By Tom Perry
Many times when I visit the birthplace of James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart in Ararat, Virginia, I enjoy seeing people appreciating the natural beauty of the place. Often, I see people walking the trails with their dogs, which have enough room to roam without leashes, without worries about the animals getting in the road.
Multiple trails lead visitors down to the Ararat River, as does one that follows along it. There are beds of running cedar and mountain laurel, which give the property its name, Laurel Hill. Many trees and plants are labeled to help visitors identify the various species. Laurel Hill is on the Virginia Bird and Wildlife Trail system. It is a classroom to learn about nature.
The J. E. B. Stuart Birthplace Preservation Trust, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit that owns 75 acres of the 1,500 acres the Stuarts owned. The site includes interpretation of a Native American site that was discovered during archaeological work by the College of William and Mary nearly 30 years ago. There is a Slave Cemetery,
interpreted based on oral histories from George Elbert “Shug” and Icy Bowman Brown. Laurel Hill is on the Virginia and National Registers of Historic Places based on its Antebellum Farm Site. The role J.E.B. Stuart played in the War Between the States is interpreted in a pavilion featuring five signs written by Robert J. Trout. The property is on the Virginia Civil War Trails and the Civil War Discovery Trail, and it has two of the Virginia Historical Highway Markers from 1932 and 2000.
Thirty years ago, I saw Laurel Hill as more than just the birthplace of James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart. I saw it as an outdoor classroom where our nation’s history could be studied through a leisurely walk along the banks of the Ararat River, from prehistoric times to the present day. These are Laurel Hill’s Many Histories.
We invite everyone to learn about Laurel Hill’s Many Histories. If you ever want a walking tour, please drop me an email, and with enough notice, I will be happy to meet your group and tell you about the history of the Laurel Hill Farm. There is another Laurel Hill in Virginia you can walk, and it too is hallowed ground.
J. E. B. Stuart fought his last battle at the ironically named Laurel Hill, where he helped put Richard Anderson’s men into line on May 8, 1864. “Benjamin Humphreys’ Mississippians and John Henagan’s South Carolinians, along with John Haskel’s guns, were led by famous cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart onto the field at Laurel Hill. Utilizing the element of surprise, the men slipped behind the earthworks without raising any alarm to the Federals until it was too late. With gray coats stretching well across Brock Road – Henagan on the left flank and Humphreys on the right – Stuart told them, “Hold your fire until the Federals are well within range and then give it to them and hold the position to the last man. Plenty of help is near at hand. The entire time, one Confederate observer witnessed Stuart “sitting on his horse amidst a storm of bullets, laughing and joking with the men and commending them highly for their courage for the rapidity and accuracy of their fire. Stuart’s leadership of the cavalry helped buy enough time for Anderson to hurry up and reinforce the line along Laurel Hill.”
The next day, May 9, 1864, Major General John Sedgwick lost his life. “He was well-liked by his men, who referred to him as ‘Uncle John.’ On May 9, he was overseeing his troops moving to the front under a light harassing fire when a passing soldier dropped to the ground in front of him after a near miss from a sharpshooter. According to his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Martin McMahon, Sedgwick told the soldier ‘Why, my man, I am ashamed of you, dodging that way. They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.’ The soldier stood, saluted, and replied, ‘General, I dodged a shell once, and if I hadn’t, it would have taken my head off. I believe in dodging.’ Sedgwick laughed and replied, ‘All right, my man; go to your place.’ A few seconds later, Sedgwick was hit beneath his left eye and died instantly. He was the senior Union officer killed in the Civil War.”
John Sedgwick was a friend of J. E. B. Stuart. They served together in the First U. S. Cavalry, mainly in the Kansas Territory. Sedgwick once said Stuart was the “best cavalry officer ever foaled in America.” When Stuart heard of Sedgwick’s death, one diarist reported, “Stuart expressed his sorrow and ‘told me that if he could only have been taken instead of being killed he would most gladly have shared his blanket and last crust (of bread) with him, as he was one of the best friends he had in the old army.’”
Many years ago, I watched the audiovisual program at the Chancellorsville Battlefield, which is part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, which includes four battlefields that J. E. B. Stuart fought on with Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, including Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Courthouse. The program at Chancellorsville concluded with the following, which I find particularly suitable for walking Laurel Hill:
“Walk this hallowed ground where the story was written.
For the distant voices of the ageless wind
These quiet, peaceful woods and fields,
Now silent are here to remind us of how much
We owe to the sacrifice of others.
Here they came, here they lived.
Here they died.
What they lost, we lost.
What they gained, we gained.”
