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'The vortex of hell'
By Rob Humphreys
Culpeper Star-Exponent [Culpeper, Va.]
January 5, 2008
One Civil War expert calls it “the vortex of hell … the most fought upon, marched upon and camped upon piece of property in this country.”
Now, the Civil War Preservation Trust is calling it a vital piece of history that has been saved.
After lengthy negotiations, the CWPT last month purchased 23 acres - and is in talks to acquire 27 more - on the northeastern base of Fleetwood Hill, where the Battle of Brandy Station culminated on the afternoon of June 9, 1863.
This part of America’s hallowed landscape, a parcel of blood-soaked land that looks today much like it did 145 years ago, represents the culmination of the war’s largest cavalry battle.
And to Bud Hall, the leading authority on Culpeper’s role in the war, it denotes “the beginning of the end for the Confederate cavalry, and indeed for the Civil War.”
Hall, a founding member of the CWPT who writes a column for the Star-Exponent, played a key role in saving the property.
For the past 20 years, he has been in contact with the Pound family, which owns the land and nearby parcels. Louis Pound died at the age of 78 last January. A few weeks ago, his sister Barba Aylor, executor of the estate, sold it to the CWPT for $700,000.
“I think it would definitely please my parents that this has happened,” said Aylor, adding that her father, R.W. Pound, bought the land in the late 1940s.
If the second sale goes through, it would signify “the two most important parcels that have possibly ever been protected at Brandy Station,” according to Jim Campi, CWPT spokesman.
Such a statement speaks volumes because the nonprofit preservation trust already owns some 945 acres associated with the battle’s first phase, about a mile away near Culpeper Regional Airport.
But historians say the land near Fleetwood Hill - located directly behind a roadside historical marker on U.S. 29 about five miles northeast of the town of Culpeper - carries added weight.
“The high water mark of the Confederate cavalry,” Hall contends, “was on Fleetwood Hill. … You had acres upon acres of horsemen fighting savagely; man-to-man savage combat on Fleetwood Hill.
“The Confederate cavalry both won here and lost here. On the morning of June 9, 1863, the Confederate cavalry was at its height, and on the evening of June 9, 1863, the confederate cavalry was on the decline.”
Most historians agree that the Battle of Brandy Station - the opening salvo in the Gettysburg Campaign - represented the height of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, including its 9,600-man cavalry division under Gen. JEB Stuart.
Until this time, Stuart’s cavalry had been virtually invincible. But that changed on June 9, 1863. The Confederates - surprised by a massive raid from a force of primarily Union horsemen - won a narrow tactical victory.
However, the Union cavalry began to gain strength, experience and morale, eventually matching and, less than a month later at Gettysburg, bettering its Southern foes.
In addition to the Battle of Brandy Station, Fleetwood Hill saw action during several other periods of the four-year war.
Because of its defensive importance and prominent geographical setting, both sides used it extensively.
In the winter of 1863-64, Union troops established their winter quarters in Culpeper County, planting the 3rd Corps on the hill.
Confederates often camped and fought there too, using it as a natural stronghold overlooking the Rappahannock River.
Today, U.S. 29 cuts across the eastern slope of Fleetwood Hill, and a few houses dot the ridge upon which hundreds of soldiers fell. But, for the most part, cattle, tree lines and gently rolling hills still dominate the landscape.
“Practically nothing has been protected at Fleetwood Hill,” Campi said. “Fleetwood Hill is certainly one of the most dramatic battles, so protecting land there has been a priority of ours for some time.”
Brandy Station Foundation, CWPT have big plans
Now that a key part of the Brandy Station battlefield has been preserved, what’s next?
The Civil War Preservation Trust, in cooperation with the Brandy Station Foundation, plans to make its new land on the eastern base of Fleetwood Hill more accessible to the public.
“More and more,” CWPT spokesman Jim Campi said, “we’ve become an organization that interprets sites as well (as purchasing them for preservation).”
Campi said the CWPT recently completed a biking trail in Winchester and is working on a similar project in Charlottesville.
He envisions the same could occur in Culpeper with help from a local donor.
The BSF, which owns 35 acres on the western base of Fleetwood Hill, could play a large role in that process.
“We have the top of the ridge surrounded,” joked BSF President Bob Luddy. “We would look forward to the day when we could effectively join the land … with some sort of trail system.”
Luddy said that the BSF will receive a federal grant this year for trails, signs on kiosks on the western part of Fleetwood Hill.
Other parts of the battlefield have similar features, and eventually the eastern section could receive that kind of treatment.
“I think it’s looking up for the community,” Luddy said. “Many of the tourists who come through Culpeper on U.S. 29, for a long time all they had was that gold and black sign saying something happened here a long time ago.
“Now we are on the verge of being able to give Culpeper County and the touring public not only a genuine historic site, but also a … tourist plan that will ensure people and tourists coming into the county because of the work that’s been done around Fleetwood Hill.”
Historian Bud Hall, who worked with the Pound family estate to purchase the 23-acre property last month, was also influential in a 17-acre deal with the family six years ago. That land, in addition to 18 acres purchased in 2005 after a heated dispute with a potential developer, constitutes BSF’s holdings.
Hall said the CWPT’s 23-acre tract will likely be leased out to “a reputable farmer, just like it was before the war.”
Luddy is optimistic about the future of the Brandy Station battlefield when it comes to working with landowners and the CWPT.
“There’s no limit to the things we can accomplish if we just put our minds to it and have a good heart,” he said. “The way things are going right now is evidence of that.”
But Luddy warned that much work remains to be done in the ongoing fight to preserve Civil War land.
“The battle is not over,” he said. “This just turns out to be a victory along the way.”
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Eric
By Rob Humphreys
Culpeper Star-Exponent [Culpeper, Va.]
January 5, 2008
One Civil War expert calls it “the vortex of hell … the most fought upon, marched upon and camped upon piece of property in this country.”
Now, the Civil War Preservation Trust is calling it a vital piece of history that has been saved.
After lengthy negotiations, the CWPT last month purchased 23 acres - and is in talks to acquire 27 more - on the northeastern base of Fleetwood Hill, where the Battle of Brandy Station culminated on the afternoon of June 9, 1863.
This part of America’s hallowed landscape, a parcel of blood-soaked land that looks today much like it did 145 years ago, represents the culmination of the war’s largest cavalry battle.
And to Bud Hall, the leading authority on Culpeper’s role in the war, it denotes “the beginning of the end for the Confederate cavalry, and indeed for the Civil War.”
Hall, a founding member of the CWPT who writes a column for the Star-Exponent, played a key role in saving the property.
For the past 20 years, he has been in contact with the Pound family, which owns the land and nearby parcels. Louis Pound died at the age of 78 last January. A few weeks ago, his sister Barba Aylor, executor of the estate, sold it to the CWPT for $700,000.
“I think it would definitely please my parents that this has happened,” said Aylor, adding that her father, R.W. Pound, bought the land in the late 1940s.
If the second sale goes through, it would signify “the two most important parcels that have possibly ever been protected at Brandy Station,” according to Jim Campi, CWPT spokesman.
Such a statement speaks volumes because the nonprofit preservation trust already owns some 945 acres associated with the battle’s first phase, about a mile away near Culpeper Regional Airport.
But historians say the land near Fleetwood Hill - located directly behind a roadside historical marker on U.S. 29 about five miles northeast of the town of Culpeper - carries added weight.
“The high water mark of the Confederate cavalry,” Hall contends, “was on Fleetwood Hill. … You had acres upon acres of horsemen fighting savagely; man-to-man savage combat on Fleetwood Hill.
“The Confederate cavalry both won here and lost here. On the morning of June 9, 1863, the Confederate cavalry was at its height, and on the evening of June 9, 1863, the confederate cavalry was on the decline.”
Most historians agree that the Battle of Brandy Station - the opening salvo in the Gettysburg Campaign - represented the height of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, including its 9,600-man cavalry division under Gen. JEB Stuart.
Until this time, Stuart’s cavalry had been virtually invincible. But that changed on June 9, 1863. The Confederates - surprised by a massive raid from a force of primarily Union horsemen - won a narrow tactical victory.
However, the Union cavalry began to gain strength, experience and morale, eventually matching and, less than a month later at Gettysburg, bettering its Southern foes.
In addition to the Battle of Brandy Station, Fleetwood Hill saw action during several other periods of the four-year war.
Because of its defensive importance and prominent geographical setting, both sides used it extensively.
In the winter of 1863-64, Union troops established their winter quarters in Culpeper County, planting the 3rd Corps on the hill.
Confederates often camped and fought there too, using it as a natural stronghold overlooking the Rappahannock River.
Today, U.S. 29 cuts across the eastern slope of Fleetwood Hill, and a few houses dot the ridge upon which hundreds of soldiers fell. But, for the most part, cattle, tree lines and gently rolling hills still dominate the landscape.
“Practically nothing has been protected at Fleetwood Hill,” Campi said. “Fleetwood Hill is certainly one of the most dramatic battles, so protecting land there has been a priority of ours for some time.”
Brandy Station Foundation, CWPT have big plans
Now that a key part of the Brandy Station battlefield has been preserved, what’s next?
The Civil War Preservation Trust, in cooperation with the Brandy Station Foundation, plans to make its new land on the eastern base of Fleetwood Hill more accessible to the public.
“More and more,” CWPT spokesman Jim Campi said, “we’ve become an organization that interprets sites as well (as purchasing them for preservation).”
Campi said the CWPT recently completed a biking trail in Winchester and is working on a similar project in Charlottesville.
He envisions the same could occur in Culpeper with help from a local donor.
The BSF, which owns 35 acres on the western base of Fleetwood Hill, could play a large role in that process.
“We have the top of the ridge surrounded,” joked BSF President Bob Luddy. “We would look forward to the day when we could effectively join the land … with some sort of trail system.”
Luddy said that the BSF will receive a federal grant this year for trails, signs on kiosks on the western part of Fleetwood Hill.
Other parts of the battlefield have similar features, and eventually the eastern section could receive that kind of treatment.
“I think it’s looking up for the community,” Luddy said. “Many of the tourists who come through Culpeper on U.S. 29, for a long time all they had was that gold and black sign saying something happened here a long time ago.
“Now we are on the verge of being able to give Culpeper County and the touring public not only a genuine historic site, but also a … tourist plan that will ensure people and tourists coming into the county because of the work that’s been done around Fleetwood Hill.”
Historian Bud Hall, who worked with the Pound family estate to purchase the 23-acre property last month, was also influential in a 17-acre deal with the family six years ago. That land, in addition to 18 acres purchased in 2005 after a heated dispute with a potential developer, constitutes BSF’s holdings.
Hall said the CWPT’s 23-acre tract will likely be leased out to “a reputable farmer, just like it was before the war.”
Luddy is optimistic about the future of the Brandy Station battlefield when it comes to working with landowners and the CWPT.
“There’s no limit to the things we can accomplish if we just put our minds to it and have a good heart,” he said. “The way things are going right now is evidence of that.”
But Luddy warned that much work remains to be done in the ongoing fight to preserve Civil War land.
“The battle is not over,” he said. “This just turns out to be a victory along the way.”
Eric
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