Gift to Special Collections Sheds Light on Only Significant Civil War Engagement in Albemarle County

The family of Raymond Shaw, deceased—UVA graduate, biology teacher, and passionate Civil War collector—recently donated Confederate artifacts excavated nearly 50 years ago to the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. The relics of military life are from a Confederate encampment near Rio Hill, site of the only major military engagement in Albemarle County. Union forces under General George Armstrong Custer overran the encampment but withdrew. Both sides claimed victory.

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Family of Raymond Shaw with their generous gift of artifacts from a Confederate encampment on the site of the Battle of Rio Hill

“The donation of these artifacts is very important to us,” says Edward Gaynor, Librarian for Virginiana and University Archives, and “can tell you things about the men who were there and what was going on.” Mr. Shaw’s recognition in 1970 that rows of mounds on the site were the remains of cabin chimneys rescued a valuable piece of history. The site is now occupied by the Rio Hill Shopping Center.

Read the full story below.

Special Collection, Local Connection (UVA Today, 6/15/2016)

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