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HistTroric (GARDENS (OF JV EIERGINTIA — = TT = as it stands in the mellowness of its two hundred years, it breathes the spirit of hospitality and is in the broadest sense a home. There was once a private race course, whose owner was the possessor of many famous trotters, a judge of fine horses, and a country gentleman of the old school noted for his lavish entertaining. The site of the old garden, which was terraced to the river, is supposed to have been the spot where the courtship of General Lee culminated, for under the shade of an old elm tree overlooking the Rappahannock Mary Custis promised to be his wife. There is an old story that Lee refused to allow his troops to fire on Chatham while it was occupied by Union troops, so through his love for the place of so many happy memories, its life was saved. Fredericksburg, lying on the road between Washington and Richmond, was a strategic point, and when the Federal troops occupied the Stafford hills, Chatham was used as General Burnside’s headquarters. In those lovely gardens sloping down to the river, havoc was wrought by the blue-coated soldiers. From that vantage point could be seen the devastation of the picturesque old town. Clouds of smoke, the bursting of shells and the lurid glare of fire made a panorama of the horror and desolation of war. Lincoln stayed at Chatham when he reviewed the troops, and many counsels of war were held in those panelled rooms. From early colonial days Chatham played an important part in both the social and political life of the country, and its spacious halls have been the scene of many important gatherings, both grave and gay. Many thrilling secrets those old walls could tell, if they only would! From the time of Madison’s and Monroe’s visits, nearly all of our Presidents have been entertained there, and have wandered through the gardens, with the river flowing beyond. Originally these gardens were on the terraces, leading down to a river landing where boats brought each day the necessities as well as the luxuries of life. At one time a rose-garden, with more than two thousand bushes, bloomed here in such profusion that it was the pride of the entire countryside. [204]
