President: Howard Lambert; Vice President: Gregory A. Mertz; Treasurers: Peter Mocarski and Peggy Mocarski; Secretary: Peggy Misch (newsletter editor)
Board of Directors: Jane Brookins, Don Carlson, Helen Geisler, Myra Lane, Larry Pullen, and Paul Warmack
Brandy Station Foundation Annual Dinner & Business Meeting Friday April 11, 2025
The Brandy Station Foundation Annual Meeting & Dinner this year is on Friday,
April 11th at the Country Club of Culpeper at 2100 Country Club Road in
Culpeper. The event begins at 6 PM. Reservations are needed by March 28, 2025. Seating is limited to fifty. The buffet dinner cost is $40 per attendee.
At the meeting, the membership will vote on the Board of Directors for the year
2025-2026 presented by the Nominating Committee and any other matters to be brought before the Membership. Please remember that in order to vote at the
annual meeting, you must be a Brandy Station Foundation member in good
standing and have paid your dues on the date of or before the meeting.
Our speaker is Daniel Davis on "The Hottest Fire I Was Ever In: The Battle of Brandy Station, June 9, 1863.” Dan is the Senior Education Manager at the American Battlefield Trust. He is a former seasonal historian at Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Site and Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park and the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles related to the Civil War. His work can be found in the Emerging Civil War Series, Blue & Gray Magazine and Hallowed
Ground.
There will be a silent auction to win a private Civil War battlefield tour with Battlefield Tours of Virginia's Tour with the Author experience. Tour with author (and Brandy Station Foundation Vice President) Greg Mertz of Battlefield Tours of Virginia. Value: $750.00 As part of this tour experience, you’ll also receive a signed copy of the author’s book, a Tour with the Author bookmark, and a fridge magnet!
To book a Tour with the Author experience, contact Battlefield Tours of Virginia to arrange a date with your historian-guide. https://battlefieldtoursofvirginia.com/tour-with-the-author/
Please make reservations by March 28, 2025 by emailing the Brandy Station Foundation at bsfgh1863@gmail.com and paying at the event, OR, Print, fill out and mail this reservation page to: Brandy Station Foundation, P.O. Box 165, Brandy Station, VA 22714
Please make checks out to: Brandy Station Foundation
IF YOU PREFER, visit our website, https://www.brandystationfoundation.com to pay online.
President’s Corner
Greetings,
It is with great excitement that I greet you as we kick off 2025. First, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for serving as the President of the Brandy Station Foundation for another year. We accomplished a great deal and none of it would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the Board of Directors and our many volunteers as well as you, the members of the Brandy Station Foundation for your support. Whether you joined last year or have been a part of the foundation for many years. I offer my heartfelt thanks.
With the coming of the 2025 season, there will be many more opportunities to carry out the mission of the Brandy Station Foundation. A top priority during my tenure, has been making needed repairs and improvements to the Graffiti House. I would like to take this opportunity to provide an update on the repairs to the Graffiti House and share a few projects planned in the coming year. We are in the final stage of stabilizing the foundation of the Graffiti House. The job required replacing the partial stone foundation with a new reinforced cement base and continuous cinderblock wall foundation. In addition, the handicap accessible ramp in the rear entrance is in the process of being replaced with a much more stable structure. There are also plans this Spring to repair and resurface the drive way and improve the lighting at the Graffiti House sign facing U.S. Route 29 and make improvements to the landscaping in front of the Graffiti House.
First, among our list of events planned for this year is our Annual Meeting and Dinner. On Friday, April 11th, we will be holding our Annual Meeting and Dinner for the first time at the Country Club of Culpeper. The Country Club was established in 1954 and has long been a recreational and meeting place in our community. We are looking forward to holding our annual meeting at a historic site and sharing the accomplishments of the Brandy Station Foundation. It’s a great opportunity to meet members of the Board of Directors, engage with fellow members and learn more about the activities planned for the year ahead. There will be a Silent Auction with the opportunity to bid on a Civil War era print, experience a private tour of the Brandy Station Battlefield, enjoy dinner at one of Culpeper’s finest restaurants, among other activities. Our guest speaker this year is Dan Davis of the American Battlefield Trust. Dan is an accomplished speaker and one of the foremost experts on the Battle of Brandy Station. His presentation is entitled, “The Hottest Fire I was Ever In: The Battle of Brandy Station – June 9, 1863.”
Second is Park Day. The event is scheduled for April 26th. Similar to last year, this year’s tasks will focus on the grounds of the Graffiti House. For starters, our plans are to add a new brick walkway by the Graffiti House marker, remove the rocks surrounding the walnut tree in the front yard, and mulch areas around the house. We are in need of volunteers for these planned activities. However, more projects may be completed if we have more volunteers. If you have time available, please join us for a few hours starting at 10:00 AM on Saturday, April 26th.
In May, we will kick off our Sunday Guest Speaker Series. Our speaker is Reo Hatfield II. Reo is CEO of Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery. However, he is perhaps more widely known for the world-famous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Reo was instrumental in writing the document in 2003 that would make history around the globe. That document would be a formal truce ending all hostilities, implied, inferred, and real between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Reo’s talk will focus on his family’s military service during the Civil War and the years long feud between the families. We look forward to hearing the true story behind the family feud after the release of movies and many books over the years. The event will take place at the Brandy Station Fire Hall. Please come prepared to hear answers to many of your questions. There will be a book signing after the event.
In June, we are planning Descendants Day at the Graffiti House on Saturday, June 7th. It will be a day devoted to meeting and hearing from the descendants of the Battle of Brandy Station and those involved in the beginning of the Overland Campaign. There will be food, multiple speakers, re-enactors, living history encampment, exhibits and much, much, more. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this event with your entire family. Other events planned for the year include special screening of the movie “Glory” on July 12th, 2:00 PM at the Library of Congress, Packard Campus Theater in Culpeper with reenactors and a crew member from the movie, Lecture and Tour of Brandy Station by Jim Bish on George Washington and the Field Brothers. George Washington’s first job as a surveyor was at Brandy Station and the Field Brothers were on the journey with Lewis and Clark. For the second year in a row, the Brandy Station Foundation will host a 5K and 10K Race on Saturday, September 27th near the Culpeper County Airport.
Please visit our website for details and a complete list of our events and speakers for the coming year.
Finally, I offer my gratitude to the members of the Brandy Station Board of Directors back in 2015 for their vision and commitment to the Culpeper Battlefields State Park. There is comfort in knowing that future generations will now have the same opportunity to appreciate the service and sacrifice of those who helped shape this country and to walk on the same ground that existed on June 9th. 1863.
Howard Lambert
President, Brandy Station Foundation
Upcoming Brandy Station Foundation Events
Saturday, April 26, 2025, 10AM-1PM. Park Day at the Graffiti House.
This is an annual hands-on volunteer event to help Civil War and other historic sites shine their brightest. The Brandy Station Foundation will hold its Park Day at the Graffiti House.
If you can help that day, please call the Foundation at 540-317-5581 or email sfgh1863@gmail.com.
Thanks for participating and volunteering to enhance the Graffiti House!
Sunday May 18, 2025 1 PM at the Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department Hall, 19601 Church Rd., Brandy Station, VA. Special Guest Speaker — Reo Hatfield “The Hatfields and the McCoys: From Civil War to Family Feud”. Part of Brandy Station Foundation Sunday Guest Speaker series.
Reo is CEO of Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery. However, he is perhaps more widely known for the world-famous feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Reo was instrumental in writing the document in 2003 that would make history around the globe.
That document would be a formal truce ending all hostilities, implied, inferred, and real between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Reo’s talk will focus on his family’s military service during the Civil War and the years long feud between the families. There will be a book signing after the event.
Saturday, June 7, 2025. Descendants Day at the Graffiti House, 19484 Brandy Road, Brandy Station, VA. It will be a day devoted to meeting and hearing from the descendants of the Battle of Brandy Station and those involved in the beginning of the Overland Campaign. There will be food, multiple speakers, re-enactors, living history encampment, exhibits and much, much, more. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this event with your entire family.
Saturday, July 13, 2025 2 PM. Special screening of the movie “Glory” at the Library of Congress Packard Campus Theater, 19053 Mt Pony Rd, Culpeper, VA. The event in Culpeper will feature reenactors and a crew member from the movie.