Dedication to Remembrance and Renewal at Bristoe Station Battlefield

1862 sketch of Bristoe Station shows the Civil War damage to the town prior to the 1863 campaign

Virginia Historical Society

Recipient: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

Award Amount: $527,250.00
Acreage: 22.35

In the aftermath of the 1863 Civil War Battle of Bristoe Station, General Robert E. Lee purportedly ordered Lieut. Gen. A.P. Hill to bury the dead and “say no more about it,” angry at the defeat and unnecessary loss of life among Confederate soldiers.

This battle occurred three months after the Union victory at Gettysburg. The road to and from Gettysburg roared through western Virginia, and Bristoe Station was one of the many places visited by death and destruction repeatedly during the Civil War. When Confederate forces under Hill attacked the retreating Union Army there, the ground had already laid claim to the lives of soldiers and civilians during more than two long, hard years of conflict.

By his own account, Hill admitted he “hastily attacked the enemy” without proper reconnaissance. Confederate losses, including 1,300 causalities, dealt a further blow to the morale of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. That November, President Abraham Lincoln provided a terse requiem for the dead at Gettysburg and an enduring reminder that “it is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work” of the Civil War.

The American Battlefield Protection Program's Battlefield Land Acquisition Grant supports a network of partners dedicated to protecting Bristoe Station Battlefield and to surfacing the stories of those who cannot be forgotten. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and its partners, the American Battlefield Trust and Prince William County, have an enduring commitment to remembrance and renewal at Bristoe Station. The County completed a preservation plan for the battlefield with the support of our 2016 Preservation Planning Grant. This new addition to Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park, along with two previous acquisition grants, is a dedicated step in steady progress toward our nation’s unfinished work.

Battlefield Land Acquisition Grants empower preservation partners nationwide to acquire and preserve threatened Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War battlefields. In addition, the program administers three other grants: Preservation Planning Grants, which are open to all sites of armed conflict on American soil, the newly authorized Battlefield Restoration and Battlefield Interpretation grant programs. This financial assistance generates community-driven stewardship of historic resources at the state, tribal and local levels.

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Check out the American Battlefield Protection Program's website for more information about various grant offerings and eligibility.

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