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(December 2007)
Enlarge When arriving at Brandy
Station, Gregg hesitated, unsure of the situation or the terrain.
Stuart, alerted to the new arrivals, began to shift his forces to meet
the new threat. While Buford was assailing "Rooney" Lee's lines at the
brick walls to the north, Gregg finally got into motion. At that time
only a few Confederate artillery pieces stood on Fleetwood Hill. But the
battle soon evolved into a race of opposing cavalry forces as Jones'
Confederate brigade shifted from the vicinity of St. James Church to
meet Gregg. This photo, taken from the pull off of at tour stop six,
shows some of the ground Federal cavalry raced across. Col. Percy
Wyndham's brigade advanced directly over the ground the markers now
stand upon |
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(January 2008)
Enlarge Barbour House (also
known as Beauregard) stands to the northwest of Fleetwood Hill. From
here, Gen. Robert E. Lee observed the fighting. In the later stages of
the contest for Fleetwood Hill, he would order up infantry from Culpeper
to reinforce Stuart's winded troopers
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(January 2008)
Enlarge Close up view of
Fleetwood Hill. Initially, only a few artillery pieces directed by Maj.
Henry B. McClellan, Stuart's adjutant, covered the hill. First Wyndham
and Jones' brigades would charge and countercharge the hill. Later Col.
Hugh Judson Kilpatrick's Federal brigade would gain some temporary foot
holds before portions of Hampton's Confederate Brigade arrived to
countercharge
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(January 2008)
Enlarge Looking to the west of
the crest of the hill, Confederate artillery positioned here remained an
objective and an impediment to Federal mounted charges. When Gregg got
indication of Confederate infantry moving up, he broke off the fight
here and began to work his way toward Rappahannock Station and back
across the river
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(December 2007)
Enlarge
Marker Serving as the Brandy Station Foundation
Headquarters and Visitors Center is the Graffiti House. The house saw
much traffic during the war as armies marched past on several occasions.
Soldiers being soldiers, they left their marks, quite literally
Brandy Station
Website with details of the graffiti and some photos
National Register of Historic Places paperwork offers even more
details of the graffiti (PDF) |
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(December 2007)
Enlarge
Marker To the southwest, off Brandy Station Road (CR
762) are the fields used by Stuart's cavalry for the series of grand
reviews in the days prior to the battle. The site is in front of a
Virginia State Police station |
