The new (and perhaps most remote) Civil War Trails sign

Jason Saffer of Civil War Trails levels the new sign in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

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As regular readers of this page know, I am a huge fan of the Civil War Trails program. A birdie recently revealed to me a new CWT sign — the first in Virginia Beach, Virginia. You’ll probably need to burn off calories to reach it, because it’s six miles beyond a parking lot, over a dune, past a primitive campground and within eyeshot of the breaking surf.

Per Virginia State Parks, “Visitors who hike or bike to the location will be standing in the footsteps of over 70 [Confederate] prisoners of war who managed to land right there in 1863.”

Park manager Austin Monnett and chief
ranger Rachel Harrington help install
the new sign.

Fellow blogger Phil Gast (The Civil War Picket) dived into the story of the new CWT marker at False Cape State Park.

Per Gast, "Not everyone breaks a sweat to reach the marker." A tram goes fairly close to the site of the landing and informs participants of the Civil War history. 

"The Civil War episode took place in June 1863," Gast recently wrote, "when 97 captured Rebel officers were being taken on the vessel Maple Leaf from Fort Monroe, Va., to Fort Delaware, then to a Northern prison camp. They quickly took control of the transport ship from 12 soldiers carrying unloaded muskets. They did not have enough coal to flee to the Bahamas and after sailing south for about 30 miles some 70 officers decided to land small boats on what is now the state park.

"The soldiers split up and headed toward friendly lines in nearby North Carolina," Gast continued. "Despite heavy Union cavalry pursuit and the challenges of the Great Dismal Swamp, they rendezvoused in Weldon, N.C., before taking a train to Richmond, Va. Local sympathizers gave them a hand during their odyssey."

You can also read more about this episode in Chesapeake Bay magazine.