Silent Witness

Fleetwood Hill

These two tall trees stand upon Fleetwood Hill — the most contested, camped upon and trekked about hallowed ground in the nation. Now, at more than 150 years old, these wooden witnesses on the hill’s northern terminus saw the strategic location covered with soldiers in blue and gray as early as the spring of 1862, when Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston’s men passed over and camped on its slopes. Several other soldiers followed suit — the grounds experienced a near constant flow of hard-fought actions and dense troop occupation as armies vied for control of the “Rappahannock River Line.” Situated three miles southwest of the river and touching the Orange and Alexandria Railroad on its southern base, Fleetwood Hill was a magnet for wartime activity.

Of the activities that unfurled across the land, mounted combat was frequent. In fact, Fleetwood’s southern end saw more of it than anywhere else in the country.  During the June 1863 Battle of Brandy Station, more than 7,000 troopers fought for control of this portion of land in the largest cavalry engagement fought on American soil and beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign. The history of Fleetwood Hill and beyond will be a primary focus as the American Battlefield Trust works alongside the Commonwealth of Virginia to establish Culpeper Battlefields State Park, set to open in June 2024. 

Upon a roughly four-acre tract of land saved by the American Battlefield Trust — in collaboration with its partner on The Liberty Trail, the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust (SCBPT) — stands a rather spectacular, centuries-old oak tree. Surrounded by modern features, the imposing tree saw the nation and its people transform through circumstances ranging from shifting ideologies to economic rollercoasters to the unease of warfare. In fact, the oak witnessed soldiers toil over the fate of a new nation during the Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781.

After defeat at Camden, S.C, in August 1780, General George Washington appointed Nathanael Greene his new southern commander that following October; and, as it turns out, Greene was just what the doctor ordered. He delivered hefty doses of strategy, tiring General Charles Lord Cornwallis’ forces into North Carolina, leaving Greene to reconquer the South Carolina backcountry. While driving the British from the backcountry and toward the Carolina coast in 1781, Greene’s pursuit of British Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stewart led to the September clash at Eutaw Springs.

While fighting initially erupted a little over three miles west of the Trust-saved tract during the morning of September 8 — when Greene’s column surprised a British patrol and foraging party — significant maneuvers and combat unfurled upon this land later in the day. All the while, a young oak tree stood as witness to a well-fought battle, after which the Continental Congress recognized General Greene’s exceptional service with one of only seven gold medals given during the war. From a quick glance at the towering flora, one would never know!

With the SCBPT as the owner and steward of the land, this witness tree is in the process of standing within a restored landscape — one free of modern structures and instead reminiscent of September 1781.