Last updated: April 5, 2024
Place
Harrison House Site
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
Some bricks and foundation stones are all that mark the site of Edgar Harrison’s house. A well-to-do farmer, Harrison joined the Confederate army at the beginning of the war, and fought near his house during the battle of Spotsylvania.
Joseph Walker, a 10-year-old enslaved by Harrison, remembered years later fleeing the house as the battle began. Returning after the battle, Walker later wrote “My mother’s house was pulled down to make breast works, and the yard and garden were used as a burying ground.”
During the battle, Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Richard Ewell used the Harrison House and grounds as their headquarters. Trenches still run through the woods near the Harrison House, built by the Confederate army in the latter stages of the fighting on May 12, 1864. On the ground here, Lee himself tried to lead an attack on May 12, before he was ushered to the rear. About a week later, Federal attacks near the Harrison House were repulsed by heavy concentrations of Confederate artillery on May 18.
Joseph Walker, a 10-year-old enslaved by Harrison, remembered years later fleeing the house as the battle began. Returning after the battle, Walker later wrote “My mother’s house was pulled down to make breast works, and the yard and garden were used as a burying ground.”
During the battle, Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Richard Ewell used the Harrison House and grounds as their headquarters. Trenches still run through the woods near the Harrison House, built by the Confederate army in the latter stages of the fighting on May 12, 1864. On the ground here, Lee himself tried to lead an attack on May 12, before he was ushered to the rear. About a week later, Federal attacks near the Harrison House were repulsed by heavy concentrations of Confederate artillery on May 18.