Stuart's Riders Skirt Ashland

On the afternoon of 12 June 1862, Confederate Brig. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's column passed here on a mission to gather intelligence about Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac. Riding northeast toward the Richmond, Fredericksburg, & Potomac Railroad and bypassing Ashland to avoid discovery, the expedition ended its first day without seeing any Federals. The next day, Stuart surprised Union cavalry near Hanover Court House and encountered the army's rear elements at Old Church and Tunstall's Station. Less than two weeks later, part of Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's army camped here around Independence Church en route to the Seven Days' Battles.