Civil War Cavalry Skirmish

Suffolk County · dedicated 1998 · Rte. 604 at intersection with 460

Federal forces occupied Suffolk on 12 May 1862 and built earthworks around the town; Brig. Gen. John J. Peck took command in October. Cavalry vedettes, or mounted pickets, were posted some distance outside the fortifications to warn of Confederate attacks. During the winter of 1862-1863, small detachments of Federal and Confederate troops harassed each other west of Suffolk. Near here, about 4:00 P.M. on 28 Dec. 1862, Confederate cavalrymen attacked Union vedettes at Providence Church and drove them back toward Suffolk. Federal reserves repulsed the attack and forced the Confederates west several miles to their main body of cavalry.

Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

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Civil War Cavalry Skirmish

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