NEWS

By: Noelle Bye, Staff Writer
Newspaper: Culpeper Star-Exponent
Phone: 540-825-0771 ext. 125
Email: nbye@starexponent.com
Date: December 28, 2003

Virginia Morton to lead History America Mississippi Riverboat Tour
 

When the War Between the States tore the country apart, life as women knew it fell in the cracks. Now the sisters, wives and mothers could add nursing and farming to their daily tasks - and some could throw in spying and fighting. Some 1,000 women became soldiers during the Civil War. Virginia Morton wants to make sure their stories are told. The author of "Marching Through Culpeper" will take her storytelling to the Mississippi River, bringing history to life on the History American Riverboat Tour February 9-15.

As the American Queen floats for seven days and six nights from New Orleans to Vicksburg, Miss., and back, Morton will give lectures on women's lives in the early 1860s. Morton's group - which will likely consist of some 30 guests - will take offshore tours not available to other passengers, including the Vicksburg battlefield, Natchez and several antebellum mansions. 

But the battlefield and war strategy stories are a small fraction of their Civil War journey. "We're going to be looking at the human interest stories, the love stories," Morton said. Her tour will mark the first time History America TOURS, has emphasized women's roles in a tour, Morton said. Morton's first lecture will describe the new challenges the women faced.  The actual voices of the women from the past will help Morton craft her stories, through firsthand accounts that include diaries and letters.

Morton will follow with a lecture on Libbie Custer, focusing on her life and romance with General George Armstrong Custer, a Union soldier, in Culpeper County. "She was just an amazingly intelligent woman," Morton said. "She left wonderful diaries and letters."

For her third lecture, Morton will look to the other side of the battlefield, spotlighting the life and love of a similar heroine.  The women's husbands were enemies, but Libbie and A.P. Hill's wife, Dolly, had the same kind of determination and passion that kept them living on the fronts with their husbands during the war. "We're going to look at their lives, their famous husbands and their romance with their husbands," Morton said. "It's a beautiful love story - both of them are."

The guests will go back in time more literally in a fourth event that includes a Victorian tea in the Ladies Parlor of the ship.  Dyanne Holt of Culpeper will portray Dolly during the tea, telling the story of her husband's death and her efforts to bury him.  "We did it during the Ghost Walk Tour first," Morton said. "And people were just mesmerized by it." In addition to the Ladies Parlor, the American Queen has a Gentlemen's Card Room, Mark Twain gallery and nightly entertainment with jazz music.  

Publicity for Morton's tour has reached Civil War publications across the country. In the 2004 Traveler's Guide for History America TOURS, Morton found her face among some of the leading historians in the country heading up the company's scheduled trips. "I was the only woman pictured," Morton said. "So this is really a big honor." But giving Culpeper County its chance to shine in the national limelight means more to Morton than the fame she garners through her stories.  "I want them to know that Culpeper County saw it all," Morton said.  "Culpeper County was the most marched across, camped upon county in this war. We have more history here than any other county."

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