They charge each other on Fleetwood Hill, firing their guns on the first sighting of each other, but then there's no time to reload, and so it becomes a bloody battle of hand-to-hand sword and bayonet fighting. Even after exhausting his men and horses the day before with parade-charging practices and a review of troops for General Robert E. Lee himself, and after being surprised by Union General Hooker's men, twice!, Stuart salvaged the day. He maintained the field of battle (with the help of a rain and hail storm) suffering "only" 575 casualties. The Union lost 866 men. But the Confederate cavalry had lost its superiority for all time that day.
You can read a play by play detail of the battle which began at Beverly's Ford on the Rappahannock River at http://www.nps.gov/frsp/brandy.htm, but this blog post is really about a home built in 1858 but is now known as The Graffiti House.
This is the house as it stands this day:
When we open the door, we don't see much, but then again, it's the headquarters of the Brandy Station Foundation, not just a museum piece. It's a work very much in progress. It's a room like many other rooms, the floors look new (and are), the walls are completely absent graffiti and looking new, there are tables and shelves and a scattering of photos and presentation boards. Not too impressive. But there is a wonderful ol' gentleman who reminds us of Ray Russell, our Sunday School teacher back home. Ray's from Maine, and we find out that this man is from Pennsylvania - but they sure look alike!
I ask him to tell us the story, and so he begins. He's very, very good at talking story.
First, to understand where the Foundation has come from he explains the recent history.
The owners of this house were planning a community event around the burning down of this place. They had a city permit, had the fire department standing by - it was gonna be a real small town to-do. Dad told his sons to go in one last time and make absolutely certain every possible piece of something to salvage had been removed. They noticed a piece of paneling nailed to one of the walls upstairs and decided, what the heck, let's take it. What they saw on the wall behind the panel put their little event on hold - permanently.
Can you make out the initials and last name? "J.E.B. Stuart" And that's just the beginning. Under layers and layers of paint, hundreds of names, initials, and drawings have been discovered. All of the downstairs graffiti apparently was cut out in the dark of night and sold before something could be done to stop it. What is left is upstairs.
The Brandy Station Foundation was formed, and they have struggled for decades to preserve the structure and the marks left by injured soldiers from both sides - and their caregivers like poet Walt Whitman who came there to find his wounded brother. Whitman found him, nursed him back to health, shipped him home to their momma on a train, but stayed himself to tend to others until all had left Brandy Station.
The writings and drawings are believed to be one of the most extensive collections of Civil War graffiti discovered in recent decades. They were mostly done in charcoal taken from the fireplaces, but some were done in lead pencil. This means that the drawings have not faded and will not fade - so flash photography is not a problem if you want to snap a picture! (That's a novelty in itself!)
July 21, 1861, after the first Battle of Manassas, this house was used as a hospital for retreating soldiers. It was used again in 1863 after Confederate General Richard S. Ewell and Robert E. Lee observed part of the Fleetwood Hill action - which almost made it to the house itself. The home's owner at the time, James Barbour, was actually on Ewell's staff.
The Foundation has identified many of the names on the walls and put their stories together.
Michael Bowman was a member of Company H of the 7th Virginia Cavalry. He enlisted in the Confederate Army April 18, 1861 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He was wounded in the fighting at the Wilderness May 5, 1864 but did recover, survive the war and return to his house near Harrisonburg, Virginia.
These initials are identical to those drawn by George Armstrong Custer, but he usually included an "A," so the Custer folks won't officially confirm these belong to him - though they confess they are drawn identically...
This is an accurate date for the first snowfall of the 1863 winter... November 9th, 1863.
Removing the layers of paint is (thanks to the Federal laws and EPA rules) very, very expensive. The Foundation can only afford to do this in little bits. It costs hundreds of dollars an hour for this specialist to come in.
This is the most historically significant piece of graffiti in the collection: The Maryland Scroll. A member of the Rifle Gun #1 of Breathed's Battery, Stuart Horse Artillery drew this. It lists the entire crew of Rifle Gun #1, and includes the inscription, "On picket, March 16, 1863." The next day is when the Brandy Station battle began. Why, might you ask, is this in a display case? It is one of the pieces that was sold to a private collector. The Foundation was able to raise the money necessary to buy it back.
The stories are too many to tell here. You really should go see this for yourself. And if you appreciate what you have read and learned here, if you go yourself to see more, I truly hope that you send a donation to the Brandy Station Foundation so that they can continue their incredible work.
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