Walt Whitman Arrives in Stafford
Walt Whitman, the famous American poet and author, visited Stafford after the Battle of Fredericksburg, as he was trying to find his brother who was injured. He found him near the Lacy House in good condition. Whitman’s writings describe the house which was being used as a hospital: “The large mansion is quite crowded, upstairs and down, everything impromptu, no system, all bad enough, but I have no doubt the best that can be done; all the wounds pretty bad, some frightful, the men in their old clothes, unclean and bloody. Some of the wounded are rebel soldiers and officers, prisoners…I went through the rooms, downstairs and up. Some of the men were dying. I had nothing to give at that visit, but wrote a few letters to folks home, mothers, etc.”
