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Fredericksburg, Va., April 24, 1861 Brigadier-General Ruggles: By your orders I proceeded to Aquia Creek, and examined the place, with the view of fortifying it, for the purposes indicated in your verbal directions of this date, viz: To secure the railroad iron, the timber, two vessels, and a small steamer at that point from the…

During April-June 1861, when Virginia was conducting independent operations, defenses were planned for the mouth of Aquia Creek as part of the Potomac and Rappahannock Lines for interdicting or harassing Federal ships in the Potomac. Initial planning for Aquia Landing defenses was done by Virginia engineer Thomas Hoomes Williamson of the VMI faculty. Artillery batteries…

Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow, a native of adjoining Culpeper County and prewar Mississippi school teacher, was slight of build (approximately 94 pounds). He served throughout the war as one of J.E.B. Stuart’s “scouts” or military spies. He worked in cooperation with Colonel John S. Mosby in northern Virginia. A “master” or “mistress“ “of disguise,” by war’s…

Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart coordinated military spies or “scouts.” His pocket map specifically listed several Stafford places known or suspected to be spy-centers: “Stafford Springs,” ” Traveller’s Rest,” “Hollywood Farm,”  “Snowden,” etc.

The Confederate Signal Corps and Secret Service Cipher Wheel used by Secret Service operatives to encode and decode secret messages.  Phrases such as “Complete Victory” or “Come Retribution” were used as code keys to align encoded or decoded letters.

Several Confederate Stafford “Safe-Houses” and “Spy Centers” were known to exist. They included Stafford Springs in northwest Stafford, now within Marine Corps Base Quantico. The springs had been a small resort earlier in the 1800s. As described by historian Jerrilynn Eby MacGregor: During the Civil War, the business of the farm changed from entertainment for…

Confederate States Signal Corps and Secret Service operatives occupied camps near key Potomac crossing points and rowed across in sleek, fast row-boats with amazing speed by taking advantage of light and shadows on the river. Those captured by waterborne Federal patrols were usually able to dump secret information or material and/or illicit supplies. As a…

Confederate spies, such as Washington resident Rose Greenhow, populated key cells in Union cities and passed useful information to the Confederacy.  In Stafford there was a spy, Jane Gray, who lived by the Rappahannock River.  Her home, Traveller’s Rest,  had a bay window where she could easily notify the “rebels” on the other side of…

A defensive scheme was developed to protect the commonwealth along the Union’s two most likely avenues of advance and lines of communication: (1) Washington-Richmond via the Orange-Alexandria Railroad and Central Virginia Railroad; and (2) Washington-Richmond via the Potomac River and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. This scheme resulted in the “Potomac Line” between Mount…

Headquarters, Fredericksburg, Va., April 22, 1861 By the authority of the governor of the State of Virginia I assume command of the volunteers and militia along the line of the Potomac River, extending from Mount Vernon south to the mouth of the Rappahannock River. Headquarters are established at this place until further orders. Daniel Ruggles…

After the summer of 1862, Virginia’s troops, including those from Stafford, fought in General Robert E. Lee’s vaunted Army of Northern Virginia. That army left an indelible mark on American military history and our national fighting traditions. Zealously fighting for family, home, county, and state, as well as the fatally flawed Confederate nation, they defeated…

Union generals Hooker and Sickles were both in Maryland.  Hooker’s subordinate, Daniel E. Sickles, commanded New York’s “Excelsior” Brigade.  Balloon reconnaissance operations in December of 1861 monitored Confederates along the Potomac from Quantico Creek south to Chopawamsic Creek in Stafford. On April 2, 1862, General Dan Sickles and his Excelsior Brigade raided across the Potomac…