Today historian Rick Britton talks about TODAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY: On June 9, 1863, but a few miles northeast of Culpeper, Va., was fought the western hemisphere’s largest cavalry combat, the Battle of Brandy Station. Pitting Union forces under Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton–8,000 cavalrymen plus 3,000 infantrymen–against perhaps as many as 10,000 Confederate horsemen under Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, Brandy Station featured every possible combination of Civil War cavalry combat–mounted and dismounted–including huge swirling mounted melees wherein the deadly work was done with sabers and pistols. Brandy Station was a narrow Confederate victory–600 Southern casualties to 900 Northern casualties–but the conclusions drawn afterwards were clear: J.E.B. Stuart–whose men had previously ridden circles around their Federal counterparts–had been caught off guard, and he’d almost been defeated.

Also: There’s a FREE upcoming lecture at the Senior Center. On Wednesday, June 14, at 6 p.m., archaeologist and historian Lynn Rainville will be speaking on “Slave Cemeteries of the Old Dominion.” It’s FREE and open to the public!