Bel Air: Home of Lucy Buck, Diarist

History: Many Front Royal residents recorded the battle in their diaries. Not many diaries survived the war, but the ones that did reveal the civilian side of the Civil War. One of the liveliest diaries was kept by Lucy Buck, the 19-year old daughter of William and Elizabeth Buck. Lucy witnessed the action from her parents' home, in Bel Air. At the time of the war, the distance from Bel Air to Front Royal was less than a quarter mile. On July 22, 1863, as the Army of Northern Virginia retreated through Front Royal, William Buck met Robert E. Lee and invited them to Bel Air for refreshment. Gen. Robert E. Lee accepted the invitation. Lucy Buck described Lee in her diary "as tall commanding figure clad in dusty, travel-stained gray, but with a courtly, dignified bearing."

More to Explore: See www.virginia.org and www.civilwartraveler.com for exciting things to see and do on your travels.

Photo Credits:

1. "Photograph of Nellie and Lucy Buck."
2. "A view of a house upon a hill in Bel Air as it existed during the war." Photos courtesy of Laura Virginia Hale Archives, Warren Heritage Society; Front Royal, Virginia