Yet, even as the county’s men joined the war, geography and circumstance insured that Culpeper itself would be a focal point for military action. Geographically, it sat midway between and slightly to the west of Richmond and Washington, D.C., and railroads linked it to both national capitals. The Orange and Alexandria ran northward from the county seat of Culpeper Court House to Alexandria; the Virginia Central connected the county to Richmond via Gordonsville. In addition, the Rappahannock River formed the county’s northern boundary, and Culpeper marked the first point on the river where an invading Union force could ford the Rappahannock during most of the year. Outside of the Shenandoah Valley, it was one of the best invasion routes in the state.
5,650 (869 killed, 4,241 wounded, and 540 missing)
ENTRY
SUMMARY
The Battle of Malvern Hill, fought on July 1, 1862, and the final engagement of the Seven Days’ Battles, resulted in a Confederate defeat, yet it still managed to halt Union general George B. McClellan‘s offensive up the Peninsula and against the Confederate capital at Richmond during the American Civil War (1861–1865). After a week of hard marching and maneuvering, the new Confederate commander, Robert E. Lee, decided to attack McClellan full-on at Malvern Hill, where the Union general had massed his artillery. His assault was piecemeal, however, and bloodily repelled, prompting Confederate general D. H. Hill to remark that “it was not war it was murder.”
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US Army/Staff Sgt. Jennifer Bunn
In May 1864, nearly 200,000 Union and Confederate soldiers clashed in a dense wooded area in Virginia known as The Wilderness.
But in the midst of that battle, the two armies paused to watch two of their troops square off in a one-on-one battle.
There s just something about two people in a fistfight that s irresistible to watch. We can t look away.
There s something about the sound of a sliding bar stool, the rising tide of voices shouting, and the sudden rush of action in one spot that is just pure entertainment. But there shouldn t be any reason to stop and watch two soldiers fistfight in the middle of war.
We Are The Mighty | By Blake Stilwell
There’s just something about two people in a fistfight that’s irresistible to watch. We can’t look away. There’s something about the sound of a sliding barstool, the rising tide of voices shouting, and the sudden rush of action in one spot that is just pure entertainment.
But there shouldn’t be any reason to stop and watch two soldiers fistfight in the middle of war.
Though it’s an interesting idea. (Wikipedia)
That’s why it’s surprising that it actually happened. And all the onlookers were Americans – it was during the Civil War.