Chatham Manor - Fredericksburg

Chatham Manor is located on Chatham Lane in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  The Georgian-style house, named after William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, was constructed between 1768 and 1771 by farmer and statesman William Fitzhugh.  The original plantation consited of 1200 acres located along the Rappahannock River and thrived for many years until Fitzhugh grew tired of the responsibilities in maintaining the manor and put his land up for sale in 1796.  Fitzhugh was a friend of George Washington, and a fellow member in the House of Burgesses, and it is known the future president visited the manor at least twice during the 1780's.  Thomas Jefferson, a second cousin of Mrs. Fitzhugh, was known to have visited Chatham in 1793.  In 1805 there was a noted slave rebellion at the plantation which required an armed posse to contain.  Two slaves were shot escaping and one was executed.  The following year Chatham was finally sold to Major Churchill Jones, who owned the property until the Civil War.  Prior to that the house was visited by Robert E. Lee, who is rumored to have courted his future wife, Mary Custis, here.  Although Mary Custis was the granddaughter of William Fitzhugh, the home's original owner, it is doubtful that the courtship took place here.  At the time of the Civil War the home was in the possession of Churchill Jone's niece's husband, James Horace Lacy.  Lacy, a southern sympathizer, joined the Confederacy.  His family remained the the manor until the spring of 1862 when Union forces occupied the city and forced the family to flee.  General Irvin McDowell used Chatham as his headquarters while his troops occupied Fredericksburg.  It was here that President Abraham Lincoln met with McDowell to discuss war strategy.  Several months later the battle began and handed the Union a bloody defeat.  During the fighting Chatham was usedas a makeshift hispotal and many casualties were brought here to be cared for.  Poet Walt Whitman came to Chatham looking for a wounded brother and stayed on to offer assistance.  Red Cross founder Clara Barton also spent time here caring for war victims.  By the end of the war 130 Union soldiers had perished at Chatham.  After the war ended the Lacy's moved back but were unable to care for the now decrepit manor.  The damaged suffered during the war had made the home impossible to care for and they moved to another property, Ellwood Manor, located near The Wilderness, in 1872.  Chatham was restored in th 1920's and donated to the National Park Service in 1975.  Today it is part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.      

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