Union Occupation of Charlottesville

On 3 Mar. 1865, after the Battle of Waynesboro, Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's Union Army of the Shenandoah entered Charlottesville. As Bvt. Maj. Gen. George A. Custer's 3d Cavalry Division arrived, Mayor Christopher L. Fowler, local officials, and University of Virginia professors Socrates Maupin and John B. Minor, likely with rector Thomas L. Preston, met Custer on the University Grounds. Fowler surrendered the town and keys to the public buildings. The professors asked that the University be protected as a national asset. Custer agreed, posting guards during a three-day occupation. The University suffered little damage, unlike the Virginia Military Institute, which was burned in June 1864.

Department of Historic Resources, 2017 Department of Historic Resources, 2001