The Stable

This stable structure was built in the early 1830's. In the early 1860's North Central Virginia was one of the most hotly contested areas in the world. Culpeper's strategic railroad location made it a significant supply station for Confederate and Union troops. As a highly prized position for both sides, the county witnessed more troop movement than any other location in the nation. The control depended upon the town occupancy at the time. If under control of the North, this stable housed the likes of "Cincinnati", rode byGeneral Ulysses S. Grant. If under Southern control, these stables boarded the famous "Traveller", General Robert E. Lee's beloved Equine. Grant headquartered, Lee camped, Jackson fought and Stuart wintered in Culpeper County. As did their horses.

Cincinnati was the favorite horse of General Ulysses S. Grant. A shaded dark bay with gray hooves, he was presented to Grant in 1864. He was the son of Lexington, the fastest four-mile thoroughbred in the United States at the time.

When Grant rode Cincinnati to negotiate Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, the animal became immortalized. Virtually all depictions of Grant in drawings, granite and bronze are astride Cincinnati, including at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial, located at the Mall in Washington, D.C., at the base of Capitol Hill.

Traveller was the favorite horse of Robert E. Lee. An American Saddlebred, he was of the Gray Eagle stock, as a colt took first prize at the Lewisburg, Virginia, fairs in 1859 and 1860. Traveller was a handsome horse, 16 hands high, iron gray in color with black points a long main and flowing tail. lee described him as "Confederate Gray."

After the war, Traveller accompanied Lee to Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. He lost many hairs from his tail to admirers who wanted a souvenir of the famous horse and his general.