The war in Raccoon Ford, September 1863

The Alexandria Gazettee of September 18, 1863, under a column entitled THE WAR IN VIRGINIA, contained two reports from Raccoon Ford. (Italics courtesy of Armchair Historian – an attempt to keep the chronology straight.)

The first citation was from the Richmond Examiner of September 16 (Wednesday), which noted, “A spirited fight took place on Monday (September 14), at Raccoon Ford, in which the 6th Virginia cavalry repeatedly charged and drove the Federals back. Their loss was 50 or 60 killed and wounded. Our loss was only four or five. The repeated efforts of the enemy to gain the river were foiled, and we now hold possession of the ford.”

The second citation with the Gazette’s column: “The Army correspondent of the New York Times writes on the 16th, says: The enemy contests Gen. Pleasanton’s further advance on the south bank of the Rapid Ann with a strong force of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, aided by strong breastworks and rifle-pits. Considerable sharp skirmishing occurred at Raccoon Ford yesterday (Tuesday, September 15), but our loss was slight and our forces remained quietly on this side of the river. I have as yet no positive information concerning the main body of the rebel infantry; but it is quite evident that their position will be certainly developed within a day or two.”

Rapidan Front Landscape Study: ABPP grant

The area outlined in yellow on the map will be the focus of field research as part of the Rapidan Front Landscape Study. This effort is supported by an American Battlefield Protection Program grant administered by Friends of Cedar Mountain in Culpeper, Virginia. The grant’s area of focus includes Raccoon Ford.

In May 2020, Friends of Cedar Mountain, a preservation organization located in Culpeper, received a grant to undertake field research on the Rapidan Front. The grant was awarded by the National Park Service through the American Battlefield Protection Program. This grant was one of four awarded in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The area of study encompasses Somerville Ford, Raccoon Ford, and Morton’s Ford along the Rapidan River, and the 1863-1864 winter encampment of the Army of the Potomac north of the river in Culpeper County.

As stated in the grant application, “The overarching goal of this 2020 grant is the protection of Civil War battlefields, encampments, and associated sites throgh achieving enhanced documentation. The majority of the grant research funding will focus on amassing heretofore unrevealed documentation that will establish an outcome that this area will finally be recognized for its nationl significance. Researchers will concurrently document other nationally significant pre- and post-war histories that occurred on the Civil War landscape. This will lend greater depth to our understanding and interpretation of the battlefields and the war, in a historic continuum.” The cultural landscape assessment will yield a layered look at the area’s history that includes Native American, African American, farming, post-European settlement and other resources.

Field and documentary research will be undertaken by a team composed of architectural historians, Civil War historians and archeologists.

This study effort forms a major portion of the the Middle Piedmont Virginia Civil War landscape mapped by a 2013 ABPP grant, which laid the groundwork for smaller and more detailed cultural landscape evaluations such as this new effort.