Brandy Station Battlefield Cultural Landscape Report

Brandy Station Battlefield is Virginia’s newest state park. The site of the largest calvary battle in American history, Brandy Station played a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the American Civil War, opening the Gettysburg campaign and shifting momentum to the Union Army. The new park commemorates this historic event and preserves a remarkably intact Civil War-era landscape for public recreation and education.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of Brandy Station’s historical and cultural significance, the American Battlefield Trust hired MIG to develop a Cultural Landscape Report for the Commonwealth. The expansive report identifies individual features that influenced how the battle was fought and identifies opportunities for interpretive displays and other resources.

MIG’s historians and historical landscape architects worked closely with archaeologists to deepen their understanding of the battlefield’s significance, providing a fine-grained assessment of the existing condition of the site and the historical integrity of features ranging from forgotten cemeteries to witness trees.

This Cultural Landscape Report is the first for the American Battlefield Trust and the Commonwealth of Virginia and will serve as a model for future battlefield sites.