An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia
A grist mill on Four Mile Run in Arlington County, Virginia was a prominent landmark along the Columbia Turnpike, approximately four miles southwest of Long Bridge over the Potomac River and 12 miles east of Fairfax Court House. In the early morning hours of Saturday, June 1, 1861, Union and Confederate forces clashed around the…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Engagement at Arlington Mills
The First Battle of Fairfax Court House was fought on Saturday, June 1, 1861 between Union forces commanded by Lt. Charles H. Tompkins and Confederate forces commanded by Capt. John Q. Marr at Fairfax Court House, Virginia during the American Civil War. This small and inconclusive battle was the first land engagement of the war…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: First Battle of Fairfax Court House
By the end of May, there was no longer any doubt as to which side Virginia would take in the American Civil War. On May 23rd, Virginia voters ratified secession by a large majority, and the next day, Union troops crossed the Potomac River and seized Arlington Heights and Alexandria, Virginia. Several small fleets of…
Over the previous weeks, a tense standoff between federal forces and the Commonwealth of Virginia had threatened to spill over into all out war. On April 17, 1861, delegates at the Virginia Secession Convention in Richmond passed an ordinance of secession, pending the results of a popular referendum to be held on May 23rd. U.S.…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Alexandria Occupied; Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth Killed
First Lieutenant Roger Jones, a cousin of Robert E. Lee, was on recruiting duty at Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania when ordered to take a small force south through Maryland to protect the U.S. arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, a small mountain town nested at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. Though Virginia had…
Continue reading ➞ 160 Years Ago Today: Harpers Ferry Armory Burned
Spirit of '61 