Stephens House - Fredericksburg VA
N 38° 17.725 W 077° 28.093
18S E 284153 N 4241475
Martha Stephens' house was caught in the crossfire during the Battle of Fredericksburg, but she refused to leave and administered aid to the fallen.
Waymark Code: WMC42X
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2011
Views: 9
Blocks mark the location of the Stephens House at
Marye's Heights on the Fredericksburg battlefield in Virginia. This was the home of Martha Stephens and her common-law husband, Edward. On December 13, 1862, their home was caught in the middle of the Union attacks against Confederate troops ensconced behind the stone wall on Sunken Road. It is said Martha refused to leave her home and administered to the wounded by tearing strips from her clothing for bandages and making trips to her well for water while Confederate sharpshooters shot from the roof and windows of her house.
Gen. Cobb was mortally wounded by shrapnel from a Union artillery shell that crashed through her house.
Martha was an independent and colorful woman. She owned several properties, had two common-law husbands, ran an illegal saloon, and smoked a pipe. At the time, her unconventional lifestyle contributed to her questionable reputation.
Martha and her house survived the war, although her home was riddled with thousands of bullet holes. Martha died in December 1888 and was buried in a family cemetery adjacent to the house. The house burned down in 1917. That same year, the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected a small granite monument in the yard. It reads:
HERE LIVED
MRS. MARTHA STEVENS
FRIEND OF THE
CONFEDERATE SOLDIER
1881-1865.
U. D. C.
Martha is the only woman to be honored with a monument for her contributions during the Civil War in Fredericksburg.
The cemetery has eight burials although there are no markers. A big stone planter marks the location. The coordinates are:
- N 38° 17.737' W 77° 28.093'
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