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Vint Hill Farms in Fauquier County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Buckland Mills Battle

Custer's Position

 
 
Buckland Mills Battle Marker image. Click for full size.
June 7, 2009
1. Buckland Mills Battle Marker
Inscription. (Preface): On October 19, 1863, 12,000 Confederate and Union cavalry clashed at the Battle of Buckland Mills in the last large-scale Confederate victory in Virginia. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, screening the Confederate infantry’s march to Culpeper County, blocked Union Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick’s advance at Buckland, then withdrew west. Union Gen. Henry E. Davies’s brigade pursued Stuart while Gen. George A. Custer’s brigade occupied Buckland. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee suddenly attacked Custer from the south, isolating the two brigades, and Stuart charged Davies. The Federals fled east. The Confederates called the engagement the “Buckland Races.”

(main text)
On the morning of October 19, 1863, two cavalry commands occupied this ground in succession. Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and his men held it from about 10 A.M. until noon before withdrawing west along the Warrenton Turnpike as Union Gen. George A. Custer’s cavalry brigade approached from your left. Custer occupied this position while Gen. Henry E. Davies’s brigade passed, lured west by Stuart.

Early in the afternoon, as Custer’s men rested in the then-open fields before you, Confederate Gen. Fitzhugh Lee’s division struck from the woods to your right front, pushing Custer back here and separating his brigade from Davies’s at New Baltimore. Lee drove Custer
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east from here across the Broad Run bridge toward Gainesville, and the Confederates held this ground again by evening. Lee pursued Custer until long after dark, and Stuart drove Davies beyond Broad Run upstream from here.

The Confederates lost about 50 men, the Federals about 260, mostly prisoners. Stuart termed the rout, his last victory over cavalry, “the most complete that any cavalry … suffered during this war.” Custer called the day “the most disastrous this division ever passed through.”

(Sidebar): Founded in 1797, Buckland became a thriving community with two mills, a large distillery, and several taverns. The Warrenton-Alexandria Turnpike and a pest-resistant strain of wheat developed here added to the town’s prosperity. During the war, the turnpike bridge became a military objective. On August 27, 1862, during the Second Manassas campaign, Union Gen. Robert Milroy’s brigade, marching toward Gainesville, found the Broad Run bridge on fire and Confederate cavalry with one piece of artillery on the opposite side. Milroy’s cavalry detachment drove them off. The men quickly repaired the bridge so that parts of Union Gen. John Pope’s army could march across it to Manassas. The war forced many of the businesses in town to close.

(captions)
(center) Custer (on left with arms folded) watches his guns fire on Buckland from Cerro
Buckland Mills Battle Marker (original location) image. Click for full size.
June 7, 2009
2. Buckland Mills Battle Marker (original location)
Gordo. Alfred R. Waud drawing, “Buckland from Mr. Hunton's House” – Courtesy Library of Congress

(lower left) Battle of Buckland Mills map between portraits of Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and Gen. George A. Custer Courtesy Library of Congress

(sidebar) Buckland Mills. Edwin Forbes drawing, “Crossing at Broad Run” -Courtesy Library of Congress


 
Erected 2009 by Virginia Civil War Trails.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is October 1920.
 
Location. 38° 46.634′ N, 77° 40.898′ W. Marker is in Vint Hill Farms, Virginia, in Fauquier County. Marker is at the intersection of Vint Hill Road (Virginia Route 215) and Lee Highway (U.S. 15/29), on the right when traveling north on Vint Hill Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6274 Vint Hill Road, Warrenton VA 20187, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Buckland (approx. half a mile away); The Buckland Mill (approx. half a mile away); Battle of Buckland Mills (approx. one mile away); Second Manassas Campaign
Buckland Mills Battle Marker (new location) image. Click for full size.
October 29, 2019
3. Buckland Mills Battle Marker (new location)
(approx. 2.1 miles away); Vint Hill Farms Station (approx. 2.4 miles away); Aldo Leopold (approx. 2½ miles away); On Hallowed Ground (approx. 2½ miles away); “Greenwich” (approx. 2.6 miles away).
 
More about this marker. The marker has been moved from its original location at 16211 Lee Highway (38.77993, -77.67468).
 
Also see . . .  The Buckland Love Museum. (Submitted on October 31, 2019.)
 
Close-up of Map on Marker image. Click for full size.
June 7, 2009
4. Close-up of Map on Marker
The Buckland Mill on western bank of the Broad Run River image. Click for full size.
June 7, 2009
5. The Buckland Mill on western bank of the Broad Run River
The present building, constructed about 1900 on earlier foundations, is believed to be the third mill built on this site.
Buckland Tavern image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bradley Owen, October 13, 2018
6. Buckland Tavern
The Army of the Potomac crossing Broad Run. Retreat from Culpepper (sic) image. Click for more information.
Photographed By Edwin Forbes, October 14, 1863
7. The Army of the Potomac crossing Broad Run. Retreat from Culpepper (sic)
Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-79202]
Click for more information.
Buckland from Mr. Huntons house image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Alfred R. Waud, October 19, 1863
8. Buckland from Mr. Huntons house
Library of Congress [LC-DIG-ppmsca-22431]
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 8, 2021. It was originally submitted on June 8, 2009. This page has been viewed 3,621 times since then and 24 times this year. Last updated on June 7, 2021. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on June 8, 2009.   3. submitted on November 11, 2019, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.   4, 5. submitted on June 8, 2009.   6. submitted on June 6, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia.   7. submitted on June 8, 2009.   8. submitted on November 11, 2019, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024