Buckland, Virginia

HISTORY (Con't)

Buckland continued to prosper into the 19th century due to expanded routes of travel. The Fauquier-Alexandria Turnpike was constructed in 1823 through the center of Buckland, and the old road at the north end of town was abandoned. "The Pike," the first road of its type in Virginia, was paved using a revolutionary new process invented by John Louden McAdam. It brought travelers and a thriving commerce to Buckland, aided by the Pony Express, the Post Office and a stagecoach line. Several new buildings were built along the McAdamized road including the Stage Coach Inn. Abutments of the stone bridge, designed by Napoleon Bonaparte's bridge engineer, Claudius Crozet, are visible from Route 29.

The 1835 Gazetteer of Virginia listed the population of "135 whites and 50 blacks". These African Americans were freed slaves, skilled laborers who owned land, homes and slaves in the 1790s. One former slave who worked in the Buckland Distillery named himself 'Ned Distiller' and is listed on the 1810 census as freed.

In 1840, John Love sold Buckland Farm to George Washington's first cousin, Temple Mason Washington, who conveyed the farm in 1853 to Richard Bland Lee II, first cousin of General Robert E. Lee.

During the Civil War, Buckland's mills became a prime military target because of their proximity to the Warrenton Turnpike. Buckland was occupied at different times throughout the war by both Union and Confederate troops. The first shots of the Second Battle of Manassas were fired on Crozet's stone bridge in August, 1862. On October 19, 1863, the Confederate Cavalry enjoyed its final southern victory in Buckland when it rousted the armies of Generals Kirkpatrick and George Armstrong Custer. Referred to as 'Custer's First Stand', this was Custer's most serious defeat prior to the Battle at Little Big Horn. After the Confederates recaptured Crozet's Bridge, they sent the Yankees scrambling on a five-mile steeplechase along the Warrenton Turnpike. General J.E.B. Stuart humorously called the victory "The Buckland Races." Later, stating in his official report, " I am justified in declaring the rout of the enemy at Buckland the most single and complete that any cavalry has suffered during the war." The Union Army suffered 230 casualties. Buckland Tavern and the Church were set up as hospitals for the wounded.  [continue]

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