Earlier this year, NOVA Parks opened the Mt. Defiance Historic Park on a ridge just west of Middleburg, Maine. On Saturday, June 22, 2019, the Union cavalrymen who lost their lives on the battlefield 156 years ago were commemorated in granite. 

During the day, 1st Maine Cavalry re-enactors recreated life in camp, explained their uniforms and equipment, gave demonstrations of cavalry weapons, and talked about the crucial role of the horse in the war. 

The formal dedication ceremony for a monument to the unit near where their heaviest fighting took place was scheduled for 11AM. The 3,000-pound Portland gray granite memorial was commissioned by the 1st Maine Cavalry, Co. re-enactment group as a memorial to the men killed during the battles of Aldie, Middleburg and Upperville at the start of the Gettysburg campaign in 1863.

Historian Rich Gillespie, who helped develop the interpretive signage at the park, lead guided tours of the battlefield at noon and 4 p.

Visit Mt. Defiance Historic Park at 35945 John Mosby Highway west of Middleburg, on the eastbound side of Rt. 50, west of Zulla Road.