The American Civil War - Chronologically

May 18-19, 1863 Battle of Fayetteville (AKA Fayetteville '63) Fayetteville, WV Col. C.B. White vs. Gen. John McCausland * Of course, we won't confuse this minor battle with the larger one a year earlier . But Lord know how we won't confuse it with the "Battle of Fayetteville (1863)" that takes places in Arkansas just a month earlier, though I prefer to call that one "action" at Fayetteville - to differentiate it from the "skirmish" that occurs there in August. Sometimes it can feel like I am the only one identifying these things. Like, is WV's "Battle" of Fayetteville (1863) mentioned as such anywhere besides these  markers? Let me know in the comments, Chat.  * And yes - here was "the first use of indirect artillery fire in modern military history."     * While in the neighborhood I got to cross "the longest steel span in the western hemisphere...the third highest bridge in the United States." Somebody's h...

May 10, 1863 Stonewall Jackson Died Guinea, Virginia, in Caroline County What a pleasant surprise! I'm out here doing "VA 1862" and look what I ran into. You love to see it! [Summer 2026] https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=196291 Stonewall Jackson Died May 10, 1863 Buried Lexington, Va. Erected 1903 by Mr. Thomas Fortune Ryan & Capt. James Power Smith. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=5604 Fairfield Plantation The farm office across the lawn is all that remains of the once-sprawling plantation called “Fairfield.” Thomas Coleman Chandler purchased Fairfield Plantation in 1845. For the next 17 years it prospered and evolved – largely at the hands of the dozens of slaves who worked the fields and toiled in the Big House. The plantation was profitable enough that in 1854 Chandler tore down the main house and constructed a more substantial two-story brick house in its place. That house stood until 1909. While Chandler raised his family and managed his affairs, slaves made Fairfield ...

May 1863 Union Cavalry raid the Northern Neck of VA Colonial Beach, VA  https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=22108 Here George Washington, while living at Wakefield with a brother, went to school, 1744–1746. Here Union Cavalry came on a raid through the Northern Neck, May 1863. Several miles north of this place, James Monroe, fifth President of the United States, was born, 1758. OMG what is this sign talking about? Not, The Battle of Oak Grove; that opened the Seven Days Battles. We are in Virginia but on the coast, not near Richmond. I am aware of cavalry action in this area, but nothing rises to the level of even a skirmish. Who were those Union raiders? And where is it documented?  Is this my man Judson Kilpatrick? Isn't he in MD or PA by now? Is it Buford?  They could be here making trouble here "far behind enemy lines" but not having anything close to a battle.  This source ( Chapman, Jr. William Hathaway. Yankees, Blue Pigs, and a Castle: The Northern Neck And The Civ...