Higgerson Farm - Wilderness VA
N 38° 18.513 W 077° 44.991
18S E 259564 N 4243628
Permelia Higgerson watched and taunted Union troops as they trampled through her property on the Wilderness battlefield.
Waymark Code: WM8M4V
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 04/17/2010
Views: 8
During the Civil War, Permelia Higgerson owned a farm on the Wilderness battlefield. On May 5, 1864, Union soldiers tromped through her property trampling her gardens and fences on their way to battle in the Wilderness woods. She was incensed and taunted the soldiers as they passed predicting the Confederates would chase them back. She was right. They did. And as the Union soldiers ran back, she taunted them more.
The location of her farm is on Hill-Ewell Drive in Orange County, VA. There is a pull-off and a historical placard with pictures of Permelia and her house in the 1930s. Today the house is gone, but a walk down the lane will take you to the ruins of the chimney. Surrounding the clearing on the perimeter of the woods are sections of fence. (It is probably doubtful that this is an original Higgerson fence, but it certainly is old.) In the spring, daffodils are abundant around the old house location.
The site is part of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.