Huguenot Springs

Huguenot Springs. Confederate Hospital and Cemetery. , Pvt. Thomas Bennett, 1st Louisiana; Pvt. Lewis Black, 4th Texas; and Pvt. Charles W. Hall, 7th Virginia; these are just three of the more than 250 Confederate soldiers who are buried in the cemetery that lies in front of you. Those soldiers died, mostly from disease, at the Huguenot Springs Convalescent Hospital, which stood about 200 yards to your left., The hospital had a much more pleasant origin as the Huguenot Springs Hotel that opened in 1847. The spa and resort included a three-story main hotel, cottages, outbuildings, and mineral springs., In 1862 the Confederate government converted the hotel into a hospital for sick or convalescing soldiers. Instead of guests seeking relaxation, the war brought wounded and recovering Confederate soldiers to the grounds., Canal boats and rail cars brought patients here from Richmond, 18 miles to the east. The number of patients fluctuated from a low of 231 to as many as 1,500. Overflow patients were housed in the chapel, on the porches, in tents, and even on the lawn., [Captions:] , Pvt. Thomas J. McMichael, 13th Georgia, was hospitalized here, and there are more than 100 identified Confederate burials in the cemetery. The Powhatan Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy took ownership of the cemetery and erected the obelisk in 1915. The cemetery has been owned and maintained by the J.E.B. Stuart Camp 1343, Sons of Confederate Veterans since 1977., The hotel burned down in 1889, ut some cottages still stand on private property. , From The Virginia Springs, published 1857.