Battle of Kelly’s Ford remembered

A gentle wind near sunset on Saturday evening carried the sounds of Carpenters Battery, a Confederate artillery re-enactor unit, as they fired a 12-pound cannon in front of the arena at The Inn at Kelly's Ford.

That same wind rustled the hoop skirts of dozens of ladies and brushed the sabers of the Black Horse Cavalry as they rode across the field.
Guests then entered the inn for a dinner and period dances with music by the 2nd South Carolina String Band, a recreation of those same Civil War era camp bands.

On another St. Patrick's Day – March 17, 1863, 2,100 Union troops attacked Kelly's Ford and spent the day charging across the rain soaked fields of northeastern Culpeper County in the battle that killed Major John Pelham. At 24, Pelham died in Culpeper on the morning of March 18, 1863.
The Brandy Station Foundation Ball commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Kelly's Ford by raising over $2,000 in direct contributions. Those funds will be forwarded to the Civil War Trust for the preservation of Fleetwood Hill in Brandy Station.

Fleetwood Hill was the culminating site of the Battle of Brandy Station, the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War on June 9, 1863.
The Brandy Station Foundation has already preserved acreage at the base of Fleetwood Hill and at Kelly's Ford.
Geoge Wells from Madison County brought to life General Robert E. Lee. The entire scene could have been lifted from one of Mort Kunstler's paintings.

President of the Brandy Station Foundation Joe McKinney held a moment of silence for all those who lost their lives at the Battle of Kelly's Ford.
Secretary Peggy Misch is particularly grateful to all event supporters and attendees especially

The Willoughby Foundation and Linda and William Willougby, as well as patrons Mr. and Mrs. William Fendley and AeroVial Business.
For more information on the Brandy Station Foundation, their website is www.brandystationfoundation.com