Civil War Fairfax 1863 Exhibition at the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center

A few weeks ago I finally had the opportunity to see the Civil War Fairfax 1863 exhibition at the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center. The museum has assembled an impressive array of artifacts to explore the story of the war's third year in Fairfax Court House and the surrounding area. The exhibit covers themes such as emancipation, life in the Union Army camps, partisan warfare, and civilians. Curator Susan Gray, who was nice enough to give me a personal tour of the exhibition, provided some interesting insights into the numerous objects on display.

Any exhibition on 1863 in Fairfax would be incomplete without a section devoted to John Mosby and his Rangers, who rode into the headlines with the daring raid on Fairfax Court House in March of that year. The museum has chosen to showcase some real treasures. One wall is covered with items that were found in Mosby's saddlebags when Union soldiers stole his horse, including papers signed by Turner Ashby and J.E.B. Stuart. Memorabilia from post-war reunions of Mosby's Rangers is also on display.

Entrance to the exhibition, with Mosby front and center

The museum has not forgotten about other partisan activity. An interpretive panel discusses the Chinquapin Rangers, an irregular cavalry company raised in Fairfax and Prince William Counties. A Burnside carbine and Colt Army revolver belonging to a member of the Loudoun Rangers are also on display. As the label accompanying the weapons reminds us, "Yes, There Were Union Partisan Rangers!"

A section dealing with emancipation discusses the fate of freed slaves in Northern Virginia, including the contraband camps in Fairfax. (I provided the museum with research on the camps, which they kindly attributed to me as part of the exhibit.) The display features a rare photograph of a slave family at the Volusia farm in eastern Fairfax County near Alexandria. The photograph was likely taken in 1862 by Lt. James E. Larkin, whose regiment, the 5th New Hampshire, had established a camp at Volusia.

Portion of the exhibition dealing with the impact of emancipation. The enlarged photograph of a slave family at Volusia is visible at the center of the display.

By 1863, Fairfax played home to many Union regiments serving in the outer defenses of Washington, and the museum dedicates considerable space to examining the life of the common soldiers encamped in the area. An outside individual loaned the museum many items from his impressive personal collection, including cartes de visite from the 17th New York Light Artillery, an original Union artillery uniform, and a carved bone grip pocket knife belonging to a member of the 7th Michigan Cavalry. As an added bonus, the section on Union Army life features an interesting display of Civil War-era dog tags (called "medals" at the time). Soldiers purchased the brass or pewter discs from sutlers and had their names stamped on one side. The reverse side usually displayed a patriotic-themed design.

A colorful print of the military record of Company I, 16th Vermont Infantry (1862). The regiment was encamped in Fairfax Courthouse and southern Fairfax County from December 1862 until June 1863, when it marched north with the rest of the Second Vermont Brigade to repel the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania. The 16th Vermont participated in the defense of the Union center during Pickett's Charge.

The exhibition also looks at the civilian side of the war in Fairfax. Most of the interpretation focuses on locals who were rounded up by the Union authorities on suspicion of disloyalty and sent to Old Capitol Prison. For the romantics out there, another wall is dedicated to the relationship between Antonia Ford, a Confederate spy, and Union Maj. Joseph C. Willard, a co-owner of Washington's famed Willard Hotel. Among the artifacts are Ford's love letters to Willard, as well as the couple's DC marriage certificate.

The ledger book for Thomas Harrison's store, which was located to the west of Fairfax Court House. Notes in the ledger refer to the arrest of Harrison and several of his neighbors by the Union Army following Mosby's Fairfax Raid in March 1863.

If you live in the area, or are just visiting during the holidays, be sure to check out Civil War Fairfax 1863. I spent a long time studying the artifacts and reading the interpretive panels. Although covering the usual suspects (i.e., Mosby), the exhibition doesn't neglect other important topics like contrabands and civilian-military relations. Kudos to Susan Gray and the museum staff for organizing such an informative and interesting exhibition. I left learning a thing or two, and I am sure you will too.

About Visiting

Civil War Fairfax 1863 runs now through January 12, 2014. For more information about visiting, see the Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center homepage. While at the museum, be sure to check out the permanent collection, which features other Civil War-related items.

A Fire at Dr. Mackall's Near Langley, October 1863: More Insights on Civilians and the Contraband Camps

When compared to other topics in local Civil War history such John Mosby's exploits or First Manassas, few writings have focused on the story behind the contraband camps that were established on abandoned secessionist lands in Northern Virginia. These farms represented a social experiment in transitioning freed slaves to self-sufficiency while reducing disease and overcrowding that was prevalent in other contraband settlements. The fact that the Union Army placed the camps on the property of Confederate sympathizers and slaveholders is replete with irony. As I wrote a few months ago, my research on the contraband camps is an on-going effort, and I plan to share my findings here on the blog.

Detachments from Union cavalry and infantry regiments were garrisoned at or near the farms to protect them against Confederate raids, although not always successfully. While looking for additional information on military life at the camps, I came across the following item from the October 21, 1863 edition of the Alexandria Gazette:

The house occupied by the officers in charge of the the contraband farms in Virginia, between Langley and Lewinsvillle, accidentally took fire and was burned to the ground on Sunday afternoon. The house was the property of Dr. Mackall, formerly of Cecil county, Md. The property was at one time owned by the superintendent of public schools in the state of New York.

This article refers to the home of Dr. Richard C. Mackall, indicated on  Map-1 below. Mackall had about 129 acres on the road from Langley to Lewinsville. The property sat squarely between the two separate tracts that constituted Camp Wadsworth. (See Map-2 below and my previous post on the location of the camp.) Starting at some point in the summer of 1863, Mackall's house became the residence and headquarters for the officers assigned to Camp Wadsworth. Camp Beckwith was farther down road past Lewinsville, and the Official Records indicates that the officers at that location were quartered at a house that sat on the farm there. (OR, 1:29:1, 202; previous post here.)

Map-1, detail from an 1862 Union Army map of Northeastern Virginia (courtesy of Library of Congress). Mackall's property, including the local landmark "Mackall's Hill," is visible between Langley (r) and Lewinsville (l). Artillery was positioned on or near Mackall's property during minor skirmishes at Lewinsville in September 1861.

Federal authorities targeted abandoned secessionist properties when selecting sites for the contraband farms. The decision to use of Dr. Mackall's house makes perfect sense, considering that Mackall had the reputation as a staunch supporter of the Confederate cause. Moreover, his own brother, Gen. William W. Mackall, was serving as Gen. Braxton Bragg's chief of staff.

Map showing Dr. Richard C. Mackall's property (red) superimposed on a present-day map of McLean, Virginia. (View Mackall Property and Camp Wadsworth in a larger map.) Camp Wadsworth was located on land belonging to Lewis D. Means (yellow) and James W. Cooke (blue). The Langley Shopping Center sits on or near the former site of Mackall's Hill.

Dr. Mackall was born on January 14, 1822 at Wilna in Cecil County, Maryland. At age eighteen, he entered the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. After graduation in 1841, Mackall moved to St. Louis, Missouri and practiced dentistry, but three years later returned to the East Coast and earned a medical degree from the University of Maryland. Mackall first practiced medicine in Prince William County, Virginia. When his first wife died, he relocated once again, this time to Savannah, Georgia, where he practiced medicine and remarried. Following three years in Savannah, Mackall purchased his farm in Fairfax County near Langley.

An old picture of Wilna, boyhood home of Richard C. and William W. Mackall near Elkton in Cecil County, Maryland (courtesy of Historical Marker Database). A marker near this site site discusses William Mackall's career during the Civil War.

As the sectional crisis intensified, Mackall became active on behalf of the secessionist cause. At a meeting of concerned citizens in Fairfax Court House at the end of April 1861, he was appointed to a committee that drafted a series of resolutions regarding the defense and preparedness of the Commonwealth in the wake of the Virginia Convention's recent vote in favor of secession. The attendees at the meeting unanimously adopted the resolutions. On May 23, Mackall cast his ballot for the Virginia Ordinance of Secession in the Lewinsville precinct. He was in the minority among his neighbors to favor a break with the Union.

When the Federal Army occupied the area around Langley and Lewinsville in October 1861, Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock located his brigade headquarters at Mackall's residence. Dr. Mackall was made a political prisoner, but Hancock allegedly intervened and secured Mackall's release. The doctor returned to Wilna in Cecil County for the remainder of the war.

Mackall was an active member of the community during the post-war years. He served as president of the Cecil County School Commissioners and was elected to the Maryland Legislature as a Democrat in 1888. Mackall was also the one-time owner and editor of the Cecil Democrat. He died on February 16, 1902 after a brief illness caused by paralysis.

The article in the Gazette, however brief, fills additional gaps in our knowledge about the contraband camps and illustrates the dramatic impact that war had on civilians in Northern Virginia. Mackall's home fell into Union hands, and the officers working there oversaw and protected the nearby contraband camp. Could Mackall have ever imagined that his own property would become part of the Union effort to promote the economic and social advancement of freed slaves? A few months later, a violent fire literally wiped Mackall's antebellum homestead off the map. The symbolism was unmistakable: War had brought revolutionary change to Langley, and life would never again be the same.

Sources

Alexandria Gazette, May 3, 1861; Alexandria Gazette, Oct. 21, 1863; Brian A. Conley, Fractured Land: Fairfax County's Role in the Vote for Secession, May 23, 1861 (2001); "Dr. Richard C. Mackall," Obituary, in The Dental Cosmos: A Monthly Record of Dental Science (May 1902); Beth Mitchell, Fairfax County in 1860: Property Owners (original map book available at Virginia Room, City of Fairfax Regional Library) ("1860 Map"); N.Y. Times, Oct. 11, 1861.

Commemorating the 150th of Bristoe Station

This past Monday marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Bristoe Station. I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of the Bristoe Campaign isn't on par with some of the other periods during the Civil War, so I was really looking forward to learning more while attending some Sesquicentennial events related to the battle and campaign. The activities that I selected satisfied my initial curiosity and left me yearning for future trips to study the ground where the armies fought.

For the unfamiliar, the Bristoe Campaign was Robert E. Lee's last full-blown strategic offensive during the war. Starting on October 9, 1863, Lee moved to outflank Gen. George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac, which was positioned along the Rapidan River. Meade, however, was no John Pope, and a replay of Second Manassas was not in the making. Instead, the Union commander got wind of Lee's plans and ordered his forces back to the defenses at Centreville. On October 14, Gen. A.P. Hill, commander of the Confederate Third Corps, spotted the Union Fifth Corps across Broad Run near Bristoe Station and sent Gen. Henry Heth's division in pursuit. Heth was instead surprised by elements of Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Second Corps, who assumed a strong position along the embankment of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad to the south. The Confederates wheeled about and marched to face this unexpected threat. Following a relatively short but bloody engagement in which four Second Corps brigades beat back Hill's men, Warren continued to Centreville. Total casualties amounted to nearly 2,000 (540 Union; 1,380 Confederate).

After the battle, Lee blamed Hill for making an ill-advised attack on the Union forces. When Hill went to apologize, Lee rebuked him, saying "Well, well, general, bury these poor men and let us say no more about it." Bristoe Station effectively stalled Lee's offensive momentum and by the start of November, both armies were back where they began.

Exhibit sign on lawn of Manassas Museum

Given the government shutdown, I had some free time on my hands, so last week I visited "There Was a Want of Vigilance," the Bristoe 150th exhibit at the Manassas Museum. Staff at the museum and the Prince William County Historic Preservation Division teamed up to assemble a small collection of artifacts related to the 1863 Bristoe Campaign. Objects are on loan from Gettysburg National Military Park, the Maine Historical Society, the Museum of the Confederacy, and the North Carolina Museum of History. I particularly enjoyed seeing A.P. Hill's cape and silver spurs. Other artifacts include a Second Corps Hospital guidon, swords belonging to battle participants, and the epaulets of Confederate Gen. Carnot Posey, who was mortally wounded at Bristoe Station. The exhibit runs through November 3. Make a day of it like I did, and visit Civil War-related sites in and around Old Town Manassas. For more information, see here.

This past Monday -- the 150th anniversary of the battle -- I traveled to Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park to take part in a special bus tour of local sites related to the engagement. I also planned to join a "real-time" tour on the battlefield later that afternoon, but a last minute sickness in the family required me to leave earlier than I would have liked.  Nevertheless, I still managed to find a little time to hike the battlefield trail, read the interpretive markers, and study the ground both before and after the bus tour. Lucky for me, I ran into Todd Berkoff, a local expert on the battle, who led an impromptu tour for me and Craig Swain, a friend and fellow blogger.

Back in the early 2000s, the Civil War Trust worked with a real estate developer and Prince William County to save the battlefield land that comprises today's park. The property not only saw action during the 1863 Battle of Bristoe Station, but was also the site of a Confederate encampment in 1861-62 and the Battle of Kettle Run in August 1862. Talking with Todd and Craig, I learned that the county has made tremendous strides in developing the site over the last several years. Additional plans include the construction of a visitor center in an existing 20th century structure on the battlefield and the removal of a non-period silo. Sadly, the surrounding area is still marked by residential housing that detracts from viewsheds and undermines the 19th-century sense of place.

Looking down at Broad Run from Milford, the first stop on the bus tour. This out-of-the-way site sits next to a Chick-fil-A parking lot in a shopping mall along Rt. 28 (Nokesville Road). The bridge across the stream is visible behind the trees to the left. At the time of the battle, the Union Army's Fifth Corps crossed Broad Run here, where the 18th-century Milford Mill once sat. The soldiers drew some Confederate artillery fire but continued towards Centreville. Prince William County plans a Civil War Trails marker and walking trail for this site at some point in the future.

Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park Historic Site Manager and fellow blogger Jimmy Price explains part of the battle at the location of Capt. Thomas Brown's Battery B, 1st R.I. Light Artillery (stop no. 2 on the bus tour). The battery sat on land to the east of Broad Run where the trees now stand. From this point, Brown's guns fired on the Confederate lines near the railroad at Bristoe. Prince William County owns this property and has plans to install a marker and cannon here.

Looking towards the position of Capt. William Arnold's Battery A, 1st R.I. Light Artillery from the parking lot of the Bristow Post Office (stop no. 3 on the bus tour). The battery occupied the distant cleared ridge line towards the middle of the picture. From this commanding position, Arnold's men were able to rake the Confederate lines near the Orange & Alexandria Railroad on the other side of the ridge.

The bus tour concluded at the spot where Gen. William Kirkland's brigade of North Carolinians, including the ill-fated 26th N.C., engaged in a desperate fight against Col. Francis Heath's brigade of Gen. Alexander Webb's division. The 26th N.C., which had fought on the first and third days at Gettysburg, lost its colors at Bristoe. The Union soldiers were positioned on the other side of the railroad, which at the time was six feet lower and single-tracked. Here Jimmy Price (r) is assisted by Prince William County Historic Interpreter Bill Backus (l). Congrats to Jimmy, Bill, and all the staff who made the 150th commemoration, including the bus tour, a success!

Another view of the area where Kirkland's brigade fought along the railroad.

Prince William County recently installed handsome new markers along the battlefield trail, just in time for the 150th anniversary. This marker discusses the opening phase of the battle. Note the unfortunate intrusion of a residential development at the park's boundary.

Site of Maj. David McIntosh's Battalion, which was ordered to provide artillery support for the Confederate attack along the railroad at the bottom of the hill. As the Confederate infantry retreated and counter-battery fire took its toll, the artillerymen abandoned their pieces. Men from the 19th Massachusetts eventually seized five of McIntosh's guns and dragged them back the Federal lines.

North Carolinians from Gen. John Cooke's brigade advanced down this slope to attack the Federal line along the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. There they met men from Col. James Mallon's brigade of Webb's division, as well as Gen. Joshua Owen's brigade of Alexander Hays's division. Cooke was wounded in the fight, and Mallon was mortally wounded. The Bristoe Battlefield preserves the portion of the ground pertaining to Cooke's advance and attack.

I left Bristoe Station with a desire to learn even more about the 1863 battle and campaign. In looking through the commemorative program, I noticed that one of the speeches at Saturday's events was entitled, "After Gettysburg, Before Grant." Perhaps that explains why Bristoe Station is often overlooked. The battle lives in the shadows of one of the most popular and controversial engagements in the entire Civil War and is seen as a mere prequel to the famous struggle between Grant and Lee during the last year of the conflict. Not much at all has been written about Bristoe. I hope the 150th commemoration served as a teachable moment and raised the interest level in the battle among Civil War enthusiasts. In my case, I am sure that it did.

The Fallout from the Raid on Camp Beckwith: Lt. Keays Takes the Heat

Last week I wrote about the surprise Confederate attack on the Federal garrison guarding the contraband farm at Camp Beckwith in Lewinsville, Virginia. During the early morning of October 2, 1863, troopers from the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry under Lt. Col. Elijah V. White pounced on the unsuspecting Union force encamped in and around the main house on the farm. When all was said and done, White rode away with 20 prisoners and 64 horses. The Union suffered casualties of  two dead and three wounded.

A messenger alerted the nearby Federal garrison at Fort Ethan Allen. Col. John C. Tidball of the 4th New York Heavy Artillery sent a contingent of men to investigate. Once Tidball gleaned more details about the raid, he sent word to an assistant adjutant-general with the Department of Washington. Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman, the commander of the Department, wasted no time in ordering his own investigation. On October 2, he sent Capt. Carroll H. Potter to "the scene of the [ ] reported surprise." (OR, 1:29:1, 201.) Potter, an assistant adjutant-general, was told "to make a thorough and rigid examination into the circumstances attending" the attack. (OR, 1:29:1, 201.) Heintzelman seemed convinced from the outset that someone was at fault for what had just happened out in the Virginia countryside. He instructed Potter to "specify on whom the blame should fall" in his official report on the matter. (OR, 1:29:1, 201.)

Potter left Washington at 1:30 p.m. that same day with one commissioned officer and 25 men from Scott's Nine Hundred Cavalry (11th N.Y. Cav.). The party arrived at Camp Beckwith around 5:30 p.m. Potter conducted his investigation in short order and left camp the next morning. After reconnoitering for possible guerrilla activity near Vienna and along the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad, Potter and his men rode through Falls Church, crossed the Aqueduct Bridge, and returned to headquarters at 4:30 in the afternoon.

William Jeremiah Keays, c. 1869 (courtesy of Rod A. MacDonald). Keays was born in Bytown, Upper Canada (now Ottawa, Ontario) on January 24, 1829. He engaged in various business ventures in Goderich, Ontario before moving with his family to Buffalo, New York in 1861. There he served as an agent for the Great Western Railroad. By the end of 1862, Keays had lost his wife, children, and mother. He enlisted in the 16th New York Cavalry in June 1863. After the Civil War, Keays returned to Canada, where he remarried.  Railroad work brought Keays back to the United States in 1881-82. He died in Buffalo on April 24, 1914, at the age of 84. (I'd recommend reading MacDonald's meticulously researched biography of Keays referenced in the sources section below.)

Potter sent his report to Heintzelman on October 3. Faithful to Heintzelman's order, the captain minced no words in laying the blame for the recent mess on 1st Lt. William J. Keays of Co. B, 16th New York Cavalry, who commanded the cavalry detachment at Camp Beckwith. The report described how Keays's handling of cavalry pickets ultimately led to the Confederate victory:

[The attack] was all done in five minutes from the time [White's men] were known to be in the vicinity, and all done without the least show of resistance on the part of our cavalry or infantry, for as far as I could learn, not a shot was fired at them, or a stand of any description made on the part of our forces, happening, no doubt, from the very foolish position given the cavalry pickets, they being very poorly posted within a very short distance from the camp, and each post being in a ravine, with the men dismounted, their horses in camp unsaddled, as were also those of the entire command. (OR, 1:29:1, 202.)*

In fact, White's men approached along an old wood road that was entirely unguarded. (OR, 1:29:1, 202.) Moreover, Keays appeared to have ignored recent warnings. Potter learned that "Lieutenant Keays had heard it reported by some of the citizens that these guerrillas were in his vicinity, but did not place reliance enough upon the information to take more than the usual precaution." (OR, 1:29:1, 202.)

Standard of the 16th New York Cavalry (courtesy of New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center).

Potter observed a deviation in normal security procedures at the time of White's raid. Despite an opportunity to lay the blame elsewhere, the captain made clear that Keays was ultimately responsible for what had occurred:

There was a commissioned officer placed on duty belonging to the cavalry, every night previous to the attack, whose duty it was to look out for the safety of the camp, and see that the picket performed their duty properly; but on the night of the attack, Sergt. S. F. Shaddock, Company B, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, was given this duty to perform. This duty he tried to perform, and would have, had the picket placed out for the safety of the camp been of any use whatever, which was an impossibility arising from the posts given to them, and the manner in which they were posted, i. e., dismounted. (OR, 1:29:1, 202.)

Potter described Shaddock's futile attempt to mount a defense as White's men descended on the garrison:

The moment [Shaddock] heard the enemy advancing, he exerted himself to wake up the officers, who were at the time all in the house and asleep in their blankets; but before he could accomplish his object the enemy were in both of the encampments, taking the men from their beds, and the officers were of no use whatever, their men nearly all having been taken before they were made aware even of the approach of the enemy. (OR, 1:29:1, 202.)

Potter left no doubt that Lt. Keays was to blame. He concluded his already critical report with another stinging indictment:

In my opinion had the pickets been properly posted (even the same number of men used by Lieutenant Keays would have been sufficient), this surprise could not have occurred, and the men in camp could have been formed certainly in time have made some resistance, if not sufficiently strong to drive the enemy entirely away, which I think they could have done had they been prepared to receive them. For this I consider Lieutenant W. J. Keays, Company B, Sixteenth New York Cavalry, entirely to blame. (OR, 1:29:1, 202.)

Heintzelman must have reacted to Potter's findings with a combination of disgust and anger. On October 5, he forwarded Potter's report to the Assistant Adjutant-General of the Union Army with the recommendation that Keays "be summarily dismissed the service of the United States, or tried by general court-martial." (OR, 1:29:1, 203.) On October 8, General-in-Chief Henry Halleck recommended "summary dismissal." (OR, 1:29:1, 203.) Later that same day, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton agreed and ordered Keays's dismissal.

Keays left the army on October 10, but not for long. His commanding officer lobbied to have Keays reinstated, and for whatever reason, the War Department agreed. On December 31, 1863, Keays was restored to duty as a First Lieutenant with his old unit, Company B. The following month he was transferred to Company A. In April 1865, Keays was named captain of Company G and later assigned to the 3rd New York Provisional Cavalry. He was mustered out of service in September 1865.

The attack on Camp Beckwith happened at a time when the Union Army was dealing with bitter partisan warfare throughout Northern Virginia. The brass reacted predictably to Keays's mistakes as commander during the Confederate raid. The Canadian immigrant who had enlisted to fight for his adopted country paid a price for his amateurish handling of the pickets at Camp Beckwith. Luckily, Keays got another chance to prove that he was worthy of the rank on his should straps.

Notes

*According to a modern regimental history, 2nd Lt. Patrick Welch led members of Co. C, 111th New York in a counterattack and drove away White's men. (Husk 87.) This version of events contradicts Potter's account that the Union garrison never had a chance to respond to the raiders.

Sources

Aside from the OR, the following sources were useful in compiling this post:

Rod A. MacDonald, "William Jeremiah Keays" (genealogy website); New York State Military Museum & Veterans Research Center, 11th Cavalry Infantry Regiment (website); New York State Military Museum & Veterans Research Center, 16th Cavalry Regiment (website); Martin W. Rusk, The 111th New York Volunteer Infantry: A Civil War History (2010); Jerry D. Thompson, Civil War to the Bloody End: The Life & Times of Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman (2006); Adrian Tighe, The Bristoe Campaign: General Lee's Last Strategic Offensive with the Army of Northern Virginia, October 1863 (2011).

Confederate Attack on the Contraband Camp at Lewinsville, October 2, 1863

Today marks the 150th anniversary of a little-known attack on the Federal garrison at Camp Beckwith in Lewinsville, Virginia. The encounter embarrassed the Union Army, sparked a War Department investigation, and led to the removal of an officer from command. The Confederates, meanwhile, rode away with a score of prisoners and a welcome supply of horses. Although meriting only a few lines in the Alexandria Gazette, the whole affair stood as yet another example of the guerrilla warfare that was plaguing the Union authorities across Northern Virginia.

Lewinsville (present-day McLean) was a relatively quiet place in the early fall of 1863. The village had witnessed a couple minor skirmishes in September 1861. The following month, Union forces occupied Lewinsville and the surrounding countryside. The massive Union presence ended when the Army of the Potomac left for the Peninsula. Union details continued to picket the area given Lewinsville's proximity to Washington and the strategic river crossing at Chain Bridge.

In June 1863, Union authorities established a contraband farm known as Camp Beckwith on abandoned secessionist lands near the crossroads at Lewinsville.* By the start of October, a mixed garrison of cavalry and infantry kept watch over the farm. 1st Lt. William J. Keays of Co. B, 16th New York Cavalry headed a detachment of 40 enlisted men, one second lieutenant, and one acting lieutenant.** Only 30 of the cavalrymen were fit for duty at the time. The infantry guard consisted of 17 men from Co. C, 111th New York under the command of 2nd Lt. Patrick H. Welch.***

Flank marker, 16th N.Y. Cavalry (courtesy of New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center).

The main house at Camp Beckwith was "used as a headquarters for the officers, and for the workmen on the farm." (OR, 1:29:1, 202.)****  The infantry and cavalry camps for the enlisted men were located a few paces on either side of the dwelling. Welch positioned the camp guard at three picket posts around the house. Dismounted cavalry pickets covered three approaches to the camp: the road to the Alexandria-Leesburg Turnpike (likely today's Lewinsville Rd.); the road to Chain Bridge (current-day Chain Bridge Rd. through the center of McLean); and a wood road leading to the Georgetown-Leesburg Turnpike (modern-day road unknown).  (A map of the camp superimposed on present-day McLean can be found here.) Keays placed two troopers at each location during the day, and three at night. Curiously, the pickets left their horses back at the main camp.

Camp Beckwith was surely a tempting target for the Confederates. After all, the Union military kept and maintained scores of horses on the farm. Local citizens began to report nearby guerrilla activity to Lt. Keays. The cavalry officer, however, took no added measures in response to the warnings.

Lt. Col. Elijah Viers ("Lige") White, commander of the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry (courtesy of Find-a-Grave). Born near Poolsville, Maryland in 1832, White settled in Loudoun County, Virginia following a stint fighting with pro-slavery forces in Bleeding Kansas. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he served with the Confederate cavalry and was eventually given permission to raise his own command. The 35th Battalion performed regular cavalry service and also participated in partisan activities in Northern Virginia. At the time of the raid on Camp Beckwith, White's men were detached from the Army of Northern Virginia.

Unfortunately for the Union garrison at Camp Beckwith, the civilians had legitimate grounds for concern -- Lt. Col. Elijah V. White, commander of the 35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry, had set his sights on the contraband farm at Lewinsville. During the night of October 1, the Confederate partisan led 50 troopers from the direction of Dranesville towards Camp Beckwith.***** They approached in the darkness along an old unguarded pathway through the woods and regrouped on a hill overlooking the enemy encampment. Around 12:40 a.m. on October 2, the troopers dashed towards the Union garrison and descended on the unsuspecting Yankees. A cavalry sergeant on duty tried to wake the officers inside the house, but his efforts came too late to make much of a difference. White overwhelmed the Union force within five minutes. When the attack was over, the Confederate partisans rode away with 20 prisoners and 64 horses, including thirteen work horses used on the farm. (OR, 1:29:1, 203.) Union casualties totaled two dead and three wounded, although White's men escaped without any losses. (OR, 1:29:1, 202; 203.)

Col. John C. Tidball (courtesy of Wikipedia). This picture was taken at Fair Oaks, Virginia in June 1862 when Tidball was a captain.

In the immediate aftermath of the raid, a messenger was dispatched to alert the garrison at Ft. Ethan Allen, about five miles away near Chain Bridge. Upon learning of White's attack at 2:30 a.m., Col. John C. Tidball, commander of the 4th New York Heavy Artillery at the fort, sent 300 men under Lt. Col. Thomas Allcock to assess the situation. At five that morning, Allcock sent additional details about the raid. Tidball dashed off a report to Capt. Thomas Thompson, an assistant adjutant general with the Department of Washington. Tidball concluded his dispatch with a remark about the vulnerability of Camp Beckwith prior to the attack:

The inducement for this raid, as I some time since reported, was so great that I am surprised that the enemy have so long resisted the temptation. (OR, 1:29:1, 201.)

The high command in Washington wasted no time in getting to the root cause of the early morning mishap at the contraband farm.

Up Next

The fallout from the raid on Camp Beckwith and the blame game.

Notes

*I recently wrote about the region's contraband camps, including the possible location of Camp Beckwith. See here, here, and here.

**The troopers of Co. B were mainly from Buffalo.

***The infantrymen of Co. C were recruited in the New York counties of Cayuga and Wayne.

****Based on previous research, the home may have been the Windy Hill farmhouse. (See here.)

*****Although Union reports indicate that White had 150 men, White himself reported a force of only 50. (OR, 1:29:1, 200, 202, 203.)

Sources

Aside from the OR, the following sources were useful in compiling this post:

Alexandria Gazette, Oct. 6, 1863; Taylor M. Chamberlin & John M. Souders, Between Reb and Yank: A Civil War History of Northern Loudoun County, Virginia (2011); New York State Military Museum & Veterans Research Center, 16th Cavalry Regiment (website); New York State Military Museum & Veterans Research Center, 111th Infantry Regiment (website); Martin W. Rusk, The 111th New York Volunteer Infantry: A Civil War History (2010); Jerry D. Thompson, Civil War to the Bloody End: The Life & Times of Major General Samuel P. Heintzelman (2006); Adrian Tighe, The Bristoe Campaign: General Lee's Last Strategic Offensive with the Army of Northern Virginia, October 1863 (2011).