Big commemoration coming for Brandy Station, pivotal but long overlooked local Civil War battle

It was a historic event that nearly faded from history.

But next month, the Battle of Brandy Station in Culpeper will have its biggest commemoration yet – three days of activities marking its 160th anniversary.

The ceremony, from June 9 to 11, will feature battlefield tours, re-enactments and historical talks that flesh out what was not only the largest cavalry battle fought in North America, but also an 1863 clash that would have repercussions at Gettysburg a month later. 

“If the Battle of Brandy Station is not fought, I would submit to you that the Confederates could have gone on to create major havoc in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and could have, in fact, surrounded the city of Washington,” said local historian Clark “Bud” Hall. “All but for the Battle of Brandy Station.” 

Almost lost

How was it then, that an event with such ripple effects would, for many years, go largely neglected and misunderstood? That is, misunderstood to the point where part of the battlefield was almost developed into a business park, and later into a Formula One racetrack.

Hall, who has been involved with the successful efforts to preserve Brandy Station since 1987, believes it has to do with how Civil War historians generally viewed cavalry engagements. “After the war, when people started writing about it, cavalry tended to be overlooked,” he said. “Cavalry warfare is hard to pin down because it’s mobile. Guys were riding around. Where were the lines? I’ve struggled with that myself.”

But Brandy Station was unique largely because cavalry soldiers were involved in such great numbers. Nearly 19,000 mounted troops fought there, with slightly more on the Union side under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, than those commanded by Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. 

The battle, which included an intense, back-and-forth clash on horseback in a section known as Fleetwood Hill, lasted almost 14 hours. The Union forces suffered considerably more casualties – 866 to 433 – and when the fighting ended, the Confederates held the field.

But it was a “victory” that would prove crucially consequential. 

Surprise attack 

After his impressive triumph at Chancellorsville a week earlier, General Robert E. Lee had hoped a successful incursion into Union territory would provide food and supplies for his Confederate army, and perhaps even force President Abraham Lincoln to end the war. So a plan was devised where Stuart and his cavalry would screen much of Lee’s troops as they moved through Rappahannock County, and headed toward Maryland and Pennsylvania. On the way, many of the Confederate units camped at Chester Gap. 

But while Stuart’s horse soldiers were assembled at Brandy Station, he had them stage three tiring military reviews, including one for Lee the day before the battle. That drew the attention of Union scouts, and Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, then head of the Northern army, ordered his cavalry to cross the Rappahannock River and “disperse and destroy” Stuart’s mounted troops. Hooker didn’t realize that beyond Stuart, to the west, was much of Lee’s infantry. The Union commander simply feared a Confederate cavalry raid.

When attacked before dawn on June 9, Stuart’s soldiers were so unprepared that some rode into battle without saddles. Late in the morning, the Confederates were caught off guard again after another Union cavalry division took a circuitous route and ended up behind Stuart’s men.  

The battle in Culpeper took a significant toll on the Southern cavalry in terms of both men and horses, and it delayed Lee’s move into the Northern states. It also damaged Stuart’s reputation. Afterwards, a number of Southern newspapers portrayed him as “conceited” and “showy,” chided his “puffed up cavalry” and lambasted him for allowing his troops to be surprised twice in one day.

Some historians believe Stuart’s desire to remove the taint of Brandy Station spurred him to be overly aggressive in launching subsequent raids as he and his three brigades of cavalry headed east to circle behind the Union army, also headed north. In one, at Rockville, Md.,they captured 120 supply wagons, a feat that ultimately slowed them down and clearly diminished Stuart’s effectiveness as Lee’s eyes and ears while Southern troops crossed into enemy territory. In fact, Lee didn’t hear from Stuart for eight days, severely limiting the Confederate commander’s knowledge of the size and location of the force he would face at Gettysburg.

Living history

There was another pivotal aspect to the confrontation at Brandy Station. For the first time in the war, Union cavalry troops had not been dominated by their Confederate counterparts. From that point on, neither had a clear advantage. Or as one top Confederate officer put it: “It made the Federal cavalry.”

Different parts of the historic cavalry battle will be re-enacted on Saturday and Sunday of the weekend, according to Susan Ralston, co-founder of Culpeper Battlefield Tours. She said many of the re-enactors will be on horseback, and that six cannon will also be part of the recreated clash.

Another highlight will be personal stories told by re-enactors playing the roles of Stuart and Pleasonton, who led the opposing cavalry troops. 

The commemoration will begin at 5:30 a.m, on Friday, to coincide with when the battle erupted 160 years ago. Through the morning and early afternoon licensed guides will lead tours of the battlefield, sharing the narrative of the confrontation as it unfolded. The event will wrap up Sunday afternoon with a screening of the movie “Gettysburg” and a talk by Rappahannock resident Ron Maxwell, its director and writer.

A full schedule is available at culpeperbattlefieldtours.com/events-and-news

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