The View from the Bowman-Hite Farmhouse

This historic farm is part of the Cedar Creek Battlefield, but it is generally not open to the public. I was there on a National Park Service tour a week ago. 

The house was built facing the Cedar Creek Valley in the 1850’s, and the view is still pretty. You can see Strasburg in the distance.

I visited this farm in 2016 on another ranger-led tour. I decided to go back to find out about the recent research that revealed the story of James Foster, an enslaved man who worked here. He was a shoemaker in his free time and earned enough money to purchase livestock. When the Union Army camped nearby during the Civil War, they confiscated his animals to feed hungry soldiers. He filed a claim after the war, and was eventually paid for his losses.