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Brandy Station is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Culpeper County, Virginia, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 191. Its original name was Brandy. The name Brandy Station comes from a local tavern sign that advertised brandy.
Jun 9, 2011 · Fought in the second week of June 1863, Brandy Station was the largest cavalry battle ever fought in North America. With momentum firmly in hand after his stunning victory at Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee decided to launch a second Northern invasion. On June 3, the Army of Northern Virginia began the movement away from Fredericksburg.
The Battle of Brandy Station on June 9, 1863 was the largest cavalry engagement in American history and had a profound impact on the Gettysburg Campaign. The American Battlefield Trust has preserved more than 2,159 acres of this Virginia battlefield.
Unknown to both sides, the Battle of Brandy Station fought on June 9, 1863, would be the largest cavalry engagement ever fought on the North American continent. It was said by one of the aides to Confederate Major General J.E.B. Stuart that “Brandy Station made the Federal cavalry.” [2]
For decades, the Brandy Station Battlefield lay dormant, almost entirely undisturbed since the epic cavalry battle that erupted in this part of Piedmont Virginia in 1863. It was the largest such engagement ever fought in the Western Hemisphere, with nearly 20,000 troopers clashing sabers, resulting in more than 1,000 casualties.
It was fought on June 9, 1863, around Brandy Station, Virginia, at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign by the Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton against Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry. Union commander Pleasonton launched a surprise dawn attack on Stuart's cavalry at Brandy Station.
The largest cavalry battle of the American Civil War took place at Brandy Station, Virginia, where J.E.B. Stuart's Confederates and Alfred Pleasonton's Federals clashed, swords flashing and pistols blazing.
