Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park: Stonewall Jackson Death Shrine I Trail Cooking

While driving across Virginia along I-95, I saw a sign for “Stonewall Jackson Death Site” on the highway. It’s about 35 miles away from Richmond, VA.

I mean, are you going to pass that up? I’ve learned not to pass up on a chance if you have time. Chances are, you won’t get back to see it. This isn’t a major National Park, but rather a historical site. And the history is deep here.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where the schools blipped over the Civil War. Because it was seen as not important, as it hadn’t directly affected us, and it was an antique. Living here in West Virginia, I find the history fascinating to understand what tore the US apart so deeply. Stonewall Jackson was half man, half legend, and I had no idea he was born in Clarksburg, which would become part of West Virginia during the Civil War. Where I live now was split between the Union and Confederacy. Loyalty went both ways. The local cemetery is home to both sides and is so old it is the resting place for Revolutionary War deaths.

It’s only a few miles off the interstate, down well maintained roads to visit this section of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. It became part of the National Park system after the land was donated to them in 1937 by the railroad.

The Jackson Death Site, or Stonewall Jackson Death Shrine, is open, fee free. However, the farm office building is only open on Saturdays in summer for visiting.

Address is:

12019 Stonewall Jackson Road
Woodford, VA 22580

From I-95: The Jackson Death Site is located about 5 miles east of I-95, off exit 118.

The drive into, which follows the rail line, is stunning. The tiny farm office sits on the high ground.

What is left is the old farm office, where General Stonewall Jackson died. The building had a porch, and 4 small rooms were on the main floor, plus a back room.

Prior to the war, it was the Fairfield Plantation.

Discussing the loss of Jackson, who was General Lee’s right-hand man.

By modern standards, the office is quite small.

Site of the former home. It burned down after the war and was dismantled in the early 1900s.

The corners are marked with stone obelisk. It wasn’t a huge house, and it isn’t quite what one thinks of a plantation. This was a farm first most and not showy. It was, however, still a plantation in that it was run by slaves. So there is that underlying energy there. Yet, nature has reclaimed most of it and healed the land.

Looking at the front, the view from where the house would have been.

General Jackson was brought to the Chandler home so they could send him to Richmond, but he couldn’t leave due to the railroad being attacked. He died on May 10th, 1863, on a Sunday, at 3:15 p.m., from complications after he had been shot (and lost his arm). He was a religious man. He felt it a blessing to be called home to God on the Lord’s Day. His last words were, “Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees.” He was 39.

In the house, various items such as the bed are original to when he was there.

It was a hot day, as Virginia is in summer. It was so quiet out there, just the birds in the trees talking. The walking around the land was easy, with much of it in the shade. There are picnic tables on the far side to sit at and dwell on what was once so bloody.

And well worth the short drive to see it. Maybe not a pleasant hike in the traditional sense, but then history is often complicated. And we should not shy away from it. It can become beautiful again, and the land is stunning.

~Sarah