Battle of Spotsylvania • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The Spotsylvania Court House Historic District is not part of the battlefield park and is not on the Auto Tour, but it was an important part of the battle. The strategic crossroads where Courthouse Road (known as Fredericksburg Road during the Civil War) dead ends at Brock Road (the direct road from the WIlderness battlefield) was Grant’s objective after the Battle of the Wilderness.
Fredericksburg Road ends at Brock Road. The building was the Sanford Hotel in 1864. Compare with the Fredericksburg Road wayside marker.
Seizing the intersection would give Grant the direct route to Richmond. But Lee arived first, and held off Grant’s attacks for three weeks. Eventually Grant would slide around Lee’s flank and both armies would march away, leaving Spotsylvania to the wounded and the dead.
Spotsylvania Court House was made up of not much more than the court house itself, a tavern, and a few churches and houses. Many of the buildings in the historic district today date back to the Civil War.
There are several monuments and historical markers in the historic district:
Battle of Spotsylvania U.D.C. monument
Lee’s Headquarters monument
Historic District wayside marker
In the Path of War wayside marker
Spotsylvania Confederate Cemetery
Map and directions to the Spotsylvania Court House Historic District
The Historic District is at the intersection of Brock Road and Courthouse Road, south of the battlefield park. (38.20171° N, 77.588967° W)