Recipient: Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Award Amount: $ 496,756.64
Acreage: 136.67
As a residence, tavern, post office, and general store, Todd’s Tavern served as an essential meeting point for local life, as well as a pivotal landmark during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. On the night of May 7, 1864, Generals Ulysses Grant and George Meade rode south along the Brock Road, stopping briefly at Todd’s Tavern. When Grant and Meade arrived around midnight, they found troops camped around the building. Meade angrily aroused the men from their slumber and sent them galloping south to clear the road. The location also served as a camp for both the Union Second Corps and Confederate General Thomas Rosser’s cavalry brigade.
While you might not expect taverns to be important to military history, they are often a location that shed light on the lives of ordinary people caught in the crosshairs. At Todd’s Tavern, there are promising clues about the lives of enslaved and freed African Americans who labored there. This land acquisition allows for the site to be preserved and for future investigation into its nuanced history.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service