Stoneman (i.e. Brandy) Station, Va. on Acquia

[tmh10]

• Title: Stoneman (i.e. Brandy) Station, Va. on Acquia (i.e. Aquia) Creek and Fredericksburg R.R.

• Date Created/Published: [photographed between 1861 and 1865, printed between 1880 and 1889]

• Medium: 1 photographic print on card mount : albumen.

• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-33617 (digital file from original item) LC-USZ62-99719 (b&w film copy neg.)

• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.

• Call Number: LOT 4179, no. 26 [P&P]

• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

 

[Greg Taylor]

Here is a letter written by my g-g grandfather Adj. William B. Phillips near this spot at Brandy Station, dated May 5, 1864. The following morning his regiment would cross the Rapidan River and participate in the Battle of the Wilderness.

The heading reads:
"Near Brandy Station"
"On Ammunition Box"
" May 5, 1864"


https://wbp2ndpaha.wordpress.com/may-1864/

 

[reading48]

Hi Ted,......Good to see you posting again.....

 

[Dave Wilma]

No no smoking signs.

 

[Waterloo50]

Here is a letter written by my g-g grandfather Adj. William B. Phillips near this spot at Brandy Station, dated May 5, 1864. The following morning his regiment would cross the Rapidan River and participate in the Battle of the Wilderness.

The heading reads:
"Near Brandy Station"
"On Ammunition Box"
" May 5, 1864"


https://wbp2ndpaha.wordpress.com/may-1864/

I got a real sense from reading William's letter that he was fatigued, the way in which he mentions 'Since yesterday morning we are continually on the march.' and then he mentions again 'We will resume the march in 20 minutes.' it sounds like there was a sense of urgency, everything was being hurried along. His closing paragraph 'We are going to see some tough times,but I guess I'll stand it' sounds like it was written by a man that had experienced more than his fare share of the horrors of war.
I enjoyed reading the letter, it really made me think. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Bloody 11th]

Very interesting! Thanks for this

 

[Greg Taylor]

I got a real sense from reading William's letter that he was fatigued, the way in which he mentions 'Since yesterday morning we are continually on the march.' and then he mentions again 'We will resume the march in 20 minutes.' it sounds like there was a sense of urgency, everything was being hurried along. His closing paragraph 'We are going to see some tough times,but I guess I'll stand it' sounds like it was written by a man that had experienced more than his fare share of the horrors of war.
I enjoyed reading the letter, it really made me think. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for your comments. If he sounds fatigued at this point one can only imagine how he felt at the end of the 12 weeks yet to come. During that time he would fight at the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and then be captured at the Battle of the Crater. Actually, at the time of this letter he had yet to see any fighting, having spent the previous 16 months serving before the defenses of Washington, D.C.

 

[captaxe]

So this is not "the" Brandy Station, which is on the Orange & Alexandria RR near the Rappahannock-- this would be from the spur of the of the Aquia Creek RR which connected Fredericksburg and the supply base at the landing, correct?

 

[James N.]

As I seem to recall from my visit there last May, one of the buildings in this photo is still standing and is now famous as the Graffiti House:

 

[Greg Taylor]

So this is not "the" Brandy Station, which is on the Orange & Alexandria RR near the Rappahannock-- this would be from the spur of the of the Aquia Creek RR which connected Fredericksburg and the supply base at the landing, correct?

You are correct! This is Stoneman Station, not Brandy Station. I'm not sure why Brandy is referenced in the photo title. The railroad spot identified in my ancestor's letter as "Brandy Station" is the name of the settlement not a railroad station. I misspoke when I commented about the photo as where he disembarked before entering the Wilderness. Where he was is merely a wide spot along the RR. tracks. Several years ago when I was at the "Graffiti House" someone pointed out the spot where the men disembarked prior to marching across the Rapidan and joining the battle.

Here is a famous Andrew J. Russel photograph that better shows the train site at Brandy Station taken shortly before the Battle of the Wilderness:

 

[captaxe]

Very good! Thanks Greg!

 

[Clark B. Hall]

The top image labeled Stoneman Station is in fact Brandy Station.. Over the years, I have published the correct labeling in newspaper accounts and magazines. That hill faintly observed on the far left horizon is in fact Fleetwood Hill, then 3rd Corps HQ in 1863-64. Please see my article in Blue and Gray, April 1991, "Season of Change: The Winter Encampment of the Army of the Potomac, 1863-1864."

 

[James N.]

The top image labeled Stoneman Station is in fact Brandy Station. Over the years, I have published the correct labeling in newspaper accounts and magazines. That hill faintly observed on the far left horizon is in fact Fleetwood Hill, then 3rd Corps HQ in 1863-64. Please see my article in Blue and Gray, April 1991, "Season of Change: The Winter Encampment of the Army of the Potomac, 1863-1864."

I THOUGHT that was the same picture I remembered seeing in the exhibit part of the Graffiti House!

 

[Greg Taylor]

The top image labeled Stoneman Station is in fact Brandy Station.. Over the years, I have published the correct labeling in newspaper accounts and magazines. That hill faintly observed on the far left horizon is in fact Fleetwood Hill, then 3rd Corps HQ in 1863-64. Please see my article in Blue and Gray, April 1991, "Season of Change: The Winter Encampment of the Army of the Potomac, 1863-1864."

So here, or near here is this where my ancestor would have been when he wrote the linked letter dated May 5, 1864 with the heading "near Brandy Station, on ammunition box?" (sorry, I don't have the Blue and Gray Magazine)
https://wbp2ndpaha.wordpress.com/may-1864/