The Rappahannock River is a watery area near Fredericksburg, VA that marked the end of the Underground Railroad for many slaves. The longest free-flowing river in the Chesapeake Bay, the Rappahannock was the river crossed in fall of 1862 when the legal end of slavery was near. During the Civil War, slaves crossed the river to freedom, which was behind Union lines. Parents sent children across the river past gunfire from the Civil War, in hopes they would gain freedom.
Read more at Black America Web
