The Richard Johnston Inn
Fredericksburg, Virginia
In 1861 this was a quiet town of five thousand inhabitants, on a railroad and protected by the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers. Its strategic location, midway between Washington and Richmond, made it a barrier to a Union invasion of the Confederacy. Engulfed by the war, the town would change hands seven times. Four great battles were fought in and around Fredericksburg. The battles, in which casualties totaled more than 100,000, were distinguished by the military genius of Robert E. Lee.
In the heart of Fredericksburg, across from the Visitor Center, is the Richard Johnston Inn, the namesake of the mayor of Fredericksburg who lived here in the early 1800s. It is a charming 1787 brick row house with a third-floor dormer and a patio that adjoins the parking lot in the rear. One look inside and you know owner Susan Williams has restored and furnished her inn with loving care. Chippendale and Empire-style antiques grace the common room downstairs. The guest rooms include two suites with living rooms, wet bars, and private entrances opening onto the patio. Breakfast is served in the dining room with china, crystal, and silver.
Address: 711 Caroline St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401; tel: 540-899-7606.
Accommodations: Six double rooms and two suites, all with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking, cable TV in three guest rooms. Two friendly dogs in residence.
Rates: $$-$$$, including continental breakfast. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, and personal checks.
Restrictions: No pets, no smoking.
The Kenmore Inn
Fredericksburg, Virginia
This building in the historic district, which dates from the late 1700s, took a pounding during the Battle of Fredericksburg, and evidence of the heavy Union shelling is still evident in the roof supports. It was a family dwelling then and remained one until the early 1930s, when it was expanded and made into a small hotel.
Today, it is a gracious and luxurious inn, perfectly located for guests to explore the Civil War battlefields and historic buildings in Fredericksburg and the surrounding area. The guest rooms are warm and comfortable, with working fireplaces, decanters of sherry, and tea and cookies in the afternoon. The inn has an excellent restaurant and a pub with live music on the weekends.
Innkeeper Edward Bannon does a fine job of keeping everything as it should be. The Fredericksburg Visitor Center is a short walk away, and the streets abound with antique shops. No one who is interested in the Civil War should miss Fredericksburg; no one who enjoys gracious living should miss the Kenmore Inn.
Address: 1200 Princess Anne St., Fredericksburg, VA 22401; tel: 540-371-7622; fax: 540-371-5480.
Accommodations: Twelve guest rooms, all with private baths.
Amenities: Fireplaces and canopy beds in some rooms, sherry, tea, and cookies in the afternoon, TV in lounge, dining room, and pub.
Rates: $$-$$$. The Modified American Plan, which includes breakfast and dinner in the rate, is available with two-day stay. All major credit cards and personal checks.
Restrictions: No pets, restricted smoking.
La Vista Plantation
Fredericksburg, Virginia
About six miles from this 1838 plantation house in the countryside south of Fredericksburg is the Stonewall Jackson Shrine, the building where he died after being accidentally wounded by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
La Vista has also seen a lot of history. After the Battle of Spotsylvania, the Fourth Corps of the Union army came through the nearby fields like a swarm of angry bees. And Stonewall’s ghost may be in residence here, perhaps because the bed in which he died was stored here for many years.
The present owners of La Vista, Michele and Edward Schiesser, who is the chief of exhibits and design at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, report that a sound near the front door is heard “virtually every other day.” On other occasions they have heard someone, or something, stomping upstairs. Guests tell of whispers when no one else was in the room, and of a soldier standing in the front yard. However, all this merely adds a dash of mystery to a visit to this inn.
The inn has high ceilings, heart-of-pine floors, acorn moldings, and a handsome two-story portico. On the ten-acre grounds is a pond stocked with bass. The bedroom on the main floor has a king-size mahogany four-poster. The bedroom in the English basement has a queen-size cherry pencil post bed, a double bed, and a sitting room with a queen sleep sofa, and easily accommodates a small family. Both bedrooms have working fireplaces.
Address: 4420 Guinea Station Rd., Fredericksburg, VA 22408; tel: 540-898-8444 or 800-529-2823; fax: 540-898-9414; E-mail: [email protected].
Accommodations: One bedroom and one apartment, both with private baths.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking; phone, TV, and refrigerator in rooms, complimentary ice and sodas, golf and tennis nearby.
Rates: $$. Visa, MasterCard, and personal checks.
Restrictions: No pets, no smoking.
The Stonewall Jackson Shrine
Guinea Station, Virginia
As darkness fell on the Battle of Chancellorsville, Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by shots mistakenly fired by his own troops. He was taken to a field hospital near Wilderness Tavern, where his left arm was amputated. Lee sent word to him, “You have lost your left arm, I have lost my right.”
On May 4, Jackson endured a twenty-seven-mile ambulance ride to Fairfield Plantation at Guinea Station and was placed in a small office building by the railroad. The plan was to take Jackson by train to Richmond after he regained sufficient strength. But he contracted pneumonia, his condition worsened, and he died on May 10, 1863, after murmuring, “Let us pass over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.”
The Stonewall Jackson Shrine is twelve miles south of Fredericksburg on I-95 to the Thornburg exit, then five miles east on VA 606. It is part of and administered by the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. The small bedroom on the second floor of the building is as it was the day Jackson passed away. The shrine is open daily, 9:00-5:00, from mid-June to Labor Day; Friday-Monday, March to mid-June and Labor Day through October; weekends the rest of the year. Admission is $3 for adults, free for children under seventeen. For information phone 540-371-0802.
Stratford Hall
Stratford, Virginia
This plantation, one of the grandest in Virginia, was the ancestral home of the Lees. Thomas Lee built the house in the 1730s, and here Robert E. Lee was born on January 19, 1807. Four years later his father’s disastrous speculation in land left him virtually penniless, forcing him to move the family to Alexandria. All his adult life Robert E. Lee dreamed of owning Stratford Hall, but it was not to be. The house is an H-shaped fortress-like mansion with imposing chimney clusters. The southeast bedroom, called the Mother’s Room, is where many of the Lee children, including Robert, were born. Lee’s cradle is by the window. The house is furnished throughout with period antiques and family portraits. The plantation, originally encompassing sixteen thousand acres, now consists of sixteen hundred. The many original outbuildings include the kitchen, smokehouse, coach house, grist mill, slave quarters, and stables. The restored boxwood gardens are handsome.
Stratford Hall is a forty-five-minute drive east of Fredericksburg. Take Rte. 218 and VA 3 to Montross, then drive six miles north on Rte. 3, then east on Rte. 214. It is open daily, 9:00-4:30, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. The Visitor Center has a museum and a theater with an audiovisual presentation. Costumed docents conduct tours. A plantation lunch is served, 11:00-3:00. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $3 for children. For information phone 804-493-8038.
Richmond
Virginia
Richmond was the symbol of the Confederacy. It was the seat of its government, its largest manufacturing center, and the primary supply depot for troops operating on the Confederacy’s northern frontier.
Early in the war, the
North decided that if Richmond could be captured, the South would sue for peace. Seven major campaigns were launched against Richmond, two of which brought Union armies within sight of the city. The first was George B. McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign of 1862, which was thwarted by Robert E. Lee. During the series of battles called the Seven Days, Lee sent the Union army reeling back toward Washington. In 1864, though, Ulysses S. Grant’s crushing overland campaign finally captured Richmond, and the Confederacy came tumbling down.
There is clearly much of Civil War interest to see and do in Richmond. One of the most important sites is the Richmond National Battlefield Park, which consists of ten units comprising 770 acres. Start at the Chimborazo Visitor Center, 3215 E. Broad St. It occupies the site of the Confederacy’s largest hospital, Chimborazo. Considered a medical marvel, it accommodated the flood of wounded arriving daily in the city, a total of nearly 76,000 during the war.
At the Visitor Center, museum, exhibits, and an audiovisual program depict the complexity of the defense of Richmond. The center also is the first stop on a fifty-six-mile, self-guided auto tour of the park. It takes a full day and includes sites associated with both the 1862 and 1864 campaigns. A map available at the center shows visitors how to select their own route, visiting some or all of the sites. Time permitting, the sites of the 1862 campaign should be visited on one day, the 1864 sites on another. The Visitor Center is open daily, 9:00-5:00. For information phone 804-226-1981.
The 1862 campaign sites include Chickahominy Bluff, where Lee watched the beginning of the Seven Days’ Battles; Beaver Dam Creek, part of the three-mile Union front that the Confederates unsuccessfully assaulted; Watt House, on the Gaines’s Mill Battlefield, which was the headquarters of General Fitz-John Porter during a crucial point in the fighting; Malvern Hill, where the last battle of the Seven Days was fought; and Drewry’s Bluff, where Confederate cannon guarded the James River approach to Richmond.
The 1864 campaign sites on the tour include Cold Harbor, where Grant suffered terrible losses while attacking Lee’s well-entrenched position, and Fort Harrison, a key position captured by Grant.
A Richmond treasure is the White House of the Confederacy, the home of President Davis and his family until Richmond fell in April 1865. The handsome house contains many original furnishings and personal items. Ten rooms have been restored to their wartime appearance, and the first floor contains a central parlor where the Davises entertained. Davis’s offices and the family bedrooms are on the second floor.
The adjacent Museum of the Confederacy contains the nation’s largest collection of Confederate weapons, uniforms, battle flags, letters, diaries, photographs, equipment, and other artifacts. Among the displays are Lee’s field equipment, a model of the ironclad Virginia, made by a crewman, the sword Lee wore at the surrender, and Jeb Stuart’s plumed hat.
Both attractions are open Monday-Saturday, 10:00-5:00, and Sunday, 12:00-5:00. A combined ticket is $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $5 for ages six through college. For information phone 804-649-1861.
Many important events of the war occurred in the State Capitol, on Capitol Square one block south of Broad St. For example, Virginia ratified the Articles of Secession, Lee assumed command of all Virginia forces, and the Confederate Congress met in the building. Open daily, 9:00-5:00, except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day; December through March, open Sunday, 1:00-5:00. Thirty-minute tours are available, the last one beginning at 4:00. Admission is free. For information phone 804-698-1788.
Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, southwest corner of Grace and Ninth, was known as the “Church of the Confederacy.” President Davis received confirmation in the Episcopal faith here early into the war, and he was attending a service on April 2, 1865, when he received a message from Lee that the Petersburg defenses had been broken and Richmond had to be evacuated. Open daily, 10:00-4:00. For information phone 804-643-3589.
Battle Abbey, 428 North Blvd., was built in 1913 as a Confederate memorial. It is now the home of the Virginia Historical Society and their Museum of Virginia. Among other exhibits, the museum boasts the Maryland-Steuart Collection of Confederate-made weapons, considered to be the world’s finest. There is a library onsite and educational programs are offered daily. A mammoth mural series by Charles Hoffbauer depicts The Four Seasons of the Confederacy. Open daily, 10:00-5:00, except Sunday, 1:00-5:00. Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors, and $2 for children and students. For information phone 804-358-4901.
Hollywood Cemetery, 412 S. Cherry St. at Albermarle. The notables buried here include James Monroe, John Tyler, Jefferson Davis, and J. E. B. Stuart. Some fifteen thousand Confederate soldiers are also interred in the 115-acre cemetery, which was opened in 1853. The cemetery office at the gate offers an audiovisual program and a map showing the location of the prominent graves. Open daily. For information phone 804-648-8501.
Linden Row Inn
Richmond, Virginia
The Greek Revival town houses that make up what is known as Linden Row have been a Richmond landmark since 1847. They shared a garden that was the childhood playground of Edgar Allan Poe and the inspiration for the “enchanted garden” in his poems. During the war, the two westernmost houses were occupied by the Southern Female Institute, and President Jefferson Davis riding by on horseback was a familiar morning sight.
Linden Row is rated an AAA Four Diamond Inn, and is listed on the National Register. Furnished in the Victorian style, the inn’s original features include fireplaces with marble mantels and crystal chandeliers. Snacks and refreshments are served on the patio, and the dining room features Southern cuisine. Guests enjoy a complimentary wine and cheese reception in the parlor. The inn is within walking distance of the Capitol, the Museum and White House of the Confederacy, and the Valentine Museum.
Address: 100 E. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23219; tel: 804-783-7000; fax: 804-648-7504.
Accommodations: Seventy guest rooms (including seven parlor suites), all with private baths.
Amenities: Climate-controlled rooms, cable TV and clock-radio in rooms, afternoon refreshments, use of nearby fitness center, valet parking, free transportation to downtown.
Rates: $$ in garden court, $$$ in main house, including continental breakfast. All major credit cards and personal checks
Restrictions: No pets, restricted smoking.
Emmanuel Hutzler House
Richmond, Virginia
Memories of the war were stirred in the capital city on May 7, 1890, when J. A. C. Mercie’s statue of Robert E. Lee, hat in hand and astride his horse Traveller, was loaded on four gaily covered wagons and hauled by men, women, and children to its present location. It was dedicated three weeks later before a crowd of 100,000, unveiled by Joseph E. Johnston, assisted by Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee. The only inscription on the statue is LEE. The statue was erected on the newly laid out Monument Avenue, a broad mall that would become the city’s boulevard of honor, lined by handsome mansions.
One mansion, of Italian Renaissance design and a few steps away from the Lee statue, now houses this comfortable inn. Mahogany paneling is used extensively in its eight-thousand-square-foot interior, and innkeepers Lyn Benson and John Richardson have furnished it with period pieces. They have retained the best of the past, while adding such modern-day amenities as air-conditioning and new bathrooms.
Address: 2036 Monument Ave., Richmond VA 23220; tel: 804-353-6900 or 804-355-4885; fax: 804-355-5053.
Accommodations: Four double rooms, all with private baths, two with Jacuzzis.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, off-street parking, phone and TV in rooms.
Rates: $$-$$$. All major credit cards and personal checks.
Restrictions: No children under twelve, no pets (pet boarding nearby), no smoking.
The William Catlin House
Richmond, Virginia
This house in the historic Church Hill District was built in 1845 for William Catlin by one of the finest masons in the country. A block away i
s St. John’s Church, where Patrick Henry demanded “liberty or death.” The inn also is convenient to the Virginia State Capitol, where Lee was sworn in as commander of Virginia’s armed forces in the Civil War, and Shockoe Slip with its restaurants and shops.
Now the house is an inn, richly appointed with antiques and family heirlooms and hosted by Robert and Josephine Martin, who live in the house to make sure everything runs smoothly. Guests are pampered with bedroom fireplaces, goose-down pillows, and, at night, a chocolate mint and a glass of sherry. Coffee or tea is waiting in the morning, and the full breakfast is a testament to Southern hospitality. For an informal dinner try the restaurant at Mr. Patrick Henry’s Inn next door (804-644-1322).
Address: 2304 E. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23223; tel: 804-780-3746.
Accommodations: Five bedrooms, three with private baths and two with shared bath.
Amenities: Air-conditioning, fireplaces in rooms.
Rates: $$, including full breakfast. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and personal checks.
Restrictions: No pets, no smoking.
Berkeley Plantation
Charles City County, Virginia
This plantation on the north bank of the James River was the home of the Harrisons, the prominent Virginia family that included a signer of the Declaration of Independence and two presidents, William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. The land was part of a royal grant in 1619; the house was built in 1726. In 1862, General McClellan established his Peninsular Campaign headquarters here. Lincoln came to Berkeley twice to consult with McClellan and review the 140,000 troops that were camped nearby. While here, General Daniel Butterfield composed the bugle call “Taps.” After Lee drove McClellan from the gates of Richmond in the Seven Days’ Battles, McClellan’s army retreated here to board ships to return to Washington. In 1907, Berkeley was purchased by John Jamieson, who had camped at the plantation when he was a drummer boy with the Union forces. The house has been restored and furnished with period pieces.
Chuck Lawliss Page 5