Commemorating the 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Morton’s Ford

On February 6, members of the 14th Connecticut Infantry re-enactment group crossed the Rapidan River at Morton’s Ford to commemorate the identical advance of the 14th Connecticut Infantry 160 years ago and the ensuing Battle of Morton’s Ford that followed, February 6-7, 1864, during the Civil War.  

The re-enactors were joined by local landowners, Historian Clark “Bud” Hall, and staff from the American Battlefield Trust, all who have worked to preserve the land for its historical significance. 

The 114th Connecticut Infantry suffered 115 lost, wounded, and killed men during the Battle of Morton's Ford. In a moving ceremony of tribute before crossing, the reenactors read the names of those killed, placed a Connecticut state flag on the bank of the Rapidan River at the site of entry, and spread a small cup of Connecticut soil on there, as well. The river, cold and swollen from recent rains, was chest high on most men as they crossed.  

During the winter of 1864, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler devised a plan to send some troops across the Rapidan River at Morton’s Ford and attract the attention of the defending Confederates, while the main Union army advanced on the Confederate capital of Richmond. On the morning of February 6, the first Union troops successfully crossed the Rapidan with limited casualties and captured 30 of the 80 Confederate soldiers guarding the ford. Confederate General Richard Ewell’s men manned the ridge and pinned down the Union brigades between the banks of the Rapidan creating a stalemate.