Brandy Station Battlefield

While most folks will be getting a three-day weekend, John gets four days off because it was his week to work Sunday through Thursday.  For four days he decided it would be worth it to come back to Washington, D.C.  We've taken a room outside of D.C. in Reston, Virginia and will catch the Metro into the city tomorrow morning.

On our way up, John has decided he wants to drop in on the Brandy Station Battlefield.  On one of our other wanderings around Virginia he saw a highway sign for Brandy Station, but traffic wasn't conducive to his slamming on the brakes and making a hard left.  Besides, he says I was sound asleep.  (I do that a lot when I'm not driving.  A doctor once said years ago that I have a vigilance problem.  He suggested that if I was ever on a cattle drive I should probably pass on being a night rider.  Does that give you even the tiniest clue as to how old I am???)

So we are heading for the Brandy Station Battlefield only to discover that there really wasn't a battle there.  Brandy Station is the name of the train station at the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in Brandy.

The battle mostly happened on Fleetwood Hill about a quarter-mile away.

Just a few days from now, 150 years ago, almost 10,000 Rebel cavalrymen and their mounts under the command of General J.E.B. Stuart gathered here to protect the quietly arriving foot soldiers of General Robert E. Lee on their way to Gettysburg.  Stuart was somewhat of a showoff showman and wanted to put on a display of his cavalry for Lee.  (Notice the spelling of that word, c-a-v-a-l-r-y.  So-o-o many people mispronounce that word, and it just makes me nuts.  It is not cal-vary; it's cav-alry.) (Now that I've gotten THAT off my chest...)

First, close your eyes and visualize 10,000 horses all in one place at one time!!  Even MY imagination isn't that big!!  10,000 horses, 10,000 riders, add in Lee's infantry - that's a lotta livin', breathin', poopin' lives!  (Yes, poopin!)

So, Stuart wants to rehearse his little show.  He marches his 10,000 horses and men down the pike, turns them around and has them run full tilt across one poor farmers corn field back toward Brandy Station.  Not satisfied with what he saw, he marches them BACK down the road and orders them to run hell-bent-for-leather back across that cornfield yelling as only those Southern rebel-boys could yell.  By the time all of that is accomplished his men and their mounts are hot, tired and dehydrated, but Lee himself wasn't due at Brandy Station until the next day, so no big deal.

Surprise!  Here comes Lee right now!  So Stuart starts to send his men back down the road to return for a THIRD time at a dead run.  Lee, being the wiser of the two men, calls a time out and helps Stuart see the better part of wisdom.  So as to not completely undermine his General, Lee suggests to Stuart that he might want to have them calmly parade for Lee to review.  Even so, Stuart's shenanigans just might be the reason the Confederacy didn't outright win the battle that surprised them the very next day...  (The poor ol' farmer's corn field lost for sure.)

Union Major General Joseph Hooker knew the Rebs were in the Culpeper County area, but Hooker didn't know that Lee's infantry had joined them.  Hooker thought the Rebel cavalry was intent on raiding Union supply lines.  Seems to me that Stuart should have had scouts out patrolling the area instead of thrashing around corn fields, because ol' J.E.B. didn't know the Union was anywhere near!

Guess what Hooker's force consisted of?  (I know, I know:  you shouldn't end a sentence in a preposition...)  Guess what Hooker's force consisted of?  Remember what I asked you to imagine a few minutes ago?  How staggering a number that was?  Now try this:  Double it!  That's right.  Hooker had about 10,000 horses and riders, too, and 3,000 infantry.  (How on EARTH two armies of cavalry don't know that they were on opposite sides of a lil' bitty hill I will never understand...)

What resulted the next day, June 9, 1863, was the largest predominantly cavalry battle ever to take place in the Western Hemisphere!  The battle actually took place, principally, on Fleetwood Hill, but it seems there was also sporadic fighting at Beverly Ford, Kelly's Ford, St. James Church, Stevensburg, and Yew Ridge.

Hooker's men had quietly crossed the Rappahanock River and surprised the fool out of Stuart and Lee.  It became the first battle of the Gettysburg Campaign.