Chatham Manor

One of the reasons I LOVE bringing my son with us on trips down south (as opposed to letting him stay with friends) is because he loves historical stops as much as I do… so yeah, we get to need-​out.
We got a very late start after a campus tour and meeting with a coach (for my daughter) so we didn’t have a lot of time before places started closing. We decided to hit the Chatham Manor simply because it was close, but it’s definitely a great stop off for you Civil War history buffs. I’m sure the place looks even better in the summer when the gardens and the roses on the stone trellises are in full bloom, but we were there for the Civil War info anyway.
Check out the short video (which is actually shown in what was George Washington’s bedroom when he would visit William Fitzhugh) about why the Chatham Manor was an important venue during the war and the brutality that led to the house being used as a makeshift hospital. The property was was a working farm prior to the war where slaves tended the fields and the owner during the Civil War J. Horace Lacy joined the Confederate Army and the family ultimately abandoned the farm… selling it later to pay taxes… and when it was abandoned it briefly became Union Headquarters.
The guides working here were very helpful and one of the really interesting tidbits was that it is one of the few locations visited by both Washington and Lincoln.

Completed between 1768 and 1771, Chatham Manor was originally a 1,300 acre plantation owned by William Fitzhugh. Surrounding the manor house were outbuildings such as a dairy, ice house, barns, stables, kitchen, and slaves’ quarters. Also on the property were a fish hatchery (in the Rapphannock River) and a racetrack where Fitzhugh pitted his thoroughbreds against those of other area plantation owners. Fitzhugh grew tired of the hundreds of guests who came to call — including George Washington — and moved to Alexandria to escape the perpetual entertaining (poor baby). Visitors in subsequent years under subsequent owners would include Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton, and Walt Whitman.
In 1806 Ftizhugh sold Chatham to Churchill Jones, a former Major in the Continental Army, who owned the property until several years after the Civil War. Post-​War, the home saw dozens of owners until purchased by John Lee Pratt, VP of General Motors, in 1931. When he passed in 1975, Pratt willed the estate to the National Park Service.
Chatham’s most important historical role was during the Civil War when it served as Union Army Headquarters for a time. General Ambrose Burnside used the home as a launch site for his troops to take the town of Fredericksburg, building a pontoon bridge from Chatham’s property across the Rappahannock under cover of darkness in order for soldiers to cross. Fredericksburg was a disastrous Union defeat, however, and many of the nearly 13,000 casualties were brought back to Chatham, which had become a de facto military hospital (their graffiti — names, corps, hometowns — are still preserved on walls, window jambs, and fireplaces within Chatham). Initially, the dead were buried in graves on the property, but later moved to the Fredericksburg National Cemetery.
Today visitors are welcome to stroll the beautiful grounds overlooking the town of Fredericksburg where Romantic gardens sprawl and several «witness trees» — or trees that were here during the Civil War — still stand. Helpful and well-​informed Rangers and volunteers welcome you to the home with tons of background information about the house, grounds, and outbuildings. Many of the buildings were added post-​War by later owners, such as the greenhouses and screened summer house. It’s a wonderful, leisurely way to pass a beautiful morning or afternoon, and an incredibly informative stop on any Civil War tour of the area. I definitely recommend a visit to Chatham Manor.