Timeline of Key Events in the Fredericksburg Region 1860-1861
November 6, 1860: Election of Abraham Lincoln December 20, 1860: Secession movement begins February 13, 1861: First Virginia Secession Convention: John Marye represents region and votes against secession April 12, 1861: Fort Sumter attacked April 15, 1861: Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers April 17, 1861: Virginia passes ordinance of secession. John Marye votes for secession April 20?, 1861: Formation of Fredericksburg’s Ladies Relief Society April 25? 1861: First Confederate troops appear in Fredericksburg June 1, 1861: Union navy shells Aquia Creek July 1, 1861: Captured steamer St. Nicholas hauls into Fredericksburg—captured by a party staged out of town. July 4, 1861: The first 4th of July in Confederate Fredericksburg July 7, 1861: Thatcher’s Comet fully visible July 8, 1861: A secret expedition by Matthew Fontaine Maury fails in its mission to destroy Union gunboats near Fortress Monroe. Maury returns to Fredericksburg on July 10. July 20, 1861: Fredericksburgers rejoice at the news of a small Confederate victory at Blackburn’s Ford, near Manassas. July 21, 1861: Battle of Manassas July 22: Fredericksburgers celebrate the victory at Manassas August 16-17, 1861: As many as 5,000 Confederate soldiers pass through Fredericksburg on their way to Brooke Station and Aquia Creek. August 16, 1861: M.F. Maury proposes that the women of Fredericksburg offer a design for a new Confederate flag.
1862
November 1861- January 1862: Scarlet fever rampages through Fredericksburg. Dozens killed, many of them children. March 22, 1862. President Jefferson Davis visits Fredericksburg. April 10, 1862: Confederate cavalry prepares for the Union advance on Fredericksburg, gathering at Boscobel in Stafford County. April 18, 1862: Union troops approach Falmouth. The first significant skirmish in the region takes place on the Warrenton Road, near what is today Old Forge Road. Nine Union soldiers die in the fighting. After dawn, the Confederates abandon Falmouth and the north bank of the Rappahannock, retreating back across Falmouth Bridge. They burn all bridges and vessels in the river. Mayor Slaughter communicates with Union authorities and arranges the surrender of Fredericksburg, which occurs on April 19. The first slaves cross the river to freedom, entering Union lines—the first of as many as 10,000 that would follow over the next four months. April 20: The first Union occupation of Fredericksburg begins. April 26: Union troops begin reconstruction of RF&P bridge into Fredericksburg. May 1: Potomac Creek Bridge completed—awaiting tracks to be laid, which will be done by May 4. May 3: General McDowell moves his headquarters to Chatham. May 5: Pontoon [canal boat] Bridge into Fredericksburg completed Jane Beale’s son killed at the Battle of Williamsburg May 6: The 23d New York, which would occupy Fredericksburg longer than any other unit, crosses into town. May 9: The home of Mr. Stevens, near Hartwood, burned to the ground in retaliation for his harboring Confederate raiders. May 23: President Lincoln visits Fredericksburg
May 25: Explosion in a former CS magazine near the depot kills a US soldier A booby trap is the presumed cause. June 4: A heavy rain washes away Union bridges on the Rappahannock. July 4: In Stafford County the Union army celebrates the 4 th of July in raucous and (to the locals) obnoxious fashion. July 19-20: Small Union cavalry expedition through Spotsylvania County to Beaver Dam station on the Virginia Central Railroad. John Mosby is captured, but soon paroled and released. July 22-29: Seven local civilians arrested as ―hostages‖ in retaliation for the arrest of four Unionist civilians by Confederate authorities. July 24-26: Union expedition through Spotsylvania County to Orange Court House—the first large-scale Union presence in Spotsylvania and Orange. August 4: Ambrose Burnside and 6,000 men of what would become the Union 9 th Corps land at Aquia. Burnside would make his headquarters at Chatham from about August 9 until August 30. August 13: Twelve additional ―hostages‖ arrested, including Mayor Slaughter, George H.C. Rowe, Rev. William Broaddus, and are imprisoned in Old Capitol Prison in Washington. September 1: Union troops evacuate the Fredericksburg area. September 6: Union troops evacuate Aquia Landing. September 24: All the Fredericksburg ―hostages‖ are released. November 9: Union cavalry raid into Fredericksburg, commanded by Col. Ulric Dahlgren. November 16: Union troops re-establish base at Aquia Landing. November 18: The Union army arrives opposite Fredericksburg again. November 21: Mayor Slaughter negotiates with Union authorities, averts bombardment. The first wave of refugees is underway. November 27: Lincoln visits with Burnside at Belle Plains.
December 10: The Union army arrests Stafford Civilians to prevent the passage of information across the river. December 10-13: Stuart raids northern Stafford with about 500 horse soldiers. December 11: Union troops bombard Fredericksburg, cross the river, fight in the streets, and occupy town. Three days of looting follow. A second wave of refugees occurs that evening. December 12: The Union army prepares for battle in Stafford county, the town of Fredericksburg, and on the plains of Spotsylvania County south of town. December 13: The Battle of Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is swamped with wounded. December 15: The Union army withdraws across the Rappahannock. December 17: A truce to permit the burial of Union dead on the field at Fredericksburg. December 26-27: Stuart raids through Stafford to Dumfries.
1863
January 3: Union authorities release the Stafford civilians arrested on December 10. January 20: The Mud March—a failed Union campaign to recross the river. February 14: The Phillips House burns. February: One of the largest snowball fights in history near what is today Massaponax. February 25: Cavalry battle at Hartwood Church—Stafford’s largest engagement of the Civil War. Apriil 6: Lincoln reviews the Cavalry Corps at the Sthreshley Farm in central Stafford. April 8: Lincoln reviews the reserve artillery and the Union 6 th Corps. April 9: Lincoln Reviews the Union 1 st Corps near Waugh Point April 10: Lincoln reviews the 11 th and 12th Corps near Stafford Court House April 28 – May 4, 1863: Chancellorsville, Second Battle of Fredericksburg and Battle of Salem Church. May 5-6: The Union army returns to its camps in Stafford. June 14: The Union departs Stafford on the way to Gettysburg. August 1863: The Union cavalry under Custer pickets the Rappahannock from Falmouth to Chatham.
1864
May 8: Union army designates Fredericksburg as an evacuation hospital; the first wounded from the Wilderness and Spotsylvania arrive. The Union army designates Belle Plains as its primary supply landing. May 8-27: Fredericksburg is a ―City of Hospitals‖—as many as 20,000 Union wounded pass through the town. May 9: Mosby raids toward Belle Plains. May 12?: 64 Fredericksburg civilians arrested as hostages—detained at what is today 706 Caroline Street—in retaliation for the capture and imprisonment of Union wounded by the local population. May 17: Mosby raids again into Stafford County. May 21: The Union army moves south out of Spotsylvania, never to return. June 18: USS Primrose, a Union gunboat, opens fire at Aquia Creak. July 1864: John Seddon’s home on the Rappahannock burned.