The Civil War in Stevensburg

The Civil War in Stevensburg. Hansbrough's Ridge. Named for Peter Hansbrough, who purchased both adjacent Cole's Hill and Hansbrough's Ridge in 1812, this elevated land was a strategic location throughout the Civil War and passed between Union and Confederate control several times. Troops from both sides marched to Stevensburg and Hansbrough's Ridge at the beginning of the war and additional action took place on June 9, 1863, during the Battle of Brandy Station. Confederate forces controlled the ridge that day and prevented a Federal division from joining nearby forces fighting against General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry., During the winter of 1863-1864, the Union's Army of the Potomac created a semipermanent winter encampment on the ridge, visible from here, to counter the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's southern position across the Rapidan River. The 2nd Corps, nearly 20,000 men, camped for five months along the slopes and ridge overlooking Stevensburg. Company streets provided order to the hundreds of tents and shelters built along the ridge. The land was completely deforested by winter's end. Artillery lined the ridge crest surrounded by a network of trenches that ultimately encircled the camp creating defensible positions along military roads. The encampment also included a hospital and signal station that provided services throughout the winter. , General Ulysses S. Grant made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac after meeting with President Lincoln on March 9, 1864, and receiving promotion to lieutenant general. The long encampment and arrival of Grant unified the Federal forces as the winter ended and spring arrived. On May 4, 1864, Grant's army began moving across the Rapidan to being the Wilderness campaign and abandoned the camp created on Hansbrough's Ridge., Sidebar: , "...about equidistant from Brandy and Culpeper, is a hamlet of a halfdozen age-worn houses called Stevensburg, sitting at the foot of a lonely bare hill that looks like a giant asleep." , -Morris Schaff, former Union soldier, Atlantic Monthly, 1909.