After 65 battlefields, buff’s Civil War campaign nears end

FOR RELEASE SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015, AT 3:00 A.M. EDT- Rob Orrison, center with cap, looks over the inscription on the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, during a tour of the Old House chambers at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Thursday, April 2, 2015. Orrison has been to 60-plus battlefields in four years during the Civil War's 150th anniversary which takes as much passion and commitment as getting married or having a child. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) FOR RELEASE SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2015, AT 3:00 A.M. EDT- Rob Orrison, center with cap, looks over the inscription on the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, during a tour of the Old House chambers at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Thursday, April 2, 2015. Orrison has been to 60-plus battlefields in four years during the Civil War's 150th anniversary which takes as much passion and commitment as getting married or having a child. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

By Associated Press April 4, 2015 4 min read

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Hitting 60-plus battlefields in four years during the Civil War’s 150th anniversary takes as much passion and commitment as getting married or having a child.

Rob Orrison has squeezed in all of that since 2011, albeit not without some marital compromises, such as a wedding day on the anniversary of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Next week, Orrison will conclude his own epic march at the place where the curtain fell on the Civil War, with his spouse Jamie and 2-year-old son Carter accompanying him.

“There are worse hobbies,” Orrison said, while acknowledging his wife’s occasional impatience.

Orrison estimates he’s spent well over $10,000 and logged “thousands and thousands” of miles on the road, plus a couple of flights to his farthest destinations.