Those who love theater in Middlesex County are fortunate we have opportunities nearby to enjoy live theater productions. Both Lancaster Players in White Stone and Courthouse Players in Gloucester offer plays and are an easy drive from here.
Not so nearby but offering top notch professional actors and actresses is the Virginia Repertory Theater of Richmond. They offer two plays at Hanover Tavern each year.
It usually takes about 90 minutes each way to take in a Sunday matinee, but the acting is so good it’s worth the drive. We also add lunch or dinner at the old tavern, which is always delicious and makes the trip well worth it.
We arrived last month for the matinee “Dial M for Murder,” which was a spellbinder story of a man’s plan to blackmail an old college associate into murdering his wife. There was a popular Hollywood movie of the same name years ago and even before that, a black and white English movie in the ’40s with a somewhat similar plot titled “Gaslight.” Still, in spite of being doubly familiar with the plot, it was spellbinding entertainment.
Afterwards we went upstairs to enjoy a light supper on the porch restaurant where every seat was taken. In the past we enjoyed eating downstairs in the historic tavern; however a private party was being held there so the playgoers went upstairs.
After dinner in the bright evening sunshine, we walked across the street to view the old Hanover courthouse bearing the date of 1736. We also saw the old stone jail which is similar to the one at the 1800s Saluda courthouse. Hanover has wisely kept to its red brick motif with added school and library buildings in the complex, which gives the town a handsome look.
History abounds in Hanover. I learned it was the birthplace of Patrick Henry, who authored his famous quote, “Give me Liberty or give me death!” that may have inspired many Virginians to challenge England and seek independence.
Several Civil War battles also took place in Hanover, such as the Battle of North Anna River, which lasted five days in May 1864 as General Lee’s last chance to win a decisive victory over General Grant’s Army of the Potomac.
We learned Hanover Tavern served both Yankee and Confederate forces between 1862 and 1864. The tavern also became home for many Virginians fleeing the area in the path of the oncoming Union army.
A brochure secured at the tavern outlines the war dates and how they affected the area:
- 1861 — Virginia secedes from the Union. There were four battles that year.
- May 27, 1861 — Battle of Hanover Courthouse.
- June 12-15, 1861 — Jeb Stuart’s ride around the Union army.
- June 26, 1861 — Battle of Beaver Dam.
- June 27, 1861 — Battle of Gaines Mill.
- May 1863 — Stoneman’s Raid.
- June and July, 1863 — Yankee Raids on South Anna River Bridges.
- May 13, 1864 — Battle of Meadow Bridges, May 23-26, 1864 — Battle of North Anna River.
- May 29, 1864 — Battle of Totopotomoy Creek.
- May 31, 1864 — Battle of Cold Harbor.
- June 1, 1864 — Battle of Ashland.
- 1865 — Sheridan’s Raid through Hanover, and finally the end of the war in April.
It was unfortunate that Hanover was so close to Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, as it became one of the many paths that Grant and others used to try to get to Richmond. Ultimately, the Union Army succeeded moving through Petersburg to the capital.
I remembered a friend of mine, the late Ann Garrett of Gloucester, had a print of the painting of the “Buriel of Latane” who had lost his life in a skirmish with Union forces during General Stuart’s ride around the Union forces in 1862. She had it hanging in her hall and I would stand and see the grief in the painting whenever I visited.
Many years later I was in my husband’s Urbanna office one day when a client came in and said his name was William Latane. I told him I knew that he carried a famous name in Tidewater. Seeing him brought home the pain of the loss of his great-grandfather.
All this history in Hanover got me interested in my husband’s great-grandfather, Captain Samuel Napoleon Buxton from North Hampton, N.C. I had always heard he had fought in the Civil War and was captured and held as a POW and was promoted to captain in 1864 while in prison. He was later exchanged and returned home.
I went online and looked up his name and discovered that he served in 19th N.C. Cavalary, 2nd regiment, Company H and attended many battles. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw he had also fought in the Battle of Hanover Courthouse.
Hanover courthouse, like the old one in Middlesex, has a statue in memory of those who served in the Confederate Armed Forces to defend Virginia. I stood and read all the names of those who had served. All the names were familiar to me as they are still a part of our population.
Confederate memorials and statues that teach Virginia history are most important to us and must never be removed. (I wouldn’t mind adding statues mentioning Union soldiers that were fighting to preserve the Union as I had a great, great uncle, Lt. George Grummond, who fought on the side of the North. He later joined the U.S. Cavalry and was killed in a Sioux attack in a battle known as Fetterman’s Massacre.
War is tiresome. The killing is tragic. And the politicians are to blame for much of it.
I left Hanover wondering how Virginia politicians in Richmond could have ever voted to secede from the Union knowing perfectly well the close proximity of the commonwealth to Washington, D.C. It seems to me it would not have taken a rocket scientist to realize that Virginia would bear the worst brunt of an oncoming war.
Who would vote for such suffering for our very own citizens?
History is full of man’s mistakes and consequent suffering. We must learn our history and never forget it. The lesson is Americans must always settle differences at the ballot box and not in the fields of battle.
