Ellwood

Another stop, this one on my way home Sunday, was at the NPS site "Ellwood" along Rt20 just south of Rt 3. Ellwood c. 1790 was the summer home of the J. Horace Lacy and his wife Betty Churchill Jones. In May 1864 it was the site of General Warrens 5th Corps Headquarters during the Wilderness Campaign and the family cemetery is the burial site of General Jackson's amputated arm.

In May '63 Jackson had been wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville and had his arm amputated at Wilderness Tavern about 1/2 miles from Ellwood. The Rev Beverly Tucker Lacy, brother of Ellwood's owner and Jackson's Chaplain, retrieved the arm and buried it in the family cemetery at Ellwood. The exact location of the arm in the cemetery is not known. The site was "disturbed" at some point by Federal troops and legend has it that in the 1920's Marine General Smedley Butler unearthed the arm to prove it was there. According to the volunteer tour guide I met there the Butler story has never been proven.

Ellwood has hosted several other notable visitors. the Marquis de Lafayette visited Ellwood in 1825 during is tour of America. "Light Horse Harry Lee" noted Revolutionary War hero and father of General Robert E. Lee wrote his memoirs there in the upstairs bedroom. Considering the locations of the homes of Founding Fathers James Madison and James Monroe it is speculated that they were also visitors to the home.

The area around Ellwood is full of history. The Battles of Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Mine Run all took place with in miles of the site. General Grants Headquarters during the Wilderness Campaign was several hundred yards away. Unfortunately much of this area has been lost or soon will be. When Rt 3 was developed it was built over Wilderness Tavern. Recently preservationists tried in vain to halt the building of a Super Walmart just a short distance from and overlooking the site. The negative impact of this development at the intersection of Rt 3 and Rt 20 will be huge and permanent. Thank you Spotsylvania County.

If you're in the area this site is worth a visit. The volunteer guides were great and a walk around the site a pleasant experience. Ellwood is a about a mile south on Rt 20 from it's Rt 3 intersection. The intersection is about a 15 minute drive west on Rt 3 from Interstate 95 at Fredericksburg. Along the way you'll pass through the Chancellorsville Battlefield and with in yards of the site of Jackson's wounding in May of '63. Once you're there you'll also be adjacent to the Wilderness Battlefield and a short drive to Spotsylvania Courthouse and Battlefield.

Ya'll come.