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Forward to a Friend Become a Member Learn more about Upcoming Events: Saturday Morning Special Field Trips Aldie Triangle Program for Loudoun County 4th Graders Mosby Ranger Decendant Reunion Conference on the Art of Command in the Civil War "The 1862 Valley Campaign" Newsletter Archive: January 2008
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The Mosby Heritage Area Association Newsletter From The President The tour, called “Surrounded By Soldiers,” will be led by our Education Director Rich Gillespie. Participants will meet at Rector House for a short orientation, then get in their vehicles and follow Rich to the nearby Atoka and Goose Creek battlefields, the scenes of the June 1863 Civil War Battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville. Please join us for the tour, which will end at 1:00. The modest fee is $15 for adults and $5 for students. The funds help us continue our “Preservation Through Education” mission here in the Northern Virginia Piedmont. For more details, scrool on down to “Upcoming Events.” Thank You,
Bivouacs and Battlefields: The lectures will start at 8:30, break for an hour at lunch, and feature Robert K. Krick, Bud Hall, Garry Adelman, Childs Burden, and Kris White as speakers. The lecture will conclude with a special 3-D presentation by Bob Zeller that will be entertaining for children of all ages. Fauquier County, positioned between Washington and Richmond, was a geographical crossroads of the American Civil War. By the summer of 1862, Fauquier County was considered an area of strategic importance to both Union and Confederate commanders. For the South, it provided a gateway from the Shenandoah Valley to Manassas. For the North, it cushioned the defense of Washington, D.C. and protected the movement of troops and supplies through Manassas Gap. Fauquier County became occupied territory. Questionable loyalties, cavalry raiders, piecemeal battles, and spies all were part of the physical and cultural landscape during the war. Fauquier County contains 12 battlefields that number among the 384 most significant battlefields in a war that involved some 10,660 military engagements. Aldie, Auburn I, Auburn II, Brandy Station, Buckland Mills, Kelly’s Ford, Manassas Gap, Middleburg, Rappahannock Station, Rappahannock II, Thoroughfare Gap, and Upperville were fought in the county’s mountain gaps, along its railroads and roads, and across the entire stretch of the Rappahannock River. Please join us on March 28 for a great local history event to learn more about these 12 battlefields. Kimberly Abe
College Friends Make a New Holiday Tradition in the Mosby Heritage Area Starting over the 2007 holiday, Rob got together four buddies and went to work on the Mosby Heritage Area Association’s Historic Fauquier County Scavenger Hunt, walking about historic Warrenton and driving the winding back roads of Upper Fauquier County in search of historic sites. Rob and friends had such a good time that for the holiday 2008 tour, they put together with friends from James Madison University, Virginia Tech, the University of Tennessee, Lynchburg College, and George Mason University. The intrepid eleven walked the streets of old Leesburg, then went and did two automobile tours of Loudoun, covering both the northern and southern parts of the historic county. “Our interest in Mosby [Heritage Area] was sparked when all of us began college, we would always pass the heritage area signs on our way down to JMU, VT, UT, and Lynchburg,” Rob says. “This year there were five of us from JMU, two from Lynchburg, and other various colleges. We have degrees, ranging from English to history. Its just so much fun we make it a point to do one or two every year.” Rob’s friend Brian Tullock told us: “the scavenger hunt was amazing and has become an annual tradition!” Ben Chipkevich now of Memphis, recently did a similar jaunt with friends, exploring Fauquier. He wrote of the scavenger hunt program, “Thanks for a great program! Me and my friends had a great time. Excited to do other counties!” The Mosby Heritage Area’s Director of Education, Rich Gillespie, says it is a very rewarding experience finding appropriate sites with “feel” and then writing the scavenger hunts. Currently, the heritage area has scavenger hunts for Upper Fauquier, Loudoun, Clarke, and Western Prince William counties. Available at www.mosbyheritagearea.org or at the Mosby Heritage Area offices in the historic Rector House at Atoka, the scavenger hunts teach, reward with beautiful landscapes, and provide a free Mosby Heritage Area tee-shirt upon completion. Last year, more than 4,400 students and some 300 adults received scavenger hunt booklets. Join these adventurers—explore the Mosby Heritage Area!
Upcoming Events This trip will examine the Atoka and Goose Creek battlefields from the perspective of the significant pre-Gettysburg cavalry battles of June 1863 at Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville. We’ll visit the grave of John Edmondson, the forgotten soldier of Rector’s Crossroads, the ridge held by Stuart’s Horse Artillery, and of course, the remarkably intact battlefield at Goose Creek Bridge. We’ll end with the backyard of the Rector House where Stuart camped. The trip will be of general and human interest rather than from that of just the Civil War buff.
The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for students. The trip begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends around 1:00 p.m. Reservations are appreciated but not necessary. Come join us on Saturday morning. Fireside Mosby – March 14, 2009 No reservations are necessary. The cost is $5 for adults and $2 for students. Come join us for a night of storytelling and a cup of coffee. Mosby Ranger Descendant Reunion – June 13, 2009 The planning committee will be sending registration information out during the first two weeks of March. Information and the registration materials will also be posted on our website. The day will begin at the Inn at Kelly’s Ford with a program, followed by lunch. There will be walking tours of Mosby sites in Warrenton and tours of Brentmoor in the afternoon, followed by a special Cavaliers, Courage and Coffee program at Brentmoor in the evening. As part of this event, information about Mosby Rangers, their servants and Mosby family members will be collected. Attendees will have the opportunity to give information about their ancestors on video tape, have photos and other documents of their ancestors scanned, and bring artifacts to be put on display for the day.
MHAA Marketing Committee News The committee has begun an in depth review of the MHAA web site, to determine, what changes and revisions are needed to keep it up to date and user friendly. The second item addressed by the committee involved MHAA’s e-Newsletter. Begun in September 2007, the monthly e-Newsletter initially was distributed to about 400 individuals, which included both MHAA members and nonmembers. Since expanding opportunities for nonmembers to signup for the e-Newsletter with marketing tools on the web site and through direct marketing, the list has grown to more than 1,000 recipients. Because of the information value of the e-Newsletter for providing an overview of MHAA education and programmatic activities and the positive reaction from our readers, MHAA has begun to expand the content of the publication to include more information about the operations of MHAA. Each monthly issue will contain reports from the various MHAA committees. In addition, staff has begun an active outreach program to all counties included in the Mosby Heritage Area and is receiving commitments from representatives of Fauquier, Clarke, Prince William, Loudoun and Warren counties to provide expanded reporting on activities in those communities. MHAA’s Marketing Committee will meet on a bi-monthly schedule and will report to the members through the e-Newsletter. Should our readers have questions, please do not hesitate to email the committee’s chair, Steve Hines, at: shines3243@aol.com. Steve Hines
Site of the Month The town began as a farming crossroads. One stone house dates from 1775; a second one, built in 1857, served as a general store and post office. This second house is on Woodgrove Road (now Bridge Street) and was used by Mosby’s Rangers during the Civil War. The war was a difficult time for the Loudoun Valley. Armies passed through (McClellan, Meade, Lee), foraging as they went. Mosby’s Rangers operated throughout the Valley. Then, the Burning Raid in late 1864 dealt severe devastation, as the Union tried to destroy Mosby’s sources of food. In 1875, came the welcome news that the railroad was coming to town. Round Hill became the terminus for the W & OD. Visitors from Washington came to enjoy the cool mountain air. They paraded on the boardwalk, “especially on Sundays, watched by locals who wanted to see the latest in Washington finery,” according to local historian Eugene Scheel. Round Hill experienced a building boom resulting in 60% of the town’s structures dating from 1880 to 1920. “Many of the residences from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are fairly large and architecturally sophisticated, reflecting their use as boardinghouses catering to summer travelers. Popular architectural styles of the period were used including the Italianate, Queen Anne, Gothic Revival, Craftsman, and Colonial Revival styles, as well as more regionally traditional vernacular forms.… The district also contains numerous commercial buildings and five churches along with a former train depot and freight station.” (Maral Kalbian) After the train was extended to Bluemont in 1900, to accommodate a new restaurant of a former White House chef, Round Hill settled into life as a quiet country town, albeit with a rich architectural heritage. Kathleen Luckard
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Winter Shirt Sale During the months of January, February and March, purchase a MHAA polo shirt at a 20% discount. For members, the cost is cut 40%; the 20% given to you on MHAA merchandise as a benefit of membership and the additional 20% for this promotion. Our polo shirts come in navy, gray and pine green. We have smalls, mediums, larges, X large, and XX large. To take advantage of this offer…
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