Clearing for a new housing development at Rappahannock Station begins

After what some have describe as too much time away from this blog (and they are correct), I've decided it's time to resume Today At Brandy Station.

As we move into the third year of the war - 1863 - the impact of fighting in the Eastern Theater will be painfully felt in Culpeper County.  Culpeper saw the Federals push into the county in the summer of 1862, only to be forcibly thrown out by Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain and Freeman's Ford.  What happened in 1863 will resonate in Culpeper for the next 150 years. 

Hopefully, I will be able to help describe what happened in Culpeper, and Fauquier County, through the words of those who traversed this land, as well as inform you to the going-on's today.

Unfortunately today, I must discuss recent activity observed on the Rappahannock Station Battlefield.  The battlefield is in Remington, Virginia. There were two significant actions (for Fauquier County) at Rappahannock Station. The first took place in August 1862 and was mostly an artillery duel.  The second, on November 7, 1863, resulted in the largest fight in Fauquier County and cost the Army of Northern Virgina the better part of two brigades. 

Last week, clearing of some abandoned houses and trees were accomplished by the owners of Rappahannock Landing, a planned sub-division ON the battlefield.  The photo below was taken on March 31, 2013.

The land where this bulldozer sits was crossed by the 6th Maine, the 5th Wisconsin and the 49th Pennsylvania infantry regiments under Colonel Peter Ellmaker. The charge took place as darkness descended. It was one of the few evening actions of the Civil War.  Facing them was the famed Louisiana Brigade under BG Harry Hays. Also in the fortifications were Robert Hokes' North Carolinian's.  Ellmaker's and Emory Upton's men (on Ellmaker's right) swarmed over the fortifications and over 1600 Confederates became casualties. The Federals suffered slightly over 400. Three Medals of Honor were won on this day. 

One, Sergeant Otis O. Roberts, crossed this ground.  He was assigned to Company H of the 6th Maine. His commander, Major George Fuller wrote in the after-action report, "...but I cannot refrain from asking your attention to the following...instance of unexampled courage and coolness: Sergt. Otis R. Roberts, of Company H, with only 5 men, rushed upon the color-bearer of the 8th Louisiana Regiment, who was in the midst of his color company, and after a hand-to-hand conflict, in which the bayonet was freely used, succeeded in capturing the colors, compelling the whole company to surrender." Roberts received his Medal of Honor on December 28, 1863, nearly Farley, in Culpeper County.

Fauquier County owns a portion of the battlefield along the river and plans to build a park. It was hoped that the Rappahannock Landing property could be incorporated, making the site visually appealing and interpretable. If the development goes forward, visitors will stare down from the Confederate position directly into the backyards of town homes. And, with the arrival of bulldozers, time is running out for action.

Mt. Defiance Property Protected

Wednesday in Middleburg

I had the pleasure of being present at a standing room only event at the National Sporting Library and Museum when Governor McDonnell presented a Transportation Enhancement Grant to the Civil War Trust for $432,000 to help in the purchase of five acres on Mt. Defiance.

The position was held by two batteries of the Stuart Horse Artillery (McGregor's and Mooreman's) as well as two brigades of cavalry from Virginia (Chambliss) and North Carolina (Robertson). Assaulting the Confederates up Mt. Defiance were Kilpatricks and Gregg's cavalry brigade's.

The beautiful parcel includes three period structures and the original Zula Road. The land is adjacent to the Ashby Gap Turnpike and is located in both Faquier and Loudon Counties. The property will ultimately be transferred to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.

Below is the press release from the CWT and at the end of the release, is a link to a map showing where the property is located on the battlefield.

GOV. MCDONNELL ANNOUNCES COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA GRANT TO PROTECT HEART OF MIDDLEBURG BATTLEFIELD


Exciting partnership between the Civil War Trust, the Commonwealth of Virginia and Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority to preserve historic Mt. Defiance battle site

(Middleburg, Va.) – At a news conference this morning, Gov. Bob McDonnell joined the Civil War Trust, the nation’s largest battlefield preservation organization, at the National Sporting Library and Museum to launch a national campaign to protect historic Mount Defiance on the Middleburg Battlefield. The cornerstone of the campaign is a public-private partnership between the Civil War Trust, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Northern Regional Park Authority.

“Our ongoing collaboration with the Commonwealth of Virginia is among the most fruitful partnerships in the annals of the historic preservation movement,” said Civil War Trust president James Lighthizer. “Thanks to the vision of the McDonnell administration and the foresight of the legislature in Richmond, we are working together to ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to visit these sites undisturbed by inappropriate modern intrusions.”

The five-acre Mount Defiance property sits on present-day Route 50, an important transportation artery crucial to both the Union and Confederate armies during the Gettysburg campaign. Opposing cavalry clashed along the roadway on June 17–19, 1863, as the two armies struggled for control of Middleburg and the Loudoun Valley. Today, the landscape is largely undisturbed, with the high ground defended by Confederate horse artillery clearly visible. The site also includes three buildings dating to before the Civil War — an antebellum manor house-turned-tavern, a blacksmith’s cottage and the small blacksmith’s shop where well-documented hand-to-hand combat occurred during the June 19 fighting. Learn more about the Battle of Middleburg by visiting www.civilwar.org/middleburg.

Alongside the many successful initiatives of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, the Commonwealth has made historic battlefield preservation a key element of its efforts to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. These efforts will result in a permanent protection of hundreds of acres of battlefield land through easements held by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Most often, the Commonwealths’ participation in battlefield preservation projects comes through one of two matching grant programs — the Virginia Civil War Sites Preservation Fund, administered through the Department of Historic Resources and the only state-level endowment of its kind in the country, and the Transportation Enhancement program, awarded by the Commonwealth Transportation Board under the direction of the Secretary of Transportation.

In the case of Mount Defiance, the project received a $432,000 Virginia Transportation Enhancement grant, leaving the Civil War Trust to finance the remainder of the $540,000 purchase price from other public and private sector sources. A lead gift of $10,000 has already been pledged by local historian and former Civil War Trust board member Childs Burden and his wife Elaine, of Middleburg.

Once fundraising is completed, the Civil War Trust will place a permanent conservation easement on the property, ensuring that any future alterations to the land and its structures maintain the site’s historic integrity. This perpetual, legally binding covenant will be held and overseen by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Ultimately, the Mount Defiance property will be transferred to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, which maintains nearly three dozen individual park properties totally more than 10,000 acres across Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, as well as the Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church. Among those holdings is the popular Balls Bluff Battlefield Regional Park and nearby Mt. Zion Historic Park and Aldie Mill Historic Park.

In addition to the Middleburg property, the Trust is currently engaged in active fundraising efforts to save significant battlefield properties at Bentonville, N.C., Cedar Creek., Cross Keys, Va., Fredericksburg, Va., Gaines’ Mill, Va., Mill Springs, Ky., Perryville, Ky., Shiloh, Tenn., and Tom’s Brook, Va. To learn more about current fundraising projects and the Trust’s ambitious sesquicentennial preservation effort, Campaign 150: Our Time, Our Legacy, please visit www.civilwar.org/campaign150.

http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/middleburg/middleburg-maps/middleburg-map.html

Residue from the 'great Cavalry fight'

Today at Beverly Ford: September 7, 1863

Below is a portion of a letter from Private William Lamson to his sister. Lamson is in the 20th Maine and they are camped on the Fauquier County side of Beverly Ford.

"Dear Sister

...We are camped on part of the ground where the great Cavalry fight was, about the 10th of June. There are a good many unexploded shells laying around and many pieces that the rebs fired over at our men. There is a large white house on this side of the river and a negro house about ½ mile from it. And on the other side of about as far apart are 2 nice large houses. ...With a spy glass we can see that the brick house is ornamented with 2 or 3 shell holes which it received in the fight. They don’t add much to the beauty outside nor in, for one burst in a room smashing things up badly. Some of the boys went over when we first came here and said it was finished and furnished in a very costly style but I guess it don’t look quite as well “as it did.” ...

Once in a while we see 3 or 4 “Gray backs” riding around on the other side of the river taking a look at our camp. Some time ago 4 came almost down to the river, stopped a few minutes, waved their sabers over their heads, then turned and trotted off. ...Give love to all the family and accept a large share for yourself. Good bye."
From your aff
Brother, Will.

Lamson's letters can be found in:
Maine to the Wilderness: The Civil War Letters of Private William Lamson, 20th Maine Infantry. Edited by Roderick M. Engert

"...as much tobacco as we could carry"

As I mentioned, there will be foray's into surrounding counties. Today we travel to Fauquier County. In April 1862, the 1st Maine Cavalry went on a scout to 'Warrenton Village."

Below is a portion of a letter by Charles F. Beal from Company F. Beal would not survive the war, dying from disease on February 8, 1863. There is a photo of him in the American Civil War Research Database.

April 23, 1862
“'We have been sent out on scouting excursions. Once we had orders to go down to Warrenton Village. We surrounded the place with 3 companys and made a charge through the city with the remaining 4 comps. There was five hundred Rebels Cavalry there the night before but they had got the wind of our coming and took to thare heels. We remained in the city and scoured it until 3 o’clock in the morning. The rebels are encamped in a large force about 15 miles from here on the south side of the Rappahannock River where they had a small fight 3 or 4 days ago. We heard the firing. We go out foraging all most every day after grain for our horses and food for our selvs. We went out the other day and got a wagon full of grain and killed 9 Turkeys, 5 Ducks, 11 Chickens, 2 Geese, and got a large jar of Huney and just as much tobacco as we could carry. I found a barn of it about 150 feet long 60 feet wide all strung full of it."