Mulberry Hill

Mulberry Hill. "She Was Closely Plied by Questions". Union cavalrymen swarmed over this ground on the afternoon of June 25, 1864, as mounted soldiers advanced on the wagon road that ran behind you and Union Gen. James Wilson established his headquarters in front of you at "Mulberry Hill," the wartime home of John and Nancy McPhail., Wilson was the commander of a 5,000-man cavalry force sent to destroy the railroads supplying Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army near Petersburg. One of their targets for destruction was the critical Staunton River Bridge, a 600-foot-long span that carried the railroad over the Roanoke River to your right., John McPhail had gone to war, so Nancy McPhail met the invaders alone. "She was closely plied by questions," her son recalled, "And her answers severely tested." She reported that the bridge was defended by 10,000 Confederates, but there were actually fewer than 1,000. To mislead the Federals, the Confederates ran a train back and forth, out of sight, with the rattling train card, whistles, and cheers giving the impression that reinforcements were pouring in., When the battle began, cannon on the ground behind you roared out, the blasts shaking the ground. During the fighting, the outbuildings and slave quarters on the McPhail Farm were used as field hospitals for wounded Union troops., Four times Union troops attacked towards the bridge; four times they were turned back. Just before sunset, Confederate cavalry attacked the Union rear. Wilson decided to withdraw, and the Federals slipped away before dawn, burning Roanoke Station but sparing Mulberry Hill, likely due to its occupation by the stouthearted Nancy McPhail.