Existing comment:
Years of Trial:
Ellwood in the Civil War:
As one of the most prominent secessionist families in the region, the Lacys dared not test the politeness of Union invaders. When the Yankee army first arrived here in 1862, Betty Jones Lacy packed the family furniture and goods from both Ellwood and Chatham and eventually migrated to southwest Virginia. Major J. Horace Lacy was captured by Union troops near Ellwood in the spring of 1862. He was soon exchanged and served out the war in various staff positions.
After the Lacy's departure, a family named Jones and a handful of slaves occupied Ellwood. Still, the house saw hard times. In 1863, Confederates used it as a hospital after Chancellorsville; in November 1863, Union troops looted the library; and in May 1864, the house would serve as a Union headquarters during the Battle of the Wilderness. By war's end the place was a wreck. The Lacys returned to Ellwood in 1872 and remained until the 1890s.
Chatham, in Stafford County, was the Lacy's other home. After the war, without the labor of slaves, the family could not afford to maintain two farms. They returned to Ellwood in 1872.
On May 3, 1863, Horace Lacy's brother, Beverley Tucker Lacy (Stonewall Jackson's chaplain), buried Jackson's amputated arm in the family cemetery at Ellwood. Today, the only stone in the cemetery is the one of Jackson's arm. |