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General Description: This parcel consists of 1.5 acres surrounding the monument. The land was donated to the CWPT in 1989 by Mrs. Agnes McGee. An additional 3.3 acres were donated in 1995 by Tom Sagun to provide viewshed and a parking area. Ownership of the land was transferred to the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust in 2004. Civil War History: The last major fighting at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House occurred on May 19, 1864, at the Harris Farm. After ten days of bloody but inconclusive fighting near the Muleshoe Salient, General Ulysses S. Grant shifted the Army of the Potomac east across the Fredericksburg Road (Rte. 208). When General Robert E. Lee discovered that Grant had left the Muleshoe sector, he dispatched General Richard S. Ewell with 6,000 men of the Second Corps in a reconnaissance-in-force to determine the location of the Union army's right flank. Pushing east along rain-soaked roads, Ewell encountered General Robert O. Tyler's Brigade, composed of heavy artillery units recently gleaned from the Washington, DC defenses, at the Harris Farm. Confederate forces surged across the fields north of the farm, briefly capturing a federal wagon train moving down the Fredericksburg Road, but they were quickly forced back across the Ni RIver by federal reinforcements. For two hours, Tyler's brave but inexperienced soldiers beat back repeated assaults from Ewell's battle-toughened veterans at the Harris Farm, eliciting praise from their fellow soldiers, one of whom remarked that the Heavies, "didn't fight very tactically, but they fought confounded plucky." At dark, Ewell's battered corps withdrew to its former position, having suffered 900 casualties, 15 percent of its strength. Federal casualties were even greater, numbering almost 1,500.
The Property: The Harris House, now privately owned, was built sometime prior to 1815 and was purchased by Clement Harris in 1854. Bloodstains on the floor attest to the house's use as a Union field hospital during the two-week battle. Byron MacCutchen of the 20th Michigan Volunteers was one of the many wounded soldiers taken to the home for treatment..."I was laid on a sofa in the hallway while Sgt. Cleveland was laid on the operating table in the parlor on the right. He died before the operation was performed. I spent that night on that sofa, while the operations went on, only a few feet away. In the morning I was removed into an orchard back of the house, where there were tents and tentflies." Instructions: Historical information and directions can be obtained at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park Visitors Center. The monument can be accessed by subdivision roads. There is a small parking lot near the monument itself that is accessible to buses. Directions: From Four Mile Fork (the junction of Rte. 1, Rte 1A, and Rte 208), take 208 South toward Spotsylvania Court House. After a few miles you will cross Route 628. The original farm driveway is now blocked. The monument is accessed by subdivision roads as is Mrs. McGee's farm house. About 600 yards down, enter Bloomsbury Lane. Turn onto Agnes Lane and proceed to and take the first left which is Pond View Drive. The parking area for the site is at the intersection of Pond View and Harris Farm Road. The total distance is less than one mile from St. Rt. 208. Click here to get a map or driving directions. Spotsylvania, VA is the general location you are headed. For a print friendly brochure, please click here.
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