The Filson Civil War Field Institute is a three day field trip and lecture.

The purpose of the Institute is to explore the complex history of the Civil War era in Kentucky, the Ohio Valley region and the Upper South through a series of field trips and lectures that allow participants to follow the footsteps of the armies and stand on the grounds where they fought. These tours familiarize the public with the campaigns and battles of the Western Theater of the Civil War. The primary focus of the Institute is to discuss the strategic importance of these battles in relation to Kentucky and the personalities from Kentucky who fought on both sides.

June 2  -  4,  2011  Cumberland Gap, The Confederacy's corridor to the north  

This Spring The Filson Civil War Field Institute will focus on the Cumberland Gap’s pivotal role in the war and how the area’s significance lay in its routes north and south, the topography and geography, and the divided nature of its citizenry.

Some of the sites we will visit

The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum  Harrogate, TN

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

Camp Wildcat    London, KY

Richmond, KY Battlefield

White Hall, home to Cassius Marcellus Clay

Camp Nelson   Nicholasville, KY

visit our website for more details

http://www.filsonhistorical.org/programs-and-publications/filson-civil-war-field-institute.aspx

Tour Guide and Keynote Speaker

Dr. Brian McKnight, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, is the author of Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia (Kentucky, 2006) which won the James I. Robertson Literary Prize in 2006.  His newest book is Confederate Outlaw:  Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia (LSU, 2011). 

This past Spring, McKnight was the featured Civil War historian on the Ashley Judd episode of NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?”.  He was a panelist at the University of Louisville’s "Pathways to Freedom: Kentucky and the Civil War symposium" held this past March.