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Grand reviews of all cavalry and infantry units were an important culmination of the “Valley Forge” period. It provided one final opportunity for the commander-in-chief and his principal army to see one another. The reviews were “practice battles” in which the mass of the army could be marshaled, moved and maneuvered. At the individual level,…

Picket duty was an important component of the Union Army’s “Valley Forge.” The infantry picket line extended around the AOP’s 200-square-mile defensive perimeter. To the west and east there were also cavalry picket lines, outposts, and videttes (mounted sentries). Picket duty was rotated regularly and regiments normally served for fixed time periods. Reserves in echeloned…

Crude surgical stations consisting of two barrels and a wooden board could be placed in tents or other structures.  Large houses or barns were preferred.  Fortunately, only one of four wounded soldiers had to endure surgery.  The others were bandaged, cleaned, and evacuated hoping for the best. The greatest risks to life for wounded soldiers…

Stafford houses, such as the Moncure Conway House and the Lacy House (Chatham Manor) in Falmouth were prominently used as hospitals.  Additionally, tent hospitals were set up throughout the county.

The Federal surgeon’s kit was the mainstay of field surgery. These kits gave the surgeon the limited capability to perform amputations and general surgery necessary to keep wounded alive for evacuation or convalescence.

Field Ambulances (actually wagons with springs) increased in the AOP to about 1,000 vehicles. Officers were assigned to lead the Ambulance Corps in battles to evacuate the wounded to field hospitals, and to rail and steamboat transport. Drivers were detailed from units, trained, drilled and ready for operations.

In March 1863, corps badges were ordered for the entire AOP. The unique shapes, shown here, designated each corps. Colors designated specific divisions (red for 1st, white for 2nd, blue for 3rd, and green for 4th). Intended as much to identify failing or straggling units, these badges were an instant source of unit pride in…

The Army of the Potomac’s (AOP’s) primary mission was the defense of Washington, D.C. Click on map to enlarge. Lee’s army (in red) occupied the Rappahannock’s right bank. Often inaccurately depicted as a “Winter Encampment,” the AOP’s winter of 1863 was a strategic pause in which the army occupied a 200-square-mile, gourd-shaped defensive perimeter. Fully-manned…

This is the camp of 150th Pennsylvania Infantry at Belle Plain in March of 1863. Click on picture to enlarge and see details.  This reflects life in the camps and exposure to the radically changing elements. Note the choking smoke in the regimental streets from crude, improvised chimneys. The troops are in formation in the…

Captain Shaw’s father traveled by steamboat to Aquia Landing.  From there he went by train to Brooke Station.  Once he found his son, he presented him with Massachusetts’ Governor John Andrew’s offered command of the first black regiment of Massachusetts.  Shaw thought about it and even wrote to his parents and fiancé.  He finally accepted…

While Captain Robert Gould Shaw was in Stafford, his personal destiny was being planned in Washington and Boston, as Secretary Edwin Stanton, Massachusetts Governor John Andrew and activist Frederick Douglass sought to organize the first black volunteer regiment in the North, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Governor Andrew gave Shaw’s father an offer for his son…

On January 24th, 1863, Captain Robert Gould Shaw, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, arrived by steamboat at Aquia Landing . Wounded at Antietam, he returned to the XII Army Corps via Brooke Station and found his dispirited regiment encamped near Stafford Court House. Shaw wrote, “The corps had a very hard march down…it was raining hard here,…