Historic Gardens of Virginia 



as It stands in the mellowness of its two hundred years, it breathes 

 the spirit of hospitality and is in the broadest sense a home. 



There was once a private race course, whose owner was the 

 possessor of many famous trotters, a judge of fine horses, and a 

 country gentleman of the old school noted for his lavish entertaining. 



The site of the old garden, which was terraced to the river, is 

 supposed to have been the spot where the courtship of General Lee 

 culminated, for under the shade of an old elm tree overlooking the 

 Rappahannock Mary Custis promised to be his wife. There is an 

 old story that Lee refused to allow his troops to fire on Chatham 

 while it was occupied by Union troops, so through his love for the 

 place of so many happy memories, its life was saved. 



Fredericksburg, lying on the road between Washington and 

 Richmond, was a strategic point, and when the Federal troops oc- 

 cupied the Stafford hills, Chatham was used as General Burnside's 

 headquarters. In those lovely gardens sloping down to the river, 

 havoc was wrought by the blue-coated soldiers. From that 

 vantage point could be seen the devastation of the picturesque old 

 town. Clouds of smoke, the bursting of shells and the lurid glare 

 of fire made a panorama of the horror and desolation of war. 



Lincoln stayed at Chatham when he reviewed the troops, and 

 many counsels of war were held in those panelled rooms. From 

 early colonial days Chatham played an important part in both the 

 social and political life of the country, and its spacious halls have 

 been the scene of many important gatherings, both grave and gay. 

 Many thrilling secrets those old walls could tell, if they only would ! 

 From the time of Madison's and Monroe's visits, nearly all of our 

 Presidents have been entertained there, and have wandered through 

 the gardens, with the river flowing beyond. 



Originally these gardens were on the terraces, leading down 

 to a river landing where boats brought each day the necessities as 

 well as the luxuries of life. At one time a rose-garden, with more 

 than two thousand bushes, bloomed here in such profusion that it 

 was the pride of the entire countryside. 



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