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In the spring of 1864, General U.S. Grant set all of the Federal armies in the Eastern Theater in motion. His headquarters was with Meade’s Army of the Potomac. Along with the independent IX Army Corps (Burnside), that army attacked in a series of battles, engagements and skirmishes, including those at the Wilderness (May 5-7,…

Depleted militarily and with resources eroding rapidly, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia had faced their own “Valley Forge” during the winter of 1863-1864. The Federal Army of the Potomac, having achieved little during the Bristow and Mine Run campaigns in late 1863, but in a superior position strategically, spent the winter in the Culpeper area…

Washington’s own words describe his time with the Union troops in Falmouth: “They [Union soldiers] insisted on my going up to their camp on the hill, and continued to ask all kinds of questions about the ‘Rebs.’ I was conducted all over their camp and shown every thing that could interest me. Most kind attention…

Ellen and William Craft were formerly enslaved in Georgia who escaped and traveled north via train and steamboat in 1848.  They traveled openly.  She posed as a white male planter since she was a light skinned mulatto and he as her servant.  They passed through Aquia Landing on their trip to Boston.  Later, they wrote…

Henry “Box” Brown was enslaved in Louisa County, Virginia.  Brown’s daring self-emancipation followed soon after his pregnant wife and three children were sold in August 1848 by the family’s enslaver to a Methodist minister in North Carolina. Distressed by this betrayal, Brown resolved to escape.  He later recounted hearing in his mind the words “Go and…

John Washington actually witnessed the burial of the soldiers at Falmouth’s Union Church that died at the skirmish in Falmouth.  He wrote, “…. very early next morning … the soldiers had a sad duty to perform.”   He realized that people were actually dying for his freedom.

The mass of self-emancipators launched on an uncertain journey.  Some took paid jobs as workers with the Union Army.  Thousands more moved northward by foot, wagon and rail, most of them boarding steamboats at Aquia Landing, Gateway to Freedom, bound for Alexandria and Washington, D.C.

John Washington wrote about standing in Fredericksburg (at today’s Old Mill Park) by the shore of the Rappahannock River: Very soon one, of a party of soldiers, in a boat call out to the crowd standing around me do any of you want to come over–Every body said “no,” I hallowed out, “Yes I want…

Stoneman’s Railroad Station, was located below today’s Conway Elementary School site.  According to Noel Harrison, National Park Service historian, Stoneman’s Station was a “flag stop” on the U.S.M.R.R. (R.F.&P.).  It received its name in November of 1862 when it was established to supply the nearby camps of Union General George Stoneman’s III Corps.  About half…

The Falmouth Railroad Station was located on today’s Cool Springs Road, on the site of the Fraternal Order of Eagles’ Lodge. It is the only drawing that exists of the station. The original is at the West Point Library, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York. It is by Durfee.

This field-printed general order refers to the period after the battle of Fredericksburg (December 11-15, 1862) and prior to the “Mud March” Campaign (January 20-24, 1863) when the army is encamped in Stafford County. Somewhere around 25,000-35,000 desertions/absences without leave were recorded during this period. This reflects army commander Major General Ambrose Burnside’s effort to…

Aquia Landing literally became a “military city” and major port facility. On any given day large numbers of ships of all sizes came and departed with logistical loads and people. New logistical innovations were implemented in rail-to-barge-to-rail transfers and advanced loading/unloading docks employed. Millions of pounds of supplies were handled there daily. Aquia Landing