CWTrust Save Upperville

[CMWinkler]

In June 1863, as General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army made its way north toward Pennsylvania, Union General Alfred Pleasonton sent cavalry probes through gaps in the Blue Ridge mountains to discover Lee's whereabouts and intentions. On June 21, one of Pleasonton's divisions under General David M. Gregg met Confederate cavalry just west of Middleburg, Virginia, near Ashby's Gap. Aided by infantry under Colonel Strong Vincent, Gregg's troopers pushed the Rebels back toward Upperville. The Confederates made a stand at Goose Creek Bridge, using the creek's steep banks as a natural defensive position. Amidst a hail of small arms and artillery fire, Vincent's men stormed the bridge, capturing it and a number of Confederate prisoners. The Yankees, however, were no closer to discovering Lee's intentions or the movement toward Gettysburg.

More: https://www.civilwar.org/give/save-battlefields/save-upperville

 

[DaveBrt]

The Goose Creek Bridge is one of a handful of bridges built by Virginia on the Little River Turnpike in the early 1830's. This is the only one that remains.

We visited the GCB a couple of weeks ago while tracing the route that Mr. Thomas R. Sharp took in hauling south 2 Alexander, Loudoun & Hampshire RR locomotives and several cars in early August, 1861. These locomotives were moved before Sharp hauled the Baltimore & Ohio RR locomotives from Martinsburg. These first 2 locomotives used a bridge just like GCB, just a short distance east of the surviving bridge.

(More details in my book, Locomotives Up the Turnpike)

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

The Goose Creek Bridge site has been owned and maintained by a local ladies' garden club for a number of years. It's a neat site--in excellent condition. Most of the battlefield is within this parcel, which means it's going to be completely saved once this deal is done.