This is a sketch of cannons on the upper deck of a fort.

Heritage Sites

The places highlighted here — formerly called the Civil War Discovery Trail — are not just any places. They are the celebrated sites and structures that bring the earliest chapters of the American story to life, such as battlefields, historic homes, stations on the Underground Railroad, cemeteries, and parks. Together, they constitute the essential stops on a trail to discovering not only America’s military history, but the political, social and human dimensions of the founding and forging of the United States.

Fort Scammel
Fort

Fort Scammel

Named after Alexander Scammel who died in the Battle of Yorktown during the Revolutionary War, this fort was built in 1808 as part of a Federal...
Portrait of George Teamoh (1817-after 1887); born a slave, worked as the Norfolk Navy Yard and other military installations. Teamoh wrote his autobiography and served in the Virginia legislature during the Reconstruction era.
Civil War  |  Historic Site

George Teamoh

A member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867 and the Senate of Virginia from 1869 until 1871, George Teamoh was born enslaved in Portsmouth where...