page_title: Rappahannock River
hierarchical_section_title: Rappahannock River
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Rappahannock River drainage basin made using data from the National Map.
context_page_description: The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately 195 miles in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west where it rises, across the Piedmont to the Fall Line, and onward through the coastal plain to flow into the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.
  An important river in American history, the Rappahannock was long an area of occupation by indigenous peoples. During the colonial era, early settlements in the Virginia Colony were formed along the river. It was at the center of a major theater of battle in the American Civil War, where tens of thousands of troops fought against each other. Some 10,000 African-American slaves escaped across the river to Union lines and freedom, after the first Battle of Fredericksburg. Due to the river's significance as an obstacle to north-south movements, it effectively functioned as the boundary of the eastern theater of the war, between the "North" and the "South".
  The river drains an area of 2,848 square miles, approximately 6% of Virginia.
context_section_description: The Rappahannock River is a river in eastern Virginia, in the United States, approximately 195 miles (314 km) in length. It traverses the entire northern part of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains in the west where it rises, across the Piedmont to the Fall Line, and onward through the coastal plain to flow into the Chesapeake Bay, south of the Potomac River.
  An important river in American history, the Rappahannock was long an area of occupation by indigenous peoples. During the colonial era, early settlements in the Virginia Colony were formed along the river.  It was at the center of a major theater of battle in the American Civil War, where tens of thousands of troops fought against each other.  Some 10,000 African-American slaves escaped across the river to Union lines and freedom, after the first Battle of Fredericksburg.  Due to the river's significance as an obstacle to north-south movements, it effectively functioned as the boundary of the eastern theater of the war, between the "North" (the Union) and the "South" (the Confederate States of America).
  The river drains an area of 2,848 square miles (7,380 km²), approximately 6% of Virginia. Much of the watershed is rural and forested, but development in it has increased since the late 20th century with the southward expansion of the Washington, D.C. suburbs.
caption: Rappahannock River drainage basin
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