Battle of Brandy Station

Battle of Brandy Station. Culpepper and the American Revolution. In addition to it's rich Civil War history, Culpepper County has a deep connection to the American Revolution. When the British parliament implemented the Stamp Act in 1765, requiring colonists to pay a tax on various forms of paper, Culpepper's sixteen justices of the peace resigned their commissions to Royal Governor Francis Fauquier. Henry Field Jr. and Henry Pendleton, both Culpepper residents and serving in the House of Burgesses, signed the Association Document in protest to Parliament closing the port of Boston. The two men participated in the Virginia Convention that met in March 1775 to elect delegates to the Second Continental Congress., After fighting broke out in Massachusetts, Virginia established Minute Battalions for defense while Culpepper organized it's own battalion. Attached to Col. William Woolford's 2nd Virginia, the unit played a critical role in the Patriot Victory at Great Bridge in southeast Virginia later that year that helped alleviate a British threat to the state posed by Royal Governor Lord. Dunmore., Edward Stevens was among the many from Culpepper who served during the conflict. Stevens rose to the rank of general in the Virginia Militia, fought at the Battle of Camden and received a wound at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. He is buried in the Masonic Cemetery on North Main Street in Culpepper., The Marquis de Lafayette marched through the county in June 1781 crossing many places that would become storied in the American Civil War, the Rapidan River, Ely's Ford, Hansbrough Ridge, (part of the Brandy Station battlefield), Stevensburg and Raccoon Ford. Shortly thereafter Lafayette united his command with Gen. Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania Continentals prior to the Yorktown campaign., "We hope soon to put a stop to his (Royal Governor Lord Dunmore's) Career and recover all we have lost, for Col. Woolford … is … very near him with his regiment and 250 Minute Men for the Culpepper Battalion [sic]" , John Page to Thomas Jefferson, November 24, 1775, (captions) , As a young man, future commander of the Continental Army and President, George Washington served as a surveyor in Culpepper County. In addition to their service in the American Revolution, Culpepper's citizens served in Washington's Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War defending the Virginia Frontier. Courtesy of Museums at Washington and Lee University, Lexington Virginia, The author of the Declaration of Independence was a frequent visitor to Culpepper during his presidency. Thomas Jefferson stayed with his friend John Strode at his home, Fleetwood, which lent its name to the hill where it stood, two miles behind you. Fleetwood Hill later became the epicenter of the fighting at Brandy Station. Courtesy of the Library of Congress