Battle of Fredericksburg • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • Armies
The ‘Hamilton’s Crossing’ wayside marker is at Stop Six of the Fredericksburg Battlefield Auto Tour. (see map below) It is at the beginning of a walking trail that leads 0.2 mi. to the location of the crossing.
Hamilton’s Crossing
This footpath leads to the site of Hamilton’s Crossing, a critical supply base for Confederate troops camped near Fredericksburg during the winter of 1862-63. Prior to the Civil War, Hamilton’s Crossing had been merely a flag-stop on the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad line. But once Union troops occupied Stafford County, the trains could no longer run safely into Fredericksburg. Hamilton’s Crossing, four miles south of the town, became the new railhead.
After the December 1862 battle, Hamilton’s Crossing burgeoned into a major supply base as trains from Richmond unloaded daily shipments of food, clothing, and other supplies for Lee’s army. After the war, rail service to Fredericksburg resumed and the station at Hamilton’s Crossing closed for good. Today, no evidence of it remains.
“The Depot is removed from Fredericksburg to our Crossing….We are surrounded with soldiers, camps and all the paraphernalia of war. It is so exacting, and our feelings are so above the ordinary ones that we can’t tell whether it is pleasant or the contrary.”
From the caption to the background photo on the marker:
The many buildings that comprised the wartime depot at Hamilton’s Crossing were never photographed. By 1892, when this picture was taken, all traces of the railroad station had vanished.
Location of the marker
The marker is at the east end of the parking area at Stop Six, which is the end of Lee Drive. (38°14’52.5″N 77°26’07.5″W)