Civil War
A Soldier’s Life at Camp Ashland – May to December 1861
Posted on Jan 24, 2011 by Nancy.
The Camp Ashland opened as a training camp for general soldiers in early May 1861, but by mid-May it was used exclusively for cavalry training. First Col. Richard S. Ewell, Gen. Robert Chilton, and then Col. Charles H Field commanded the camp. It was early in the war and soldiers’s spirits where high. Captain Thomas [...]
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Ashland During the Civil War, 1861-1865
Posted on Jul 21, 2011 by Nancy.
Henry Clay had tried during his lifetime to help the North and the South remain united even with differences between the rural economy based on slavery in the South and the more urban economy based on industrialization in the North. After Mr. Clay’s death in 1852, the rift between North and South widened, and positions [...]
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Ashland’s Railroad Ave. circa 1866
Posted on Apr 07, 2010 by admin.
This is a charming picture of Ashland printed in Harpers magazine in 1866 in an article about Ashland during the Civil War. Notice the tree-lined, single track through town. That would have to be the Baptist church on the left, now Hanover Arts and Activities Center. Notice the picket fences along the road and the [...]
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Camp Robinson & Camp Ashland, 1858 – 1861
Posted on May 19, 2010 by Museum.
The last prewar encampment of the First Regiment of Virginia Volunteers was held May 22 to 25, 1858 at Camp Robinson in newly renamed and incorporated town of Ashland near the Ashland Hotel and Mineral Well Company resort, formerly known as Slash Cottage Hotel. The encampment was largely a social occasion where men practiced and [...]
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Civil War Soldiers Buried at Woodland Cemetery
Posted on Feb 28, 2011 by Nancy.
The Library of Virginia holds a copy of a volume titled Burial Book [Woodland Cemetery], Ashland, Hanover County, Virginia, 1862 by Robt. T. James & Bros. The catalog record summary for this 74-page book states “Recorded are 254 entries pertaining to men from Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, or [...]
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The Battle of Ashland
Posted on May 27, 2010 by Museum.
THE BATTLE OF ASHLAND happened June 1, 1864. It involved Hanover Courthouse, Ellett’s Bridge over the South Anna River, and the Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad tracks. {Click on the image on left for a high-quality JPEG of the map (1.3MB file)}. It has largely been ignored by historians until recently, but it was important [...]