Last updated: January 26, 2025
Place
Lower Terrace
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
The Chatham terraces are as old as the main house, dating to about 1770. They were referenced as contemporary to the house in the 1797 bill of sale. They have been improved by William Jones, Chatham’s second owner. The terraces were likely constructed by some of the 230-some people enslaved by the Fitzhughs, Chatham’s original owners. The original terraces were joined by sets of stone steps, which were replaced by the musical staircase in the 1920s.
Before the Civil War, the terraces were primarily lawn, but there were ornamental trees and a small garden in the upper terrace and tulip poplars in the lower terraces by the 1860s. Most of these trees were gone by the end of the war, and post-war owners fenced the terraces and used them as farmyards. By the early 1900s, the terraces included rose beds and tennis courts. In the 1920s, the Devores, Chatham’s second-to-last owners, removed the beds and courts and replaced them with boxwood plantings, low brick walls, and statuary. The Devores also intended to add another terrace but stopped when they found Civil War remains, which they reinterred on the main terrace. Today, the National Park Service maintains the terraces according to the Devores’ designs.
At the war’s beginning, Horace Lacy enlisted in the Confederate Army, serving as an aide to a Confederate general. Shortly after her husband’s departure, Betty Lacy packed up her belongings and children. For the remainder of the war, Betty moved between family homes. The Lacys moved a portion of the enslaved population with them, and left Chatham and the remaining enslaved people under the care of an overseer. With the Lacys absent, the remaining enslaved people at Chatham waited for an opportunity to seek their freedom.
For some, that opportunity came in the summer of 1862 when the United States Army occupied Fredericksburg and used Chatham as a headquarters. The US Army returned in November 1862, this time led by General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside initially wanted to lead his army to Richmond, and planned to quickly cross over the Rappahannock River using pontoon bridges. The army quickly marched to Stafford Heights, but the pontoon bridges were delayed.
With his original plan in disarray, Burnside waited while Confederate troops gathered in Fredericksburg. Burnside ultimately decided to cross the river in three places opposite the town and commit to a battle with Lee’s army, a portion of which was positioned in the town itself. As US forces prepared for battle, Chatham became a military headquarters. During the morning of December 11th, United States soldiers built two pontoon bridges here below Chatham and fought their way into the town on the other side of the river.
Today there is a reconstructed pontoon bridge on the lower terrace. This bridge demonstrates how these critical pieces of equipment would have been constructed during the Civil War.
Before the Civil War, the terraces were primarily lawn, but there were ornamental trees and a small garden in the upper terrace and tulip poplars in the lower terraces by the 1860s. Most of these trees were gone by the end of the war, and post-war owners fenced the terraces and used them as farmyards. By the early 1900s, the terraces included rose beds and tennis courts. In the 1920s, the Devores, Chatham’s second-to-last owners, removed the beds and courts and replaced them with boxwood plantings, low brick walls, and statuary. The Devores also intended to add another terrace but stopped when they found Civil War remains, which they reinterred on the main terrace. Today, the National Park Service maintains the terraces according to the Devores’ designs.
War Comes to Chatham
When the Civil War began in 1861, the status quo at Chatham Plantation changed in an instant. This space eventually became a launching point for enslaved people seeking their freedom and a burial ground for hundreds of soldiers fighting for change. In a matter of four years, both the physical and social landscape at Chatham changed forever.At the war’s beginning, Horace Lacy enlisted in the Confederate Army, serving as an aide to a Confederate general. Shortly after her husband’s departure, Betty Lacy packed up her belongings and children. For the remainder of the war, Betty moved between family homes. The Lacys moved a portion of the enslaved population with them, and left Chatham and the remaining enslaved people under the care of an overseer. With the Lacys absent, the remaining enslaved people at Chatham waited for an opportunity to seek their freedom.
For some, that opportunity came in the summer of 1862 when the United States Army occupied Fredericksburg and used Chatham as a headquarters. The US Army returned in November 1862, this time led by General Ambrose Burnside. Burnside initially wanted to lead his army to Richmond, and planned to quickly cross over the Rappahannock River using pontoon bridges. The army quickly marched to Stafford Heights, but the pontoon bridges were delayed.
With his original plan in disarray, Burnside waited while Confederate troops gathered in Fredericksburg. Burnside ultimately decided to cross the river in three places opposite the town and commit to a battle with Lee’s army, a portion of which was positioned in the town itself. As US forces prepared for battle, Chatham became a military headquarters. During the morning of December 11th, United States soldiers built two pontoon bridges here below Chatham and fought their way into the town on the other side of the river.
Today there is a reconstructed pontoon bridge on the lower terrace. This bridge demonstrates how these critical pieces of equipment would have been constructed during the Civil War.