Robert E. Lee's Hitching Tree - Orange VA
N 38° 14.636 W 078° 06.802
17S E 752621 N 4236821
Gen. R. E. Lee tied his famous horse, Traveller, to a locust tree while attending services at the nearby church.
Waymark Code: WMF5YY
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/28/2012
Views: 4
During the Civil War, following the defeat at Gettysburg, General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate army arrived in Orange County, Virginia and encamped from August 1863 to May 1864. During their stay many of the soldiers and officers including Gen. Lee attended services at
St. Thomas's Church
. Even Confederacy president Jefferson Davis came to a service that was preached by Lee's Chief of Artillery who was also an Episcopalian minister.
When Lee visited St. Thomas's, he tied his horse, Traveller, to a nearby locust tree. The tree is still standing almost 150 years later. It has been memorialized with a small brass plaque that reads:
GEN. R. E. LEE
TIED "TRAVELLER"
TO THIS TREE REGULARLY
WHEN HE ATTENDED
SERVICES IN
ST. THOMAS CHURCH
WINTER OF 1863-1864 |
|
The tree now stands in the front yard of a private home next to the church. A brick wall on which the plaque is mounted separates the church grounds from the adjacent property, but the tree is easily viewable from the church or the sidewalk.
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