Cavalry Battles

Loudoun County, VA
Marker No. B-22

Marker Text: In June 1863, Gen. Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia through gaps in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains and into the Shenandoah Valley to invade the North. Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry corps screened the army from Federal observation. The Union cavalry commander, Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, attempted to break through Stuart's screen, and fought three sharp engagements along this road. They included the Battles of Aldie (17 June), Middleburg (19 June), and Upperville (21 June). Stuart fell back westward under Pleasonton's pressure but kept the Federal cavalry east of the gaps.

Location: On Route 50 (John Mosby Highway), 2.59 miles west of Route 15 (James Monroe Highway), just east of Champe Ford Lane. Group with three other markers, B-30 (Stuart and Bayard); B-33 (A Revolutionary War Hero); B-32 (Gettysburg Campaign). Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 1998.

Marker is on the far left of the photo.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  This marker is a companion marker at the same location to my last post called Gettysburg Campaign, Marker B-32. This marker speaks specifically to the three cavalry battles which occurred along current day U.S. Route 50. In Upperville, where the third and largest of the three cavalry battles. Along Route 50, there are several Civil War markers telling about the locations of the battles. In Upperville, a visitor today can still get a view of the battle area from the Civil War marker, I photographed below and the marker text tells the story of Upperville.

  The photo of the background behind this marker in Upperville gives you a view of where the battle would have occurred in 1863.

Upperville
Drama at
Vineyard Hill
Gettysburg Campaign

Marker Text: This site, known during the war as Vineyard Hill, commands a clear view of the road, stone walls, and fields in front of you where 10,000 cavalry and infantry clashed in the Battle of Upperville on June 21, 1863. It was the fifth day of attack and counterattack along present-day U.S. Route 50 and in the towns of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville. Union Gen. Alfred E. Pleasonton pushed west towards the Blue Ridge Mountains while Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart fought to delay the Northerners long enough to conceal Gen. Robert E. Lee’s march through the Shenandoah Valley toward Pennsylvania.

  The Battle of Upperville was the largest of these engagements, and the most dramatic aspects of that encounter took place at Vineyard Hill. From here Stuart fought to prevent the Federals from seizing the village of Upperville behind you and the critical intersection at Ashby’s Gap Turnpike (Route 50) and Trappe Road, to allow his embattled forces to reach the safety of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Ashby’s Gap.

View behind the Civil War Trails marker is a view of Upperville looking east toward Washington, D.C. Route 50 is the road in the background.

  Here Stuart directed two of his brigades as they resisted the advance of three Federal brigades. The fighting near here was desperate and often hand-to-hand, the men wielding sabers and pistols. As Stuart’s line gave way on the left, he rode among his troopers restoring order and fighting “with the men like a common soldier.” Charge and countercharge carried the men and horses back and forth across these fields under the deadly fire of artillery.

  Less than a mile to your left, and visible to the men on the high ground around Vineyard Hill, four other brigades clashed, leading one Federal participant to conclude, “the panorama was one of the finest and most animating ever beheld.” Once the Confederates extracted themselves there and reached Ashby’s Gap Turnpike, Stuart ordered the last of his men to retire from Vineyard Hill.  (End of text)

  J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalrymen did their job, holding the Union troops long enough for Lee to move his Army across the Potomac into Maryland undetected, only to collide with the Union Army two weeks later at Gettysburg.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license.

Gettysburg Campaign

Loudoun County, VA
Marker No. B-32

Marker Text: In June 1863, as Gen. Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia through Blue Ridge gaps to the Shenandoah Valley, Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry screened the army from Federal observation. The Union cavalry chief, Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, dispatched Brig. Gen. David M. Gregg to penetrate Stuart's screen. On 17 June, Gregg ordered Col. Alfred A. N. Duffié to reconnoiter from Aldie to Middleburg. Duffié drove off Confederate pickets there, alerting Stuart. Duffié withdrew south of Middleburg, but Brig. Gen. Beverly H. Robertson's brigade surrounded and almost wiped out Duffié's command before it escaped the next morning.

Location: On Route 50 (John Mosby Highway), 2.59 miles west of Route 15 (James Monroe Highway), just east of Champe Ford Lane. Group with three other markers, B-30 (Stuart and Bayard); B-22 (Cavalry Battles); B-33 (A Revolutionary War Hero). Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 1998.

Today’s marker is the second from the right. Click any photo to enlarge.

  After 150 years after the Battle of Gettysburg, we might not think that Confederate General Robert E. Lee did not set out to have a battle at Gettysburg, PA. He only wanted to invade the north and take the war to the north. Gettysburg was simply the place where the two armies finally met up with one another. General Lee's moving his army into the north was no easy task, particularly when you want to move a large military force mostly undetected without having the Union Army discovering his objective.

  Lee moving his army from east of the Shenandoah Valley near Chancellorsville through Chester Gap and other neighboring gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains and north within the Shenandoah Valley through Winchester and into Maryland was a good choice. The Blue Ridge mountains provided a natural barrier to hid the movement of an army. Despite this natural mountain barrier some military movements by his cavalry was necessary and moving the Union troops out of the Shenandoah Valley at Winchester needed to take place.

Photo taken looking west along U.S. Route 59 on the right. There is a roadside pull-off to read the four markers. 

  So the Second Battle of Winchester on June 13-15, 1863 was necessary. Also protecting the movement of the troops from the prying eyes of the Union Army from the east along today's U.S. Route 50. Many major and minor battles and military engagements occurred during the Civil War along and near U.S. Route 50 between Washington, D.C. and Winchester, VA. Travel this route today and you will encounter hundreds of historical markers, historical signs, monuments, and memorials speaking about the military engagements along this road.

  To escape detection while General Lee moved his troops north, Lee positioned his cavalry under General J.E.B. Stuart east of the Blue Ridge mostly where current day U.S. Route 50 goes, with orders to shield the infantry’s movements. Anxious to learn Lee’s intentions, Union commanders dispatched several cavalry brigades from Washington, D.C., to find the Confederate Army.

  Stuart had stationed a cavalry brigade at Aldie (near the location of this marker) to prevent Union troops from gaining control of the two roads over the Blue Ridge Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley: the Little River Turnpike (now Route 50) through Middleburg and Upperville, and the Snickersville Turnpike, which runs northwest out of Aldie. The Union cavalry clashed with Stuart’s cavalry first at Aldie on June 17, 1863 then again at Middleburg and Upperville in the days following.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives license.

Forge Bridge

Marker No. W-19
New Kent County, VA

Marker Text: The site of Forge Bridge over the Chickahominy River is located about a mile south of here. On 14 June 1862, Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart and his cavalry brigade crossed there on their famous ride around Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Because the bridge had been burned in May, Stuart's men first built a makeshift bridge of barn timbers to replace it. On 13-14 June 1864, the VI and IX Corps of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Potomac crossed the river there en route to Petersburg after the Battle of Cold Harbor.

Location: On U.S. Route 60, just east of Chickahominy River bridge, Providence Forge, VA and is grouped with marker W-20 (Providence Forge) near intersection with Route 155. Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 1998.

  Today is the third marker, I have related to J.E.B. Stuart's ride around McClellan. As indicated on the two previous markers (Stuart's Ride Around McClellan), on June 12, 1862, C.S.A. Brigadier General J.E.B. Stuart left Richmond at the head of a 1,200 cavalry troops apparently going to assist General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia. Stuart did not go to the Shenandoah Valley, instead, at the request of General Robert E. Lee, recently made commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, Stuart was on a reconnaissance mission around McClellan's Union army now north and east of Richmond.

  Robert E. Lee was confronting, just outside of the Confederate States of America (C.S.A.) capital city, Richmond, Virginia, a huge Federal army, the Army of the Potomac, under the command of Union General George B. McClellan. Lee planned to attack the Union army's right flank, isolated on the northern side of the Chickahominy River, but he needed to know its disposition.

Stuart's Ride Around McClellan

Marker No. WO-14
New Kent County, VA

Marker Text: J. E. B. Stuart, on his famous ride around McClellan's army, June 12-15, 1862, arrived here in the early night of June 13, coming from Hanover Courthouse. He rested here several hours and then pressed on to the Chickahominy River, rejoining Lee's army on June 15.

Location: On Route 249, just west of Route 106, Talleysville, grouped with markers WO-13 (St. Peter's Church) and WO-12 (The White House). Erected by the Conservation & Development Commission in 1931.

  About the time J.E.B. Stuart had completed his ride around McClellan's Army and was reporting to Gen. Robert E. Lee, McClellan made his first report to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton:

“A rebel force of cavalry and artillery, variously estimated at from 1,000 to 5,000, came around our right flank last evening, attacked and drove in a picket guard...at Old Church; they proceeded to a landing 3 miles above White House, where they burned two forage schooners and destroyed some wagons. Then they struck the railroad at Tunstall’s Station, fired into a train of cars, killing some 5 or 6. Here they met a force of infantry which I sent down to meet them, when they ran off. I have several cavalry detachments out after them and hope to punish them. No damage has been done to the railroad.”

  When Gen. Robert E. Lee became commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, he requested J.E.B. Stuart perform reconnaissance to determine whether the right flank of the Union army was vulnerable. Stuart set out with 1,200 troopers on the morning of June 12 and took his men on a complete circumnavigation of the Union army.

  Early on the morning of June 13, 1862, J.E.B. Stuart revealed his orders to Fitz and Rooney Lee and the other commanders as they rode east towards Hanover Court House. Just west of the Hanover Courthouse, Stuart's advance guard ran into elements of the Union's 6th Cavalry, the first encounter with Union troops. Hoping to envelop the Union Cavalry, Stuart ordered Fitz Lee to strike the Union cavalry while Rooney Lee tried to flank the unit.

Stuart's Ride Around McClellan

Marker No. E-74
Hanover County, VA

Marker Text: Near here, on Winston's Farm, J. E. B. Stuart, advancing north, camped on June 12, 1862. Stuart was scouting to find the position of the right wing of McClellan's army besieging Richmond. At this point he turned east to Hanover Courthouse. Stuart made a complete circuit of the Union army.

Location: On Route 1 (Washington Highway), south of intersection with State Route 641, 1.9 miles north of Ashland. Erected by the Conservation & Development Commission in 1931.

  This week is the 150^th Anniversary of J.E.B. Stuart's famous ride around Union Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac. During April until June McClellan's army had traveled up the Peninsula and established positions around the north and eastern sections of Richmond in preparation for their attack.

  In early June, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia after the wounding of General Johnston and began planning a counterattack. Beginning on June 12, General J.E.B. Stuart led 1,200 cavalrymen on a daring three day reconnaissance and discovered that the Union right flank was unsecured. “Stuart's Ride around McClellan" gave Lee the vital information he needed to launch the offensive known as the Seven Days' Battles on June 26.

  Stuart's cavalry regiment had been hastily been organized early during the Civil War with little formal training and mustered into the Confederate army. His regiment was assigned to General Joseph Johnston's forces in the Shenandoah Valley.

Stuart

Spotsylvania County, VA
Marker No. E-8

Marker Text: At this point J. E. B. Stuart had his headquarters and cavalry camp in December 1862.

Location: On U.S. Route 1 (Jefferson Davis Highway), north of I-95 exit 126, 0.1 miles south of Lafayette Boulevard, 5.4 miles south of Falmouth. Grouped with marker E-39 (Start of Sheridan's Raid). Erected by the Conservation Development Commission in 1927.

  Following the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac withdrew back across the Rappahannock River to make winter camp. Confederate generals established their winter headquarters and camps in the area around Fredericksburg. On December 26-27, Confederate Major General J. E. B. Stuart and his cavalry division carried out the last in a series of four raids that took them as far as Fairfax and Warrenton. Stuart spent the following two months at his headquarters near this location, making new friends and new enemies among officers who praised, envied, or despised each other. The man most captivated with the chief of cavalry was Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, the Second Corps commander and Stuart’s superior.

  As I had mentioned in my post about the Monticello marker on Feb. 4, the historical road markers themselves are becoming apart of our historical landscape. Virginia’s historical marker program is the oldest state-sponsored marker system in the U.S. One of the earliest markers in the program is the marker titled, “Stuart” erected in 1927. As U.S. Highways were improving for automobile travel, more people were taking to the roads for vacations and business travel. Virginia being a state rich in history particularly as it related to the American Revolution and the Civil War wanted to attract visitors to the state by showcasing their unique position in history. Most of the early markers concentrated on these two historical events.

  Stuart marker is grouped with Marker E-39 (Start of Sheridan’s Raid)  Stuart marker in background, looking north on Route 1 on the left.

  In 1922, the Virginia General Assembly passed an act to create a board “to place suitable monuments or markers on, at, or in places of historical interest in the Commonwealth.” The program began in reality after the general assembly created the Conservation and Economic Development Commission in 1926. Markers were placed along major roads to reach the largest number of travelers. The first historical markers in the program were erected on U.S. Route 1 between Fredericksburg and Richmond with this marker being one of the first.

  The “Stuart” marker is located on U.S. Route 1 south of Fredericksburg, just north of I-95 exit 126. The original plan was for each marker to have an assigned letter and number code, which continues today. But, as can be seen in the “Stuart” marker it is different than other markers, even markers of the same year. The marker has the official designation of E-8, but the marker only has “No 8” on its face. Also the name of the “Conservation and Economic Development Commission” was abbreviated leaving out the word “Economic” and the year 1927 were both listed on top within the triangle. Later markers have the name of the commission and the year at the bottom of the marker.

  For example, the marker titled “Capture of Front Royal” J-8 in Warren County, VA erected in 1927. Though erected the same year, but the number on the marker is 8-J, with the addition of the letter and the letter and number are reversed from later markers. Apparently at some later time an additional sign below was added giving the number in the current configuration for markers, J-8. A detailed description of the number system for Virginia Historical markers can be found at Historical Markers Database.

  Many of these earlier markers have vanished. Many were damaged over the years and replaced, most were replaced with markers with expanded, smaller text. Early markers had shorter, larger text in order to make it easier to read the marker, though this did not work out as well as expected in the beginning. By 1934, twelve hundred markers were in place and pull-offs were created to permit motorists to stop and read the texts on the markers.