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"Lee's Hill," like
everything else in the South, was named
after the Confederacy's supreme commander
in the eastern theater, Maj. Gen. Robert
Edward Lee. It is certainly one of the
nicest communities in Spotsylvania County
and its landscape is rich in historical
places and events. Before we examine our
first site, let's recall Fredericksburg,
Virginia during the winter of 1862:
What was the area like and
what was going on at the time? Well the
Battle of Fredericksburg had recently
transpired. This battle of course was
fought in and around the city on December
13, 1862. The engagement was between Lee's
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and
the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded
by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside. It is
remembered as one of the most one-sided
battles of the American Civil War. The
Union Army suffered terrible casualties in
futile frontal assaults against entrenched
Confederate defenders on the heights
behind the city, bringing to an early end
their campaign against the Confederate
capital of Richmond.
The Richmond
Examiner described it
as a "stunning defeat to the invader, a
splendid victory to the defender of the
sacred soil." General Lee, normally
reserved, was described by the
Charleston
Mercury as
"jubilant, almost off-balance, and
seemingly desirous of embracing everyone
who calls on him." Another paper exclaimed
that, "General Lee knows his business and
the army has yet known no such word as
fail."
A Union soldier wrote
that, "We might as well have tried to take
hell."
At this point in the war,
the North had to be asking themselves,
"How in the world do these barefoot farm
boys keep whipping us? We have more guns,
more supplies, and more men." The answer
in my opinion is a little luck and #1. The
South's commanders were superior in every
way. (Their line-up card read like the
1927 New York Yankees "Murderer's Row"
with names like Lee, Jackson, Stuart, and
Longstreet.) And #2. Up to this point,
they pretty much had "home field
advantage." The Confederacy was fighting
on their own land in an effort to protect
it. They were more familiar with the
topography and used it to their advantage
at every turn. Additionally they were
protecting their own. When you meet
someone on a foreign or neutral ground it
is one thing, but when they come into your
town and threaten your loved ones, you're
going to respond with fire and vengeance.
These factors were also true in the North.
Antietam was a tactical draw and the
disastrous Battle of Gettysburg witnessed
the "High Water Mark of the
Confederacy."
The Union Army had held
the upper-hand on paper, yet they were
unable to finish the job. The rebels had
such a resolve that they repeatedly beat
the odds and had to, at times, feel
invincible. The President of the United
States, Abraham Lincoln, was a very smart
guy. And he knew that the morale of the
Federal troops following their defeat at
Fredericksburg was exceptionally wounded,
perhaps even more severely than its men.
So he immediately dispatched a letter that
reads as the following:
December 22, 1862: To the
Army of the Potomac, I have just read your
commanding general's report of the battle
of Fredericksburg. Although you were not
successful, the attempt was not an error,
nor the failure other than accident. The
courage with which you, in an open field,
maintained the contest against an
entrenched foe, and the consummate skill
and success, with which you crossed and
re-crossed the river in the face of the
enemy, show that you possess all the
qualities of a great army, which will yet
give victory to the cause of the country
and of popular government. Condoning with
the mourners for the dead, and
sympathizing with the severely wounded, I
congratulate you that the number of both
is comparatively so small. I tender to
you, officers and soldiers, the thanks of
the nation. - A. Lincoln
On the other hand, the
Army of Northern Virginia was sitting on
top of the world. They had not only
defeated the invaders (again), they had
decimated them and sent them retreating
back across the river. Still the trauma
that was experienced by the local citizens
was devastating regardless of the
Confederate's victory. Matilda Hamilton,
who was the daughter of the original
owners of Forest Hill, recorded in her
diary insights about the battle and its
aftermath. Initially there is a sense of
romance and pageantry. She wrote:
Friday, 12th Dec: The
Yankees took possession of Fredericksburg
last night. They shelled the town all
yesterday beginning about daylight. We
made every preparation for leaving home
today. We sent our trunks and valuables to
the forest for protection. At night a
striking scene was presented. All our
troops in battle array were encamped on
the lawn. Every fence and gate has been
taken for firewood. The Camp fires,
looking beautiful, studded the place like
bon fires. I stood at the door and heard
one party singing gay songs, at another, a
graver set preparing for battle by singing
hymns and holding a prayer
meeting.
Her mood however changes
greatly following the engagement. The next
day she penned a disturbing account of the
carnage:
This day the battle was
fought. A continued roar of cannon and
musketry, an awful sound producing an
excitement of feeling hard to define, kept
me from realizing that human beings were
standing up deliberately to murder one
another. Our place was covered with
soldiers. The parlor was filled with
wounded men when I got there. A soldier
came up as we all sat in the porch at
Belvoir and asked if he could get any
nails. We asked what was the matter, and
he told us his friend, a young Barton was
killed, and he wanted to make a coffin for
him.
As with most wars fought
back then, the armies tended to take the
winter off. It was far too difficult to
transport artillery and ammunition. The
horses were very susceptible to the cold
and the troops could not maneuver in the
snow. This gave both sides time to rest,
recuperate, train new recruits (if there
were any) and plan for the spring. Perhaps
the best example of 'winterizing an army'
was General George Washington's troops at
Valley Forge. Like the Continentals, the
Confederate Army found familiar ground and
set up camps around the surrounding area.
Robert E. Lee stationed his troops right
here around Lee's Hill (North) near the
Mine Road entrance.
CONTINUED
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