Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is in Northern Virginia and encompasses four major civil war battles. In 1862 Union General Burnside led his troops against the rock wall in Fredericksburg and it was a spectacular failure. In 1863, Union General Hooker led the Army of Potomac to the same area and was flanked and defeated by General Jackson at Chancellorsville. Unfortunately for the Confederate Army, Jackson was shot that evening and died of pneumonia 10 days later. We visited the site were Jackson died and saw a blanket stained by his blood. In 1864 General Grant oversaw General Meade re-cross the Rappahannock River just north of Fredericksburg and meet the Army of Northern Virginia in stalemates at the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. An interesting piece of information I learned in reading more about the battles once we got home was that General George Meade was born in 1815 in Cádiz, Spain. And better yet, his birthday was December 31 so we were there on his birthday. Owen loved playing on the cannons at Hazel grove. Fredericksburg is a treasure of civil war history that is unfortunately being swallowed up by suburban sprawl. The last stop was to see the Chatham manor estate. Owen had fallen asleep in the car, so I was able to run in to check it out (and get the stamp). The main house sits up on an excellent overlook of the river valley so it is no surprise that the Union used it as their headquarters during the various battles. The estate also was used as a hospital treatment area where even Clara Barton was there to volunteer.
