Culpeper Court House (2) - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

Culpeper Court House

1863-64 Winter Encampment
"During the winter of 1863-64, Federal officers quartered in many of Culpeper's homes. The surrounding landscape was doted with tents and huts for ten square miles as nearly 100,000 soldiers encamped.
Gen U.S. Grant, commander of all Federal armies, is said to have taken a daily walk to purchase cigars at a pharmacy located in what had been the boyhood home of Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill. Before dawn on May 4, 1864, the Federal soldiers broke camp and marched for Germanna Ford, 10 miles ahead of you. This marked the last time substantial military activity occurres in the Town of Culpeper. The troops had embarked upon the last grand campaign of the war. Ironically, it was also the first campaign between the war's premier generals: the battles of Lee Vs. Grant were soon to get underway with the first confrontation at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5-6.
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Battle of Culpeper Court House
"Following the Gettysburg Campaign, Federal officals sought to verify rumors that a sunstantial part of Gen. robert E. Lee's Confederate army had been detached. On September 13, 1863, Federal cavalry moved down tracks from your left, under orders to reconnoiter the main Confederate position, about 10 miles south(your right). Southern horsemen under Col. Lunsford Lomax resolved to make a stand on the terrain before you to defend a train loaded with supplies here at the depot.
Confederate cavalryman G.W. Beale wrote that the train "attracted the aim of (Federal) guns, and their shells passed high over out heads and burst over the train as it steamed away." Federal cavalry dashed into the town from your left. Although the train made it to safety, three Confederate cannon posted near the depot were captured. As the battle progressed to the south, flamboyant Federal Gen. George A. Custer was wounded in the foor by a shell freagment. Capyured Confederates confirmed that part of the army under Gen James Longstreet had indeed departed; these southerners soon reinforced another Confederate army and contributed to the victory at Chickamauga, Georgia.

Type of site: Transportation Route or Facility Address: Culpeper, VA United States Phone Number: Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Driving Directions: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/18/2014 Moorephun visited it