Battle of Fredericksburg • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • Armies
The “Stephens House” wayside marker is along the Sunken Road, at Stop One on the Battlefield Auto Tour. The marker is a short distance from the Martha Stevens monument and Stephens Family Cemetery marker.
Text from the marker:
The Stephens House
The foundation outlined before you marks the wartime home of Edward and Martha Stephens. On December 13, 1862, the house was caught in the vortex of Union attacks against the Sunken Road. Confederate sharpshooters fired from the house windows and roof. The Union artillery shell that killed General Thomas Cobb passed through the house before exploding.
Legend holds that Martha Stephens, unlike most local residents, remained in her house throughout the battle. She purportedly made repeated, dangerous trips to her well and tore strips from her own garments to bind the wounds of the fallen. Mrs. Stephens lived until 1888; she is buried in the plot to your left. The house survived the battle but was destroyed by fire in 1913.
Location of the monument
The monument is on the east side of the Sunken Road Trail about 225 yards north of the Visitor Center. It is on the trail that branches off from the Sunken Road and heads toward the Stephens House. (38°17’43.5″N 77°28’05.8″W)