A daughter, named Lucy Lee Hill was born here during that winter. Her godfather, General Lee, held her in his arms throughout the christening ceremony at Mayhurst on May 1, 1864. The Battle of the Wilderness followed four days later. He remained in Orange for about a week. On August 6, the Willis household notices a man seated and resting on their gatepost.
Someone is sent out to offer assistance.
Two Jackson biographers, Robert Krick and James Robertson, Jr., confirm that he spent the night at the home of Mr Willis, three quarters of a mile south of town. Three days later while marching from Orange to Culpeper, General Jackson encounters General Pope and defeats him in the Battle of Cedar Mountain. The chance encounter is a scene of intense hand to hand fighting. At a critical stage of the battle, as Jackson is about to be outflanked, he charges in to rally his forces, waving the Confederate flag and his sword rusted into its scabbard. Jackson considered Cedar Mountain the most successful of his exploits.