Battle of Brandy Station • Tour the Battlefield • Historical & Wayside Markers • The Armies
The marker to “Buying Time on the Beverly Ford Road” wayside marker is on the Civil War Trust’s Buford’s Knoll Walking Trail on the Brandy Station battlefield. The trailhead is on Beverly Ford Road north of the James Madison Highway (U.S. 15 & 29), north of the Culpeper Regional Airport.
The background paintng on the marker shows Don Stivers’ painting, “The Mortal Encounter.” It depicts Union Colonel Benjamin “Grimes” Davis’ fatal duel with Confederate Lieutenant F. Owens Allen, which happened here. The death of Colonel Davis, one of the few heroes from the Federal loss of Harpers Ferry in 1862 and commander of Buford’s lead brigade, seriously disrupted the Federal attack.
The next stop is the fourth and final stop on the walking trail. It has two markers, The Stone Wall on the Cunningham Farm and Rooney Lee’s Fighting Retreat.
Text from the marker:
The Battle of Brandy Station
Buying Time on the Beverly Ford Road
Both Union and Confederate armies used horse artillery to assist cavalry. When firing erupted at Beverly Ford on the morning of June 9, 1863, Major Robert F. Beckham’s battalion of Confederate horse artillery (16 guns and some 500 men) was encamped in woods here.
Confederate cannoneers frantically harnessed their teams and prepared their guns for attack as Union skirmishers came in sight. Beckham ordered a gun of the Washington Artillery of South Carolina out on the road and told the crew to cover the battalion’s withdrawal.
Beckham withdrew 600 yards without losing a gun.
As the gunners fell back, horsemen of the 6th and 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiments raced down the ford road to delay the enemy. In the rush some Confederates rode bareback and some were barefooted. All were determined to buy time for the other Confederate brigades to form a line of battle to the rear.
At this spot, the Virginians clashed with troopers from the 8th New York and 8th Illinois Cavalries. In the melee, Col. Benjamin “Grimes” Davis, commander of the Union advance, was killed.
Brig. Gen. John Buford spent several hours getting his Federals across the river, untangling the confusion caused by Davis’ death, and deploying his troops. By 6:45 a.m. Buford was ready to test the Confederate soldiers ready for him near St. James Church.
Erected by Civil War Preservation Trust.
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This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinion, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior.
The Hallowell Foundation generously contributed toward the interpretation of this site in memory of Carrington Williams.
Location of the marker
The marker is the second stop on the Buford’s Knoll Walking Trail. (38°32’00.9″N 77°51’26.4″W).