Escaped Rebel officers came ashore at this remote Virginia beach. A new marker tells the story -- but you need to earn the view by a long walk in state park

Jason Saffer adjusts Va. marker (Civil War Trails) and Florida wreckage of Maple Leaf (at left, Library of Congress)

Most of Civil War Trails’ 1,530 markers are just a short walk from a parking lot. But there are many you have to work a little harder to reach.

For example, you must ride a boat to see one on St. Clement’s Island in the Potomac River or take a rigorous hike along the Appalachian Trail to soak in others.

Now the Williamsburg, Va.-based nonprofit has erected a marker in likely its most remote location, says executive director Drew Gruber.

Virginia State Parks announced last week the addition of the new panel at False Cape State Park below Virginia Beach. To get there, pedestrians or bicyclists must venture six miles beyond a parking lot, over a dune, past a primitive campground and head for the Atlantic Ocean surf.

Visitors will learn about how Confederate officers overcame unarmed guards on the Maple Leaf transport ship in 1863, escaped and eventually made their way to friendly lines.

“People have already been making the trek,” Gruber told the Picket. “Besides hiking to the site where these POWs landed you can also take a tram tour ...”

Star shows location of marker and trail map shows proximity to camping area, ocean (Civil War Trails, Va. State Parks)

The escape from the Maple Leaf is labeled as a point of interest on the park’s trail map.

“Now having a physical marker at the location enables us to preserve the Civil War history of False Cape and lets park guests explore learn, and embrace the lessons of courage and unity from this daring account,” said Rachel Harrington, chief of visitor experience at the park, in the news release.

Not everyone breaks a sweat to reach the marker. Harrington told the Picket a tram the park operates features a four-hour guided tour. The open-air Blue Goose 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, 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, said Harrington. (About 27 captives stayed on board)

The soldiers split up and headed toward friendly lines in nearby North Carolina. 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.

“After a 12-day journey, the officers arrived in the Confederate capital, where they told tales of their bold feat,” the marker reads. “After resting and receiving back pay, they returned to their units.”

The Maple Leaf returned to Federal service but ran into more bad luck in April 1864 when it struck a torpedo in the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, Fla.

“The explosion tore the bow of the ship apart, ripping through the deck and killing four soldiers," according to the National Park Service. “The vessel sank quickly, but apart from those lost in the explosion there were no other fatalities.”

The shipwreck was not salvaged, but  thousands of artifacts were recovered in the 1980s and 1990s. Many are on exhibit at the Mandarin Museum nearby.

Civil War Trails promotes tourism, working with local governments, parks and visitor bureaus. It has another sign about the Maple Leaf below Currituck, N.C.

Virginia Beach tourism leaders hope the Maple Leaf marker and other attractions will help draw tourists to the Sandbridge area near the North Carolina border during the offseason.

False Cape State Park features about six miles of beaches. (At right, park manager Austin Monnett and chief ranger Rachel Harrington.) It offers guided kayak trips, primitive camping, interpretive programs, hiking and biking trails

Public vehicular access at the state park is prohibited. Visitors should park at Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge's parking lot at 4005 Sandpiper Road, Virginia Beach, to begin their hike or ride and to reach the visitor center. The cost to park is $5. Tram tours cost $8 and require a reservation. They operate year round, but run more frequently from April through October. Click here for more information.

West Va. releases regional videos

The state Division of Tourism is marking the 150th anniversary of the war by unveiling a series of nine heritage videos. The roughly six-minute video for the Mid-Ohio Valley, for example, talks about battles in Cairo, Burning Springs, Grantsville, Spencer, Ripley, Buffington Island and Belleville Island. • Article

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With 2011 marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's beginning, tourists and history buffs are expected to travel to famous battle sites, such as Gettysburg and Bull Run, in record numbers. Missouri would like some of that attention — only Virginia and Tennessee contain more Civil War sites. • Article

Vrrrooom! Arkansas trail for motorcyclists

As part of the state's observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Arkansas tourism office has generated a heritage trail and patch for motorcyclists. • Article

Promoting Civil War and wineries

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Civil War trips for the whole family

Parents take note – there’s a trick to visiting Civil War battlefields with kids. This isn’t Disney. You have to provide much of the interest and entertainment value. With the exception of Gettysburg, most of the battlefields are long on statues and artifacts, and short on spoon-fed entertainment. With a little work, you can still make it a memorable family trip. • Article

Lantern tour at Stones River this weekend

Stones River National Battlefield in middle Tennessee is offering a "Hallowed Ground" lantern tour of the cemetery on June 5.

Times for the tours ae 6:45-7:45 pm, 7-8 pm, 7:30-8:30 pm, 7:15 to 8:15. Groups leave from the Visitor Center.

The program "allows visitors to appreciate the cost of war through the stories of soldiers, and their loved ones, who are buried in Stones River National Cemetery. A ranger will lead the group on a lantern lit walk through the cemetery and stop at several gravesites where volunteers portraying soldiers and civilians will share stories taken from letters and diaries of the period."

The program last about an hour. Videotaping, flash photography, and flashlights are not permitted.

Reservations are required. Call (615) 893-9501.

Georgia working on 150th anniversary Web site

A budget shortfall has Georgia late out of the gate in marking the Civil War’s 150th anniversary.

The state’s Department of Economic Development hopes to launch a sesquicentennial Web site in October or early November. Some 16 states already have sites that promote such events and places of interest.

Working with the Georgia Civil War Commission (GCWC), the department also is updating and expanding the book “Crossroads of Conflict,” a book guide to more than 350 sites across Georgia. The revision also should be out in the fall.

Both GCWC Chairman John Culpepper and Barry Brown, heritage tourism specialist with the economic development department, cite the lack of designated state funds to mark the anniversary.

Some $500,000 initially meant to promote events was cut from the state budget. Instead, Brown says, the department is using discretionary money and support from the Georgia Humanities Council to build the Web site and promote events.

Across the country, local governments and tourism leaders hope to bring in money from Civil War re-enactments and heritage tourism. But trying to raise money for marketing campaigns during a recession and major state budget shortfalls has proven difficult.

The GCWC, for example, currently has no funding for next year. It was able to provide less than $50,000 to the state for the Web site and “Crossroads” update.

“We’re in the early stages of developing the Web site,” says Brown. “It is meant to build heritage tourism.”

Georgia’s sesquicentennial Web site will mirror the state’s approach to tourism, breaking it into nine regions. Brown expects the site will include a guide to sites, 150th events, the war day-by-day and soldier diaries. A Civil War timeline also will be posted.

Many cities, including Columbus and Stone Mountain, will sponsor events in 2011, early in the sesquicentennial. Others, including Chickamauga, will handle events in 2013 and 2014.

“The state has no plans to mark the sesquicentennial at this time,” Brown says.

Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails, a non-profit group, has been the state’s leading source for Civil War driving tours and interpretive signs.

Its main mission is education, economic development (tourism) and preservation, says executive director Steven Longcrier. His organization gets little state money, depending more on cities, counties and the U.S. Department of Transportation for interpretive sign grants.

“Our Web site will greatly expand as more of the elements of our trails are in place,” says Longcrier.

“Although Georgia Civil War Heritage Trails is not a heritage tourism program that begins or ends with the Civil War sesquicentennial, the increased public awareness brought about by this significant anniversary is certainly benefitting our efforts, too,” Longcrier says.

CWHT is working to have three of six heritage trails in place by the war’s sesquicentennial: The Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea and Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ unsuccessful effort to avoid capture by the troops in blue. The trails are meant to be driven and are supplemented by interpretive markers.

The Georgia Civil War Commission’s Web site is largely dormant.

Culpepper, who also serves as city manager in Chickamauga, recently started the Tri-State Civil War Association to combine resources and promote related sites and events in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The Battle of Chickamauga re-enactment in 2013 will be the largest in the Deep South.

The Tri-State Web site is selling sponsorships and the group will produce 100,000 rack cards.

So far, the association has brought in $18,000 from member cities and counties in northwest Georgia, southern Tennessee and eastern Alabama, Culpepper says. "By pooling our resources together, we can get the job done," Culpepper told the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Like Brown, he stresses the importance of the Civil War in Georgia. The Confederate loss of Atlanta assured the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln.

“We are promoting the war ended in Georgia,” says Culpepper.

150th a 'minefield throughout the South'

As Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell discovered when he proclaimed April as Confederate History Month without mentioning slavery (an omission he corrected after a volley of protests), pitching Dixie's past during the run-up to next year's 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War could be challenging. • Article