The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Fredericksburg. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, nearly 29,000 in total, a harbinger of a war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and continued his offensive.
Spotsylvania County is a county in the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the July 2021 estimate, the population was 145,300. Its county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse.
Rappahannock County is a county located in the northern Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, US, adjacent to Shenandoah National Park. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 7,348. Its county seat is Washington. The name "Rappahannock" comes from the Algonquian word lappihanne, meaning "river of quick, rising water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows." The county is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Orange County is a county located in the Central Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 36,254. Its county seat is Orange. Orange County includes Montpelier, the 2,700-acre (1,100 ha) estate of James Madison, the 4th President of the United States and often known as the "Father of the Constitution". The county will celebrate its 290th anniversary in 2024.
Madison County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,837. Its county seat is Madison.
Fredericksburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is 48 miles (77 km) south of Washington, D.C., and 53 miles (85 km) north of Richmond. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg with neighboring Spotsylvania County for statistical purposes.
Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Culpeper.
Orange is a town and the county seat of Orange County, Virginia, United States. The population was 5,062 at the 2020 census, representing a 7.2% increase since the 2010 census. Orange is 28 miles (45 km) northeast of Charlottesville, 88 miles (142 km) southwest of Washington, D.C., and 4 miles (6 km) east of Founding Father and fourth U.S. president James Madison's plantation of Montpelier.
Alexander Spotswood was a British Army officer, explorer and lieutenant governor of Colonial Virginia; he is regarded as one of the most significant historical figures in British North American colonial history.
Germanna Community College (GCC) is a community college in Virginia with campuses in Locust Grove, Fredericksburg, Stafford and Culpeper. Founded in 1970, it takes its name from Germanna, a settlement founded by Governor Alexander Spotswood for a group of German miners by the Rapidan River at what is now Germanna Ford.
The Battle of Mine Run, also known as Payne's Farm, or New Hope Church, or the Mine Run campaign, was conducted in Orange County, Virginia, in the American Civil War.
Germanna was a German settlement in the Colony of Virginia, settled in two waves, first in 1714 and then in 1717. Virginia Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood encouraged the immigration by advertising in Germany for miners to move to Virginia and establish a mining industry in the colony.
Virginia State Route 3 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia that extends from the town of Culpeper south and eastwardly to Gloucester in Virginia's Middle Peninsula region. For many years, a portion was named "Historyland Highway".
State Route 20 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs 89.79 miles (144.50 km) from U.S. Route 15 in Dillwyn north to SR 3 in Wilderness. SR 20 is a C-shaped route that connects Charlottesville with Farmville in Southside Virginia. The state highway also links Charlottesville to Fredericksburg by way of Orange County, within which SR 20 is the main east–west highway and intersects US 15 again in the county seat of Orange.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools is a public school district serving Spotsylvania County, Virginia. It consists of 17 Elementary, 7 Middle, and 5 High Schools and has a total enrollment of nearly 24,000 students. The Spotsylvania County School division also has a Career and Technical Center and participates with other local school systems to offer the Commonwealth Governor's School. The district partners with area businesses to develop learning opportunities for the students. Spotsylvania County Public Schools works with the area Parks and Recreation Department to help maintain the area around the Schools.
Rapidan is a small unincorporated community in the Virginia counties of Culpeper and Orange, approximately 5 miles (8 km) northeast of the Town of Orange. The community, located on both sides of the Rapidan River, was established in the late eighteenth century around the Waugh's Ford mill. The Orange and Alexandria Railroad built a line through the town in 1854, a post office was built at the river crossing, and its name was changed to Rapid Ann Station. Milling remained a major industry in the area up through the mid-twentieth century.
The Robinson River is a 34.2-mile-long (55.0 km) tributary of the Rapidan River in Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. It flows southeast through White Oak Canyon and Berry Hollow, under Routes 231, 29 and 15. From its start in Shenandoah National Park as Cedar Run and Tims River, it has confluences with the Rose River, Quaker Run, Shotwell Run, Leathers Run, Mulatto Run, White Oak Run, Deep Run, Dark Run, Beaverdam Run and Great Run before its confluence with the Rapidan River. A 19-mile (31 km) section of the Robinson River from Syria to Locust Dale is Class II whitewater, with an average gradient of 15 feet per mile (2.8 m/km). In the Syria area, both the Rose River and Robinson River are stocked with Rainbow trout and Brook trout by the state of Virginia.
Reynolds Wayside Campground is a state park in Mendocino County, California, United States. The site, which contained a redwood grove, was purchased by Frank W. Reynolds and his wife in 1928 and converted into a resort known as Reynolds Redwood Flat in 1930. After Mr. Reynolds died in 1962, the site was leased until the California state government purchased it in 1966 as a memorial to Reynolds and to protect it from logging. Under state management, 50 campsites were constructed at the site, which was renamed to Reynolds State Recreation Area before taking its present name. In 1976, the campsites were removed, and the property was deemed surplus the next year. Much of the site's land was exchanged with a timber company for territory at Sinkyone Wilderness State Park in 1984. As of May 2021, Reynolds Wayside Campground contains 38 acres (15 ha) of land, including area for hiking and access to the Eel River.
Lake of the Woods is a census-designated place in Locust Grove, Orange County, Virginia, United States. It is a gated subdivision covering approximately 2,600 acres with 4,260 lots distributed among 16 sections. It includes more than 41 miles of paved private roads.
The 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
