03 April 2013 by Published in: Battlefield stomping 3 comments

I’m pleased to invite all of you to attend the Sesquicentennial commemoration of the Battle of Brandy Station, to be held on Saturday, June 8, 2013.

In conjunction with the Loudoun County Civil War Roundtable, the 150th anniversary of North America’s largest cavalry battle will be commemorated. The precise details are still being worked out, so I can’t provide you with an exact schedule yet. However, we will be conducting an all-day walking tour of the battlefield that day. And the best part: it’s FREE!!!

However, we want to recommend that, in lieu of paying for the tour, everyone who participates makes a donation to the Civil War Trust’s campaign to save Fleetwood Hill. The amount can be your choice, but we would like to see everyone who attends the tour make a donation of some sort.

Bud Hall, the nation’s leading expert on the Battle of Brandy Station, will be conducting a uniquely rare walking tour of remote battlefield sites that have never before been visited by any tour group. Craig Swain, yours truly, and some of the other folks who have been involved in the fight to save Fleetwood Hill will also assist in leading the tour. Priceless anti-bellum homes and bucolic river fords are just a few of the historically significant sites that will be visited on this special tour. Bud Hall told me today that he will be leading a tour group into the area on Yew Ridge where Rooney Lee had his fencing match with Wesley Merritt for the very first time that day. This is an exceptional Sesquicentennial event that you will not want to miss! All tour materials including maps and handouts will be provided. A bag lunch, hat, sunscreen, bug spray and walking shoes are suggested for this tour which will take place rain or shine. Come join us as we commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Brandy Station!

To RSVP, click here. Please note, while this is a free tour, we do ask for you to RSVP so we can obtain an accurate headcount. We will use the site to disseminate detailed information about the event. The site simply asks for your name and email address. You will receive a “ticket” via email.

What: Battle of Brandy Station Tour

Where: Brandy Station, Virginia

When: Saturday, June 8, 2013, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Please mark the date on your calendar!

I hope to see some of you there!

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Comments

  1. Clark B. Hall
    Sun 07th Apr 2013 at 4:46 pm

    Eric, thanks for this timely post.. The itinerary of this truly special 150th Anniversary Tour of the Battle of Brandy Station is just now being set in concrete and I do want to let you know how much I look forward to working with you, Craig Swain, Michael Block, and several others as we prepare to convey high honor to those horse soldiers, Blue and Gray, who fought and died at Brandy Station, June 9, 1863.

    But while paying proper tribute to you and others for arranging your schedules to help conduct this tour, I’d like to let your readers know that this upcoming Sesquicentennial event is the brainchild of the inestimable Cecil Jones, Loudoun County (VA) Civil War Roundtable.

    Cecil’s esteemed roundtable, as you know, is one of the oldest and most distinguished in this country, and I was pleased to speak to them in the early 90’s on the explosively contentious preservation effort then underway at Brandy Station–which the Civil War Trust ultimately won, by the way, with the help of many of your readers..

    You will recall that the “Civil War Cavalry Sage” himself, the peerless John Divine (now resting honorably beneath an SCV marker in Leesburg’s cemetery), once held sway over the Leesburg Civil War Round Table, and John invited me to speak, “way back then.” Later, Jim Morgan my fellow Marine and Balls Bluff champion, asked me to again talk to the roundtable in the late 90’s, and of course I accepted.

    Well when President Cecil Jones called with a suggestion of inserting a tour on June 8 in order to augment my previously scheduled talk of June 11, I joined with him in concluding it was a fine idea, and now here we are! Frankly, anything Cecil asks me to do, I will endeavor to accomplish as Cecil, John Divine and Jim Morgan were the greatest of friends with my wife Deborah Fitts, and Deb would of course want me to now honor Cecil’s every wish. (And I do what she wants me to do.)

    This tour will cover several broad topics, to include the strategic role of Brandy Station as the inaugural action of the Gettysburg Campaign; and from ground level, we will undertake a tactical analysis of this huge battlefield. Plus, the attendees will closely observe sections of the battlefield none have ever seen (guaranteed). Plus, I will discuss the long preservation struggle that resulted in a largely-saved cavalry battlefield, and will then detail preservation challenges and acquisition opportunities that we currently face.

    As you know, the Civil War Trust is actively and deeply engaged right now in trying to buy southern Fleetwood Hill, but it is a fact that the price tag is steep, and all of us who care about Brandy Station have an obligation to do all we can to “make Fleetwood happen.” And even though we will not charge an “admission fee” (the battlefield belongs to those who helped preserve it), we will strongly encourage donations to the Civil War Trust’s, “Fleetwood Account.” It is a fact that we want every attendee to have “skin in the game” when it comes to Brandy Station’s long-term preservation.

    More details to come as they are worked out by President Jones and his roundtable’s board..

    See you on June 8 at Brandy Station!

  2. Jerry Lake
    Fri 10th May 2013 at 8:14 pm

    My Grandfather, William P Lake ,fought in the battle of Brandy Station with The Jeff Davis Legion CO. F
    He served under Col. J frederick Waring and Wade Hampton and is on the Roll of Honor for Brandy
    Station. I would like to attend the TOUR but would be unable to walk ALL day due to my age.
    Is there any arrangement that can be made to minimize walking?

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