RUTHER GLEN
--The sesquicentennial commemoration for the Civil War provides a unique opportunity for Caroline County to reflect on its history of 1862 through 1867.The rolling hills, abundant streams, and open farming areas of the county provided ample space for troop movements and strategic maneuvering by both the North and South, especially during the Overland Campaign. As Gen. Grant's troops crossed the Rapidan River on their way to Richmond, Gen. Robert E. Lee's undermanned Confederate troops moved quickly to engage them, meeting in some of the fiercest battles of the war at Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Totopotomay, and Cold Harbor. Bethel Church was used as a headquarters for Gens. Grant, Meade, and Burnside; at Bowling Green, Union soldiers broke into stores, freed prisoners, and looted the town; Milford Station was the site of a skirmish that forced Lee to move to defend Hanover Junction at the North Anna River; and at Carmel Church, the Union army reunited to prepare for attacks at the North Anna.
The experience of African-American soldiers during the Civil War was extraordinary and was often contradictory, as documented during the southern movement of Union forces who fought during the Overland Campaign. The routes of the United States Colored Troops intersected at several points in preparation for the battles in Richmond, Deep Bottom in Henrico, and Petersburg.
However, for Caroline County, Civil War history will be forever linked to the death of Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson at Guinea Station, and the capture and subsequent death of the notorious assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, at Garrett Farm, located near Port Royal.
For Caroline County, the experiences of the Civil War are not so much in battlefield sites as in the stories associated with the residents of the county. The participation in and reflection on the pivotal events
Kathy Beard is tourism manager