Stafford Civil War Park in Virginia preserves memory of Union Army's "Valley Forge"

Stafford Civil War Park

The remarkable new Stafford Civil War Park is a fascinating heritage preserve in Stafford County, Virginia. It preserves part of the scene of the Army of the Potomac's "Valley Forge" during the winter of 1862-1863.

Opened to the public in April of this year, the park encompasses 41 acres of pristine historic landscape where the 1st and 3rd Divisions of the XI Corps camped following the Battle of Fredericksburg. It was here and in surrounding Stafford County that the Army of the Potomac weathered what some have called its "Valley Forge" in January through April 1863.

Ruins of fire pit or chimney from Union hut

The park features a driving tour, walking trails, interpretive signs, cannon, stone bridge ruins and the well-preserved earthworks of three artillery batteries.  It is one of the best places in the nation to explore visible remains of a major Civil War camp. The stone fire pits and chimneys of the huts built by Union soldiers can still be seen, along with the foundations of blockhouses and holes left by soldiers who dug holes into which they built their huts, using the earth as additional insulation.

To learn more about this fascination heritage destination, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/staffordwar.

The Battle of Fredericksburg - Fredericksburg, Virginia

Stone wall at Sunken Road at Fredericksburg

Fredericksburg was, for the Union, one of those names that pierced the heart like the names Gettysburg and Vicksburg did for the the Confederacy. It was on the fields surrounding Fredericksburg that the Army of the Potomac suffered one of its worst defeats of the Civil War.

Key areas of the battlefield at now preserved at the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania County Battlefields Memorial National Military Park, which also preserves areas of the Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Spotsylvania and other battlefields.

Bullet scarred house on the Fredericksburg battlefield

The Battle of Fredericksburg developed when U.S. President Abraham Lincoln named Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside to replace Gen. George B. McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac. While the latter general had favored a slow, methodical approach to dealing with Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Nothern Virginia, Burnside proposed a rapid campaign with overwhelming force.

Inexplicably, however, Burnside pushed his army forward to the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg without making sure that his pontoon boats would be there ready for use in building bridges to cross the river. The week-long delay experienced in waiting for the pontoons to come up gave General Lee the time he needed to concentrate his on the heights overlooking Fredericksburg. By the time Burnside was ready to begin his crossing, Lee was so ready for him that, as one Confederate officer observed, a chicken couldn't have survived on the ground across which the Union soldiers would have to march.

Thousands of Union soldiers are buried at Marye's Heights

Even then, Burnside couldn't get across until after he blasted Fredericksburg with 8,000 artillery shells trying to drive away General William Barksdale's Mississippians who kept shooting his men everytime they tried to build their bridges.

Once he finally did get his army across the Rappahannock, Burnside then took another day to get his men formed for battle, while Lee and his generals watched from the heights above.

The main day of the Battle of Fredericksburg was December 13, 1862. Time after time the Union forces advanced and time after time they were driven back. At Marye's Heights, they never even got close to the Confederate infantry position at the stone wall and sunken road. By the time the day ended, the Army of the Potomac had lost over 12,000 men in killed, wounded and missing. It was one of the deadliest days of the war for the Union army.

To learn more about the Battle of Fredericksburg, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fredericksburg.