Below is text from a park brochure on the Battle of Bristoe (Bristow) Station (October 14, 1863). It includes a summary of the campaign, directions to the battlefield and a tour of the battlefield.
It was an "ill-judged attack," a "rash enterprise," as "gross blunder." Such were the terms used by participants brigades dashed to pieces against a well-protected Federal corps. It was the fall of 1863. A few months earlier the Union and Confederate armies had engaged in a three-way epic struggle at the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Both armies had been badly battered in the battle; neither would be in fighting trim for weeks to come. In the interim, the armies rested and reorganized on the rolling hills between Madison Court House and Culpeper, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee took advantage of the lull in the fighting to dispatch Lieutenant General James Longstreet's First Corps to reinforce General Braxton Bragg in Tennessee. Meade countered by sending the Army of the Potomac's Eleventh and Twelfth Corps to reinforce Bragg's opponent, Major General William S. Rosecrans. In order to prevent Meade from making any additional detachments, Lee decided to resume the offensive in Virginia.
On October 9 Lee led his army across the Rapidan River and moved toward Culpeper in an effort to turn Meade's right flank and impose himself between the Union army and its supply base at Centreville. Meade discerned his opponent's strategy in time, however, and ordered a hasty retreat. Lee took up pursuit of Meade's army and finally caught up with it on October 14 at Bristoe Station, a stop on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.
Lieutenant General A.P. Hill led the Confederate march. At 1:30 p.m. Hill encountered what he believed to be the tail of Meade's army at Broad Run, about a mile north of Bristoe Station. He decided to attack immediately with his leading division, commanded by Brigadier General Henry Heth. As Heth advanced to attack the Federals along Broad Run, another large body of Union troops appeared on his right, moving parallel with the railroad. With Hill's approval, Heth wheeled his division to the right to meet this new and more dangerous foe.
The troops had suddenly appeared on Heth's flank belonged to Brigadier General Alexander Webb's division of Major General Gouverneur K. Warren's Second Corps. As soon as he became aware of the Confederate presence, Webb threw his men into line of battle behind the railroad embankment, his right flank anchored on Broad Run, his left flank extending across the Brentsville Road. Shortly after the battle began, two other Second Corps divisions, command by Brigadier Generals Alexander Hays and John C. Caldwell, arrived and took position behind the railroad to Webb's left. Artillery batteries posted on the high ground south of the railroad strengthened the center and right of the Union line.
Heth launched his attack shortly after 3 p.m. Two North Carolina brigades, together numbering approximately 4,000 men, charged headlong into Webb's line of waiting rifles. Despite heavy losses, Heth's division seized a portion of the railroad on Webb's right, near the run. Success was temporary. Union cannon posted on hills behind the embankment blasted the Confederates who had made it past the railroad and effectively sealed the breach in the line. Stunned and demoralized by their defeat, Heth's men retreated back up the shell-torn slope or simply threw down their arms in surrender.
While Heth's attack was in progress, Major general Richard H. Anderson's division arrived on the field. Anderson ordered two brigades into action west of the Brentsville Road, while at the same time his artillery chief, Major David McIntosh, opened with seven guns from a ridge just 500 yards from the Federal line. When Heth's division fell back in retreat, McIntosh's guns were left unsupported and were captured by Webb's men, who successfully hauled five of hem safely back to their lines.
As the afternoon wore on, additional Confederate reinforcements reached the field. At 4 p.m. Lee arrived with leading elements of Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps. As Ewell moved into position opposite Warren's left, artillery on both sides engaged in a stubborn, but indecisive duel. The last fighting of the day occurred at dusk when Major General Robert E. Rodes' Confederate division attacked Caldwell's division near the bridge over Kettle Run.
After dark Warren crossed Broad Run and continued his eastward march, leaving the Confederate army master of the field. For Lee it had been a costly battle. His army had lost more than 1,300 men in the short, furious fight without any corresponding strategic gain. Federal losses, by contrast, numbered only 546. Responsibility for the disaster lay squarely on the shoulders of A.P. Hill, who had impetuously attacked the Federals without first pausing to reconnoiter the ground. The following day, as Lee and Hill rode together over the corps-strewn battlefield, Hill sought to explain the previous day's misfortunes. Lee listened quietly, the sad expression on his face clearly showing his disappointment. "Well, well, General," he said, when the younger officer had finished, "bury these poor men and let us say no more about it."
Directions to the Battlefield
Bristoe Station battlefield is privately owned, so please respect the rights of property owners. Although the battlefield has a rural appearance, it is in metropolitan Washington and traffic can be heavy - especially during morning and evening rush hours. Follow the map and directions carefully.
To reach the battlefield, take I-95 north from Fredericksburg approximately 22 miles to Exit 152. Turn left (west) on Route 234 and drive for approximately 8 miles when you will come to Route 619 east. Pass this and go 0.4 mile father turning left onto Route 619 west. Proceed on this road approximately 8 miles to Bristoe Station (now called "Bristow"). Carefully cross the railroad tracks there and proceed 0.7 mile farther to the intersection of Chapel Springs Road. Turn right, then pull over to the right.
Stop 1 - Old Greenwich Road. Chapel Springs Road marks the end of what was once the Old Greenwich Road. A.P. Hill's corps was advancing eastward along this road when it spotted George Sykes' troops along Broad Run, one-half mile ahead. William Poague's artillery galloped up from the rear and unlimbered on a hill near here and began shelling Sykes' troops in preparation for Hill's assault.
Proceed 0.2 mile to Route 28. Turn right and follow the road down the hill 0.3 mile to Broad Run. Cross the run, turn around at your convenience, and return to to the state historic marker labeled "Bristow Military Operations" located near the bridge. Park there and step out of your car, facing west so that your back is to the run.
Stop 2 - Broad Run. Elements of Sykes' Fifth Corps were resting quietly along this stream when shells fired by Poague's artillery screamed over head. The Federals fled eastward, pursued by the brigades of John Cooke, William Kirkland, and Henry Walker. Cooke and Kirkland veered south (to your left) to engage Warren at Bristoe Station, while Walker continued east, crossing Broad Run in this vicinity. Finding that he had become detached from the rest of the division, Walker quickly recrossed the stream and rejoined the command on the hills west of the station, too late to take part in the disastrous attacks that day.
Return to Bristoe Station by driving 0.6 mile to the traffic light at Route 619. Turn left and proceed 0.75 mile, parking in the vicinity of the railroad crossing.
Stop 3 - Bristoe Station. Stand south of the tracks and face north, the direction from which you just came. You are now at Bristoe Station, once a stop on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The railroad is still in operation, so please use caution when standing near the tracks.
On October 14th, Warren was moving up the railroad, from your left to right, toward Centreville, when Hill's Confederates appeared on his left. Warren turned to meet the threat, posting his infantry behind the railroad embankment, in front of you, and his artillery on the high ground behind you.
Hill impetuously attack's Warren's corps with Cooke's and Kirkland's brigades of Heth's division. As you look up the road, Cooke's brigade attacked to the left of the road and Kirkland's brigade to the right. Union artillery ripped through the Confederates' ranks as they swept down the hill, inflicting heavy losses. Those who survived the artillery fire were stopped by the heavy volleys of Warren's men posted here at the railroad.
Turn right so that you are looking down the tracks, facing northeast. Ahead of you, at a distance of about one-third mile, you can see a modern trestle that carries trains across Broad Run. Warren's line stopped 150 yards short of the stream, on this side of Broad Run. Kirkland's brigade broke through Warren's line near the run, only to be driven out by Union infantryman on this part of the line and by Union artillery on the hills to your right. Many of Kirkland's men surrendered rather than endure the deadly fire; others sought escape by retreating up the slope, to your left.
Turn ninety degrees to the left, so that you are once again facing northwest, up the road. While Kirkland assailed the right end of Warren's line, Cooke struck the Federals here, near the station. Cooke himself was wounded early in the action by artillery fire, but his brigade continued forward without him, stopping at a point 500 yards from the railroad to return the enemy's fire. It subsequently advanced to within 40 yards of the embankment but ultimately was driven back by Union infantry fire on its front and right flank. Colonel James E. Mallon, commanding a Union brigade in this area, was killed in the fighting.
As Heth grappled with Warren here along the railroad, seven guns of David G. McIntosh's artillery battalion dueled with Union batteries from a nearby hill. A farm silo, visible to the left of the road less than one half mile ahead of you, marks the position of McIntosh's guns. When the confederate infantry fell back, McIntosh's men abandoned the guns enabling Union skirmishers to capture five of the pieces. later in the day, Anderson's division came up on Heth's right and attacked Hays's division, one-half mile to your left. Hays beat back the assault, aide by the timely arrival of General John C. Caldwell's division, which took position on his left. An attack at dusk by general Robert Rodes' division on Caldwell's flank near Kettle Run, 0.75 to your left, brought an end to the day's fighting.
This concludes your tour. To head east toward Manassas or Washington, take Route 619 north to Route 28 and turn right. To reach Culpeper or Charlottesville, turn left on Route 28. If you wish to return to Fredericksburg, take Route 619 southeast to I-95, and head south.
The battlefields of Kelly's Ford, Rappahannock Station, Brandy Station, Mine Run and Cedar Mountain are nearby. Written guides are available for these and other nearby battlefields in the visitor centers at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
Civil War Preservation Trust is in the process of establishing a new historical park for Bristoe Station Battlefield. Click here for more information.
Return to Battlefields in Virginia.
