Urbanna in Middlesex County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Civil War
Urbanna, Virginia
The Museum in the Streets
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 25, 2021
1. Civil War Marker
Inscription.
Civil War. Urbanna, Virginia. During the Civil War, ships came and went into Urbanna Creek as the town was occupied at different times by Federal and Confederate forces. Just off the mouth of the creek, on November 8, 1861, a Union tug and steamer armed with cannons fired upon the town. A group known as the Middlesex Light Dragoons, later part of the Confederate 55th Virginia Infantry, was using the old County Courthouse building in town as barracks. As the firing began, soldiers and residents ran for safety from homes and buildings down into the Lansdowne ravine behind Virginia Street and the Spouts Cove ravine on Watling Street. The town was shelled for several hours as Union cannon balls fell upon the town. Although homes and the courthouse building were struck, legend has it that the only death from cannon fire that day was a town hare that ran out of its hole during the shelling. When Union vessels came to town, the large local slave population saw the town waterfront and those Union ships as a clear path to freedom. When word spread of Union vessels on Urbanna Creek, slaves seeking freedom ran away into the dark of night and hid in town ravines. At daylight they boldly walked straight down Watling, Virginia, Cross or Prince George streets to Union sailors and freedom. Several of those former slaves enlisted in the Union Army, fought in the 36th U.S. Colored Infantry, and were among Union forces that invaded Middlesex in 1861. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan proposed to President Abraham Lincoln, the "Urbanna Plan", a military plan to move Union forces behind Confederate flanks and invade Richmond through Urbanna. Just before the invasion of the town in March of 1862, Confederate forces moved from Manassas towards the Rappahannock River, making the plan strategically useless.
During the Civil War, ships came and went into Urbanna Creek as the town was occupied at different times by Federal and Confederate forces. Just off the mouth of the creek, on November 8, 1861, a Union tug and steamer armed with cannons fired upon the town. A group known as the Middlesex Light Dragoons, later part of the Confederate 55th Virginia Infantry, was using the old County Courthouse building in town as barracks. As the firing began, soldiers and residents ran for safety from homes and buildings down into the Lansdowne ravine behind Virginia Street and the Spouts Cove ravine on Watling Street. The town was shelled for several hours as Union cannon balls fell upon the town. Although homes and the courthouse building were struck, legend has it that the only death from cannon fire that day was a town hare that ran out of its hole during the shelling. When Union vessels came to town, the large local slave population saw the town waterfront and those Union ships as a clear path to freedom. When word spread of Union vessels on Urbanna Creek, slaves seeking freedom ran away into the dark of night and hid in town ravines.
Click or scan to see this page online
At daylight they boldly walked straight down Watling, Virginia, Cross or Prince George streets to Union sailors and freedom. Several of those former slaves enlisted in the Union Army, fought in the 36th U.S. Colored Infantry, and were among Union forces that invaded Middlesex in 1861. Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan proposed to President Abraham Lincoln, the "Urbanna Plan", a military plan to move Union forces behind Confederate flanks and invade Richmond through Urbanna. Just before the invasion of the town in March of 1862, Confederate forces moved from Manassas towards the Rappahannock River, making the plan strategically useless.
Erected by The Museum in the Streets. (Marker Number 14.)
Location. 37° 38.261′ N, 76° 34.239′ W. Marker is in Urbanna, Virginia, in Middlesex County.
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), November 25, 2021
2. Civil War Marker
It is on Oyster Road 0.1 miles north of Virginia Street (Virginia Route 602), on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 210 Oyster Rd, Urbanna VA 23175, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in the Tidewater, in the Chesapeake Bay Region, and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on November 3, 2024. It was originally submitted on November 25, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 760 times since then and 28 times this year. Last updated on November 25, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. Photos:1, 2. submitted on November 25, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
