

The intensity of the fighting at Chickamauga is hard to imagine. The sheer amount of destruction was overwhelming and one testament to that destruction are “war logs”. One account from Cincinnati noted two on display, “One…a mere sapling was lopped off four times by cannon shot...the other some nine inches in thickness, was literally filled with bullets as well as shattered by shell. Under that storm of fire, it was a wonder that anyone lived to tell the tale.”

(Picture: War Logs on display at Chickamauga Visitor Center, Source: NPS)

05/18/2025

You are invited to go once more on the trail of the Nez Perce (with a side trip to the Little Bighorn). In August of 2026, Western historian Neil Mangum will guide us along the Nez Perce Trail, and relate the epic story of the Nee-me-Poo's ("the people's") 1877 flight to Canada.

This small group expedition will be my FINAL tour with Neil, who has earned some time off after many years and many miles exploring the endlessly fascinating story of the Wild West. For more info: https://whtours.org/flight-of-the-nez-perceacute--battle-of-the-little-bighorn.html

05/16/2025

Chief Looking Glass of the Nez Perce was killed by U.S. Cavalry in the first week of October, 1877, at the Battle of Bear Paw. He was believed to be 44 or 45 years old. Bear Paw was the last action of the 3-month, 1,400-mile Flight of the Nez Perce, and the battleground is now a part of the Nez Perce National Historical Park.

WHT will be conducting a small-group tour of the Flight of the Nez Perce in August 2026 — our final tour with historian Neil Mangum, who will finally be hanging up his tour guide hat (which in Neil's case, is usually a staff ballcap from the Little Bighorn, where he worked for so many years). More info: https://whtours.org/flight-of-the-nez-perceacute--battle-of-the-little-bighorn.html

05/10/2025

OTD in 1862
Battle of Plum Run Bend
Historical Marker Database
www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=36320
(photo by Craig Swain)