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Water fills the foundation of a Civil War blockhouse built by Union soldiers in Stafford. In the background, Glenn Trimmer, director of the Friends
Glenn Trimmer of the Friends of Stafford Civil War Sites explores a Union fortification that overlooks Accokeek valley in central Stafford.
An illustration shows construction of a corduroy road during the Civil War in Stafford. Sections of such a road remain on the landfill site. |
BY JONAS BEALS
On a remote hilltop in Stafford County, a person can feel both disconnected from the workaday world and fully plugged into a history that most people know nothing about.
For now, the Civil War site is closed to the public, but a local preservation group hopes to change that soon.
"Fortification 2" sits on a ridge that overlooks the modest Accokeek Creek valley. Almost 150 years ago, Union soldiers used that vantage point to protect supply lines and soldiers from Confederate attacks that never came.
The earthwork is impressive in its own right--a steep horseshoe-shaped berm surrounding a pit that might have been the foundation of a blockhouse. The view, looking northwest, is a stunning panorama of central Stafford that looks just as strategically important today as it must have during the Civil War.
But "Fortification 2" is only one link in a chain of protection that surrounded the Union army in Stafford. Countless other sites have likely been destroyed by development over the years. But on 25 acres of landfill property off Eskimo Hill Road owned by the Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board, there are three such fortifications along with pristine trace roads, campsites and rifle pits.
That acreage has been set aside by the county, and the Friends of Stafford Civil War Sites hopes to make it accessible and open to the public for the Civil War sesquicentennial that runs from 2011-2015.
"The magic in that place is the variety of things that are there and how they fit together to help tell a story, said John Hennessy, chief historian of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. "It's very uncommon, and in this part of the world, it's almost unheard of."
Yankees in Stafford
In 1862, the Civil War came to Stafford County. It stayed there for more than six months as the Army of The Potomac marched on Fredericksburg, set up camp to regroup through the winter of 1863 and hit the Confederates at Chancellorsville that May.
While the Union Army waited, Stafford wilted. Residents fled the county as northern troops flooded in. Houses were destroyed or taken over as field offices or hospitals. Forests fell as soldiers used every available twig for shelter or heat. It took the county decades to recover.
"Most residents of Stafford have no clue what went on here 148 years ago," Hennessy said. "The devastation caused by the mere presence of the Union army was incredible."
But it wasn't all destruction. Aquia Landing became a major shipping point and supply line for Union troops. Soldiers built camps, roads and railroads, evidence of which can still be seen today.
Throughout their stay in Stafford, Union soldiers were busy with axes and shovels--moving earth and preparing to defend themselves.
"They were afraid," Glenn Trimmer, director of the county Civil War friends group, said. "They thought the Confederates would come up one of these natural avenues of approach."
That never happened. In June 1863, Gen. Robert E. Lee pulled out and headed north to Gettysburg.
The Union army followed, leaving their camps and fortifications to the few remaining residents of a broken county.
what's left behind
Trimmer and local Civil War expert D.P. Newton both think that opening the site to the public will be the best way to preserve it, and may give people more of a reason to explore Stafford's Civil War history.
While there were a few skirmishes in Stafford, no battles occurred there. But the county is unique in how it was a home base to the Union army for so long.
"This will really appeal to tourists interested in Civil War life," Trimmer said of the fortifications.
He has engineering plans for a single-lane road and small parking areas that will give the public easier access to the site. He needs to get county approval before he starts raising money to implement the plans.
Trimmer figures it will cost about $850,000.
So far, county supervisors have reacted positively to the idea, and Aquia Supervisor Paul Milde recently reaffirmed his support.
"The best thing about these sites is that we own them," Milde said.
Trimmer noted that "the clock is ticking" on his goal of completing the project before the sesquicentennial, but timing does not diminish the importance of preserving the fortifications.
"It's a very special, unique historic site," he said. "It's amazing what's in the woods in Stafford County."
Jonas Beals: 540/368-5036
Email: jbeals@freelancestar.com
"Our permanent camp was one mile west of the antiquated, weather-beaten hamlet of Stafford Court House. We never tarried in a poorer country. The whole Army of the Potomac, more than 100,000 men, was crowded upon the barren, ragged strip of ridges and hollows lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. Every elevation on both sides of the railroad, from Aquia Creek to Falmouth, had a camp perched upon it. Our isolation from the outside world was complete."
--Union soldier from Indiana, winter 1862-63
