Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Facts • The Armies
The “A Debt Repaid” wayside marker is near Stop 5, Sudley Springs Ford, on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour.
From the wayside marker:
A Debt Repaid
The stone rubble is all that remains of Christian Hill, the postwar home of Amos and Margaret Benson. Following the First Battle of Manassas, the Bensons discovered a wounded Union soldier, Private John Rice of the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry, left for dead near Sudley Church. For ten days, the Bensons dressed his wounds, provided him with food and water, and protected him from the elements. Rice eventually made a complete recovery.
In 1886, John Rice returned to the Bull Run battlefield and found the Bensons at Christian Hill. Rice inquired how he might repay them for their past kindness. The Bensons, active members of Sudley Church, remarked that the congregation remained saddled with debt incurred from rebuilding their war-wrecked sanctuary.
Upon returning home, Rice took his story to the local newspaper. Within four days, residents contributed $235 – more than enough to cover the church debt. Rice jubilantly forwarded the donation, hoping the gift “might dispel the last doubt of a complete and lasting reconciliation between North and South.”
From the caption to the photo on the left:
John Rice
From the caption to the photo on the right:
Amos Benson
