The Pennsylvania Reserves Remember Dranesville -- at Gettysburg!

As many readers may know, I spent last weekend in Gettysburg. I hadn't been to the battlefield in many years, and the visit left me with a lot of impressions and emotions. (More on that in a future post!) As part of my tour, I focused on sites associated with the Pennsylvania Reserves. Two brigades from the division participated in the fighting at Gettysburg. I am fascinated by the Reserves and have written many posts about their time in Northern Virginia. Imagine my surprise when I discovered "Dranesville" inscribed on the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument along with the names of other battles in which the regiment participated. The same goes for the Bucktails (13th Pennsylvania Reserves) Monument. Although I didn't get to all of the monuments for the Pennsylvania Reserves this time around, I searched the Historical Marker Database and noticed that the other regiments who fought at Dranesville (the 6th, 9th, and 12th Pennsylvania Reserves) also listed this small-scale engagement on their monuments. I've written quite a bit about the battle, including an article for the Civil War Trust. Even after experiencing all the carnage at Gettysburg (not to mention other places like Antietam), the former members of these five regiments made sure to commemorate their clash in and around a small Virginia hamlet during the first year of the war. Dranesville rarely appears in most modern accounts of the Civil War, but the hardened veterans of the Pennsylvania Reserves could never forget the sacrifices they made in one of their early and limited battles against the Confederate infantry.

Here are a few pictures that I snapped of the monuments:

Soldier atop the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument at Big Round Top. The 10th Pennsylvania Reserves belonged to the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division (Pennsylvania Reserves), Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. The Maltese Cross on the monument represents the Fifth Corps.

A list of engagements of the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves, starting with Dranesville.

I couldn't help but take this close-up of Dranesville on the 10th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument.

The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves Monument near the Wheatfield. The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves were better known as the "Bucktails." The regiment belonged to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division (Pennsylvania Reserves), Fifth Corps, Army of the Potomac. The soldier atop the monument is appropriately wearing a bucktail attached to his cap!

List of engagements in which the Bucktails participated, starting with Dranesville.

The Pennsylvania Reserves in Northern Virginia 1863, Part II: Farewell to Hooker's Army

As I wrote in my last post, the Pennsylvania Reserves faced a somewhat uncertain future at the start of 1863.  The division had experienced tremendous losses during the bloody battles of 1862.  Gen. George G. Meade, a former commander of the Reserves, took up his old division's cause and pushed to have the Reserves sent back to Pennsylvania to recruit and reorganize.  Pennsylvania's Governor, Andrew Curtin, likewise urged the Lincoln Administration to allow the Reserves to return temporarily to the Keystone State.  These pleas went unheeded at army headquarters, and the Pennsylvanians soon joined the rest of Ambrose Burnside's men on the ill-fated "Mud March."

A Plan is Hatched

By the end of January, the situation began to look brighter for the hard-fought Pennsylvanians.  Gen. Joseph Hooker, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, and General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck finally agreed on a plan to deal with the manpower problems facing the Reserves.  The division was to be detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent to the defenses of Washington in exchange for a like number of Pennsylvania troops then stationed around the capital.  (OR, 1:25:2, 12.)  The Pennsylvania Reserves would return to the front once they had some time to replenish their ranks and recover from combat duty.  Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelman, head of the Department of Washington, was less than enthusiastic about the idea.  He worried that the Reserves were ill-equipped for provost duty in Washington given that "some of the companies are commanded by sergeants and corporals."  (OR, 1:25:2, 10.)  Heintzelman told Halleck, "I fear that the exchange cannot be made with any benefit to the service in my command."  (OR, 1:25:2, 10.)  Whatever his objections, however, Heintzelman would have no choice but to accept his superior's decision.

Gen. Joseph Hooker (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Meanwhile, the men in the ranks began to hear rumors about their imminent departure for Washington.  A soldier from Co. H, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves wrote on January 28 to his hometown paper, "[W]e – that is the old regiments of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps of Volunteers – are soon to be relieved from the front (where they have always been found), by the troops now stationed in and about Washington, while we are to take their place."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Feb. 11, 1863.)  He felt that the division was "not in the least dissatisfied with the arrangement, altho’ we wish to have no men see the service that the Reserves have been obliged to."  (Wellsboro Agitator, Feb. 11, 1863.)  Sgt. Thomas W. Dick of Co. H, 12th Pennsylvania Reserves, informed his brother of "reliable information to the effect that we are going back to Washington to rest and recruit."  (Ltr. from T.W. Dick to Brother, Feb. 2 1863.)  Dick  approved of the plan, telling his brother, "its what should have been done before this There is now but a miserable remnant of the gay old division that marched from [Camp] Pierpont last spring."  (Ltr. from T.W. Dick to Brother, Feb. 2 1863) (grammar as in original)

Orders!

On February 5, Hooker finally issued orders to transfer the Pennsylvania Reserves.  (OR, 1:25:2, 49-50; 52-53.)  He instructed Gen. John F. Reynolds, head of the First Corps, to send the division to Alexandria with instructions to report to Heintzelman for orders.  Hooker added that "[t]he sick and all the baggage of the troops should be taken with them."  (OR, 1:25:2, 50.)  The chief quartermaster would "furnish the transportation," although Hooker told Reynolds that "[t]he details of the embarkation are left with you, with reliance upon your energy and attention."  (OR, 1:25:2, 50.) 

That same day, Reynolds issued an order directing the Pennsylvania Reserves to embark at Belle Plain for Alexandria, "as soon as transportation is furnished."  (OR, 1:51:1, 981.)  The 121st and 142nd Pennsylvania, who were not part of the original Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, were ordered to remain behind, along with three artillery batteries.  Reynolds informed the men that they would receive three days' cooked rations for the trip north.  He finished his order on a sentimental note:

In separating from the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, with which the commanding general has been so closely allied for the past eighteen months, he cannot but express his deep regrets. They are, however, lessened by the hope that soon their thinned ranks will be filled, and they, once more restored and reorganized, will be returned to the field prepared to add new luster to a name already endeared to our patriotic State.  (OR, 1:51:1, 981-82.) 

Wartime view of Belle Plain, Virginia on Potomac Creek (courtesy of Library of Congress)

The men of the Pennsylvania Reserves received news of their impending move with enthusiasm.  According to one regimental history, "[i]n despite of the cold rain the camp-fires were soon brightly burning, around which the boys gathered and talked of the good times coming until late at night."  (Woodward, Third Reserve, 224.)  The next afternoon, February 6, the division struck camp and marched about four miles to Belle Plain on Potomac Creek. The journey lasted well into the evening due to the wet and muddy conditions.  The First Brigade boarded transports during the night and headed up the Potomac.  The Second and Third Brigades set out for Alexandria in the morning.  As the men arrived at the wharves along the river, they must surely have felt a sense of relief to leave behind life at the front, if only for a little while.

Postscript

The transfer of the Reserves soon became mired in a dispute between Hooker and Washington.  Gen. Abner Doubleday, who assumed command of the Pennsylvania Reserves for a short while in the middle of January, had gone to the capital to oversee arrangements for the exchange. (OR, 1:51:1, 974.)  After the division arrived in Washington, Doubleday reported to Hooker that "[t]he Pennsylvania regiments given in place of the Reserves do not contain as many men as the latter brought here."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.)  He concluded that there was "a deficiency of about 250 men."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.)  Hooker fired off a dispatch to Halleck on February 10,  insisting that "this deficiency be made up, and that General Heintzelman be directed to send the full number, according to the understanding, viz, the same number of men as were returned in the Pennsylvania Reserves."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.) Halleck tersely replied that "[r]egiments cannot be broken up in order to exactly equalize."  (OR, 1:25:2, 63.)

Hooker wouldn't let the shortfall go.  He pressed his cause with Heintzelman directly.  (OR, 1:25:2, 69-70.)  The commander of the Washington defenses informed Hooker that he had been told to exchange the Reserves for Pennsylvania troops only and that some of some of the soldiers designated for the Army of the Potomac had been detained in Washington for reasons beyond his control.  He had no more to give.  Heintzelman alleged that "[t]he numbers at my disposal were well understood by General Doubleday when he made the application."  (OR, 1:25:2, 83.)

Hooker next unleashed his wrath on Doubleday, demanding that he "report what agreement was entered into by you with General Heintzelman with regard to the exchange of the Pennsylvania Reserves."  (OR, 1:25:2, 87.)   Doubleday insisted that he had done nothing wrong, claiming that "no special agreement was entered into" between him and Heintzelman.  (OR, 1:25:2, 90.)   He told Hooker:

It was understood that I was to have an equal number of men with those I furnished. I never supposed I should have a less number until the Reserves had actually arrived in Alexandria, and a report of their number was laid before General Heintzelman. He then informed me that the aggregate would be less than that furnished by some 230 men.  (OR, 1:25:2, 90.)

Doubleday also took offense at Hooker's accusation that he had not given his personal attention to the matter, explaining that he had "visited General Heintzelman's office every day, and frequently several times a day, in relation to it," and "was also a daily visitor at the Adjutant-General's Office of the General-in-Chief" concerning the exchange.  (OR, 1:25:2, 90.)  Heintzelman received a copy of Doubleday's response, but when all was said and done, Hooker turned his attention to more pressing matters.   Meanwhile, the Reserves prepared for duty on the picket line in front of the capital.

Up Next:  Military duties in front of Washington.

Sources

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

John H. Eicher & David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands (2001); Joseph Gibbs, Three Years in the Bloody Eleventh: The Campaigns of a Pennsylvania Reserves Regiment (2002); Ltr. from T.W. Dick to Brother, Feb. 2 1863 (courtesy of P.R.V.C. Historical Society); J.R. Sypher, History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps (1865); Wellsboro Agitator, Feb. 11, 1863 (courtesy of P.R.V.C. Historical Society); Evan M. Woodward, History of the Third Pennsylvania Reserve (1883); Evan M. Woodward, Our Campaigns (1865).

Hell on DC-Area Roads, Civil War-Style

Commuting in the Washington, DC metro region is certainly no walk in the park.  My daily drive of nine miles home from the city can take up to an hour or more on any given day.  Washington consistently wins top honors for having the worst traffic in the country.  And bad weather like snow turns the roads into a sheer commuter nightmare.  The study of history, however, often puts things in perspective, and that certainly was the case when I came across a Civil War-era account of a trip over roughly the same route I follow everyday.

In January 1862, Hugh Young, the editor of the Wellsboro (Pa.) Agitator, came to Washington City.  He intended to pay a visit to the Pennsylvania Reserves at Camp Pierpont in Langley.  Going to the Old Dominion in those days required a military pass, so Young headed first to the Provost Marshal's Office.  Here, "with the assistance of a line . . . vouching for our loyalty" from Speaker of the House Galusha Grow of Pennsylvania, he procured "a pass into the land of Dixie." 

Young headed next to the Langley Stage Office at the Clay Hotel to find transportation across the Potomac to the camps.  From the hotel situated on Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd and 4 1/2 Streets,* a "diligence" or "long covered wagon with hard seats" ran the eight miles to Langley twice a day for a fare of one dollar.  The editor boarded the wagon with his traveling companion and around a dozen others.  Now the fun really began.

As Young described the journey:

. . . soon we were on the road to the Chain Bridge. And such a road! Properly speaking, it was a canal filled to the depth of six to twelve inches with a sloshy mud, through which the horses waded with a slow and patient gait.**

Section of 1862 Union Army map of N.E. Virginia and the Vicinity of Washington showing likely route taken by Young from the Clay Hotel in Washington to Langley, Virginia (courtesy of Library of Congress).  A modern view of approximately the same route can be found here.

Along the way, soldiers stopped the wagon to examine the passengers' passes, likely causing additional delay.  The last check occurred at the entrance to the Chain Bridge.  Incredibly, the editor recognized the soldier as a Simon Doorlacher from Wellsboro, who was serving with the Tioga Invincibles, or Company H of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves.  After crossing Chain Bridge, the wagon headed up the Leesburg-Georgetown Turnpike and traveled a few more miles to Langley, where it was already "quite dark."  All told, Young seemed pleased that the trip had taken "just four hours."


"Washington, D.C. Chain Bridge over the Potomac; Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in foreground (courtesy of Library of Congress)

My own route home is very similar, but starts a little further west at 17th and G Streets, N.W.  I avoid the heart of the city and Georgetown by taking the Whitehurst Freeway and drive along Canal Road until I hit Chain Bridge.  Rt. 123 on the other side takes me to a point just beyond Langley.  This route can be nerve-wracking and time-consuming, but I have nothing on the editor of the Agitator.  The next time I feel myself becoming annoyed and impatient with my commute, I will think back 150 years and remember that things could be much worse.

Notes
*Today, 4 1/2 Street, N.W. does not intersect with Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.  The hotel was likely located around the present-day site of the Federal Courthouse.

**The diligence probably traveled through the streets of Washington City, most likely Pennsylvania Avenue, and into Georgetown. From there, it may have taken the carriage road along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to Chain Bridge. John G. Barnard, former chief engineer to the Army of the Potomac, described this carriage road as "excellent" in his report on the defenses of Washington.  (Barnard 2.)  The editor of the Agitator may have disagreed with him on this point!

Sources
John G. Barnard, A Report on the Defenses of Washington to the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army (1871); Johnson's Map of Georgetown and the City of Washington, 1862; Washington National Republican, Mar. 4, 1862; Wellsboro (Pa.) Agitator, Jan. 29, 1862.

The Presentation of the Colors to the Victors of Dranesville

The month of January 1862 was cold, damp, and miserable for the Pennsylvania Reserves encamped at Langley.  The men huddled inside their crude huts as the snow and rain fell and the ground outside turned into mud.  The winter weather even interfered with the daily routine of army life.  As a soldier from the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves wrote to the Philadelphia Press, "owing to the unfavorable weather with which we have been visited, drill and other duties have been almost suspended."  Nothing, however, not even the elements, could get in the way of bestowing honors on the victors of Dranesville. 

The Pennsylvania Reserves had become the darling of  the political and military establishment ever since the battle.  At the end of the December, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin visited the Reserves at Camp Pierpont and declared that the regiments involved at Dranesville would have the name of the battle inscribed on their standards.  (See here for a recent post on the governor's visit.)  The flags were soon sent to Washington to be painted with the battle honors. 

Flag of the 6th Pennsylvania Reserves with a barely visible "Dranesville" inscription (courtesy of Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee)

Flag of the 9th Pennsylvania Reserves with a faded "Dranesville" inscription (courtesy of Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee)

A couple weeks later, on January 11, the entire division participated in the presentation of the colors to the men who had won the day at Dranesville.  All fifteen regiments, "in full uniform," formed and marched out to the parade ground, which was "in a wretched condition, occasioned by the rains of the previous day."  ("Letter from Camp Pierpont," Phila. Press, Jan. 20, 1862.)  A fifteen-gun salute was fired by the Reserves' artillery, and various regimental bands "returned the compliment."  ("Letter from Camp Pierpont," Phila. Press, Jan. 20, 1862.)  Speaker of the House Galusha Grow of Pennsylvania traveled to Langley for the occasion and met the Reserves on the parade ground.  As the soldier from the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves described the scene:

. . . the color companies attached to the different regiments in [E.O.C.] Ord's brigade took an advanced position, when the flags on which were neatly inscribed the word "DRANESVILLE," in honor of the late victory, were presented by [Grow] -- the ceremony winding up with a few complimentary remarks from that gentleman.  The cavalry and artillery that accompanied the brigade were also on the ground, and were presented with new flags similarly inscribed.*

Rep. Galusha Grow,  Speaker of the House, 1861-63 (courtesy of Wikipedia)

The regiments then filed past Grow and the other notables gathered on the parade ground.  Overall, the soldier from the 7th considered that "the affair passed off admirably" despite the muck and mire.  Perhaps the review lifted more than a few spirits in the middle of the harsh winter.  The glow of Dranesville, however, would grow dimmer as the new year progressed and the war's toll grew to unimaginable proportions.

Note
*Ord's brigade was comprised of the 6th, 9th, 10th, and 12th Pennsylvania Reserves.  All of these regiments were engaged at Dranesville. The 1st Pennsylvania Rifles ("the Bucktails"), although not part of Ord's brigade, also participated in the battle, and it is likely that they also received the inscribed flag during the ceremony.

Sources
"Letter from Camp Pierpont," dated Jan. 14, 1862, Philadelphia Press, Jan. 20, 1862;  O.R. Howard Thomson & William H. Rauch, History of the "Bucktails" (1906).

Christmas at Camp Pierpont, December 1861

Readers by now are quite familiar with Camp Pierpont, the quarters of the Pennsylvania Reserves in Langley, Virginia during the winter of 1861-62.  The Pennsylvania boys, many away from their families for the first time, marked the Christmas holiday that December in a variety of ways.  Some soldiers received packages from home and shared the bounty with their comrades-in-arms. According to Private Adam Bright of Co. C, 9th Pennsylvania Reserves:

I had a very nice dinner on Christmas day. One of my friends had a box sent to him by express containing 4 large Shanghi [sic] roosters stuffed, a number of pound cakes, and pies, pickles and apples. You may be sure I did them all justice.

Soldiers also received clothing like "socks and comforters," as well as "a little Old Rye." (Letter from Newsboy, Philadelphia Sunday Transcript, Dec. 24, 1861.)  The whiskey sometimes led to mischief.  The History of Company H, 4th Pennsylvania Reserves recalls:

Christmas being at hand, the boys solicited boxes from home to somewhat alleviate the rugged realities of camp life. In many of these bottles of whiskey figured cheerfully amidst other luxuries for their holiday festivities. The provost-Marshal, learning of this new feature of Northern liberality, by order of the General, opened the boxes on their arrival, confiscated all contraband goods and removed them to headquarters, to be "used by the mess," so the soldier lads said. They becoming enraged by this unwarrantable intrusion upon their rights, confiscated a quantity of poultry received by General [George A.] McCall from a friend by way of retaliation for their wrongs.

Soldiers also had other distractions during the holiday season.  The 11th Pennsylvania Reserves, for instance, took part in an amusing "friendly fire" episode:

Some of the boys . . . had Santa Claus, with a full-rigged suit of Secesh [sic]Clothes, stuck up in a tree. One of the guards, being put on post, and not knowing of the aforesaid gentleman being in the neighborhood, while walking his lonely beat, cast his eye that way, and, seeing Mr. Man, came to the conclusion that it was one of the men of J. Davis & Co. . . . .  He determined to make a hero of himself and fired, putting a ball through our Christmas friend, when the rest of the boys jumped up, exclaiming "Guard house, Guard House." (Letter from Newsboy, Philadelphia Sunday Transcript, Dec. 24, 1861.)

"Christmas Boxes in Camp, Christmas, 1861," Harper's Weekly, Jan. 4, 1862  (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

All lightheartedness aside, the Pennsylvanians showed that the spirit of Christmas was alive and well at Camp Pierpont.  Private William H. Jayne of  Co. C, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves was wounded at the Battle of Dranesville on December 20 and spent the holiday recovering at a field hospital.  In a December 26, 1861 letter to the Honesdale Democrat he expressed his appreciation for the generosity of his fellow soldiers:

Our boys received some luxuries from Wayne county for Christmas, which they sent to the Hospital for the wounded and we had as merry a Christmas as ever such a lot of cripples enjoyed.

Other soldiers could not help but notice that the war left little reason to celebrate.  William R. Brown of Easton's Battery, which has seen action at Dranesville, wrote to the Raftsman's Journal on Christmas Day, lamenting that "there are none of those scenes of frivolity and good cheer with which Pennsylvanians are wont to regard this annual holiday to divert the mind from the daily routine of camp life."

Brigadier General George G. Meade, commander of the Second Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, offered a glimmer of hope amidst the conflict that had torn the country apart.  In a December 25, 1861 letter to his wife, he expressed the sentiments likely shared by many that holiday season:

I write a few lines on this day of rejoicing and festivity, to let you know I am well, and though absent from you in the body, that I am with you and my dear children in spirit and thought. As this day is the anniversary commemorating the great promise held out to all mankind, let us hope it may promise speedy peace and happiness to us in this world as well as the one to come. God grant it may be so!

As I drive down Georgetown Pike and through Langley from the comfort of my own heated car, I can't help but think about the homesick men in blue who tried to celebrate Christmas as best as they could under the hardships of winter camp.

On a personal note, I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Note on Sources:

I am eternally indebted to the Pennsylvanian Reserve Volunteer Corps Historical Society, whose website makes available a multitude of soldiers' letters, including those cited above. 

Meade's entire letter can be found in The Life and Letters of George Gordon Meade, Volume I, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913, p. 239 (available on Google Books).

The Action at Dranesville

Of all the skirmishes and minor battles around the Washington area during the Civil War, Dranesville has attracted its fair share of attention.  A quick search on Google reveals plenty of material about this engagement on December 20, 1861.  The Friday after Thanksgiving, my Dad and I set out to explore the area around Dranesville.  The battlefield is now marred by the suburban D.C. development, but a few historical markers recall the encounter, and Fairfax County has preserved an old tavern there.  

The hamlet of Dranesville sat just west of the crossroads of the Leesburg & Alexandria Turnpike (today's VA Route 7/Leesburg Pike) and the Leesburg & Georgetown Turnpike (VA Route 193/Georgetown Pike).  In December 1861, Dranesville occupied "debatable ground" between the Union and Confederate lines in Northern Virginia, characterized by heightened tensions among local inhabitants.  The Union Army learned that enemy cavalry was operating in the region and threatening Union sympathizers.  Brigadier General George A. McCall, commander of the Pennsylvania Reserves, instructed Brigadier General E.O.C. Ord on the evening of December 19 to set out the next morning with his brigade to drive back Confederate pickets and collect forage from secessionist farmers.  Another brigade commander, Brigadier General John F. Reynolds, was instructed to move to Difficult Run, where he was to wait and provide support to Ord if necessary.  Early on the morning of the 20th, Ord left Camp Pierpont in Langley with his brigade of the 6th, 9th, 10th, and 12th Pennsylvania Reserves, along with the "Bucktail" regiment (13th Pennsylvania Reserves), four guns under Captain Hezekiah Easton of Battery A, 1st Pennsylvania Artillery, and two squadrons of the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry.  All told, the force comprised about 5,000 men.

Brigadier General E.O.C. Ord (courtesy of Georgetown University Library)

The Confederates, meanwhile, were planning a similar foraging expedition in the area.  Brigadier General J.E.B. Stuart was assigned to guard the wagons with around 1,600 infantry of the 1st Kentucky, 6th South Carolina, 10th Alabama, and 11th Virginia, as well as four guns of the Sumter Flying Artillery and 150 cavalry.  When Stuart learned of the approaching Federal brigade, he sent the wagons back towards the Confederate camps in Centreville and prepared to defend what he perceived as a threat to his recently collected supplies.

"The Battle of Dranesville -- Sketched by an Officer Who Was Present," Harper's Weekly, Jan.11, 1862 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net).  This print depicts a view from the position of Easton's battery.  Ridge Road is to the left of the artillery.  The Thornton House, occupied by the Bucktails, is immediately to the front of the artillery, on the right.

As Ord arrived in the vicinity of Dranesville, Rebel pickets fled before his men.  Ord's soldiers moved west of the intersection of the two pikes.  Ord soon discovered that the Confederate force was advancing in his rear, and dispatched his artillery to high ground east of the intersection.  He then wheeled his regiments around and aligned them facing south, towards the Confederates, who were advancing on either side of Ridge Road (or Centreville Road, more or less today's Reston Avenue).  A hot fight ensued between the two armies, lasting around two hours.  The Union artillery, occupying a dominant position, proved particularly effective and wrecked havoc on the Confederate battery.  The Bucktails engaged the 6th South Carolina and 10th Alabama from an advantageous location in and around the Thornton House in the Union center. Off to the Union right, the 9th Pennsylvania battled the 1st Kentucky.  Finally, Stuart, who feared the arrival of Union reinforcements, withdrew from the field and fell back to Frying Pan Church, about half a dozen miles distant.  Lucky that Stuart left, as Reynolds, and another brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves under Brigadier General George G. Meade, were on the way  after learning of the battle that had erupted at Dranesville.  The Union had lost about 68 killed and wounded, and the Confederates suffered 194 casualties.  McCall, worried that the Rebels might cut off Ord's men from Union lines during the night, ordered Ord to march his brigade back to Camp Pierpont.  Stuart returned the next day to collect the wounded and bury the dead.

Modern view of the intersection of Leesburg Pike and the Georgetown Pike at Dranesville.  Ord aligned his forces along the Leesburg Pike, facing south.  The 9th and 12th Pennsylvania were positioned just beyond the intersection, where the ground slopes down.  Easton's artillery was placed to the right of the intersection on elevated land (not visible here).



State historical marker on the "Action at Dranesville," along Leesburg Pike heading west towards the Dranesville intersection of VA Routes 7 & 193. More information can be found on the Historical Marker Database.  



Dranesville Tavern (c. 1824), located west of the Dranesville intersection.  This historic site is owned by Fairfax County, which restored the tavern to its 1850 appearance.  The tavern was moved about 125 feet southwest of its original location.  During the time of the Civil War, the tavern was considered "one of the best roadside inns in America," according to the Virginia Gazette.  The tavern's role in the Battle of Dranesville is not known.  However, a Civil War Trails marker in front of the tavern commemorates the action at Dranesville.

Dranesville was hailed in Northern papers as a major victory.  After the ignominious defeats at First Bull Run and Ball's Bluff, the North was hungry for a win over the Confederates.  Dranesville gave Northerners the opportunity to celebrate.  Secretary of War Simon Cameron, himself a Pennsylvanian, wrote to General McCall that "[i]t is one of the bright spots that give assurance of the success of coming events, and its effect must be to inspire confidence in the belief that hereafter as heretofore, the cause of our country will triumph."  Confederate papers largely portrayed the engagement as a loss.  The Richmond Examiner, for instance, observed that "[t]he impression is, that we have suffered no inconsiderable disaster."  Larger-scale, more brutal battles would follow, and for all the attention Dranesville got in the winter of 1861, it would soon become, as historian Charles Poland has said, "a virtually forgotten sideshow of the war."

A Note on Sources:

I found several sources useful in learning more about the Battle of Dranesville.

The Glories of War: Small Battles and Early Heroes of 1861, by local historian Charles P. Poland, Jr. has a detailed chapter on the battle.

The Official Records, Series I, Volume V contains official reports of the battle by Union commanders and Confederate General Stuart.

"The Battle of Dranesville, Va." by William S. Hammond in the Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. XXXV, Richmond, Jan.-Dec. 1907 (available here) provides a concise account of the engagement.

Craig Swain, over at To the Sound of the Guns, does a great job of describing troop positions in relation to the current lay of the land in Dranesville.