The Confederates Return to Dranesville

Tomorrow marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Dranesville.  As readers are well aware, I have covered the engagement here and at greater length in an article for the Civil War Trust.  Dranesville shattered the relative calm that had descended on Northern Virginia by December 1861.  Because I have already discussed the battle itself, I thought that I would dedicate a couple posts to what happened in the Union and Confederate ranks following the engagement.

Dranesville was a tactical Union victory, but that didn't stop Brig. Gen. Jeb Stuart from calling the battle a "glorious success" for the Confederates.  (OR, 1:5, 494.)  After all, the Confederate commander had saved his foraging party from falling into the enemy's hands.   Stuart's self-styled triumph, however, had not come without a cost.  Among his four infantry regiments, one battery, and assorted cavalry units, Stuart lost 43 killed, 143 wounded, and eight missing.  The Union suffered only seven killed and 61 wounded.

Following the two-hour fight on December 20, Stuart's force withdrew from the battlefield towards the Alexandria, Loudoun, & Hampshire Railroad.  When it became clear that his men were out of harm's way, Stuart pushed onward to Frying Pan Church.  There, the Confederates took care of their wounded from the engagement. Meanwhile, the 18th Virginia and 9th Georgia were dispatched from the main camp at Centreville to join Stuart at the church.  The regiments arrived at some point early in the morning.

Frying Pan Church, where Stuart cared for his wounded following the battle.  The church, located along present-day Centreville Road in Fairfax County, was built between 1783 and 1791.  The Baptist congregation included both whites and blacks.  The site is preserved and maintained by Fairfax County.  (See here for more information.)

As dawn broke on December 21, Stuart intended to return to Dranesville.  He soon had the 9th Georgia and 18th Virginia organized and on the way.  As a soldier from the 18th Virginia recalled:

We marched briskly along, it being-quite cold, and we therefore felt the more inclined to exert ourselves to give warmth to our bodies. We had no idea of going so far when we started, but were willing to follow Gen. Stuart anywhere, even to the banks of the Potomac. Onward, still onward we went, winding our way up and down circuitous and zigzag roads, which, though wearisome, were in excellent condition, being entirely free from the stiffing influence of dust. (Richmond Daily Dispatch, Dec. 30, 1861.)

Stuart sent his cavalry ahead to ascertain the presence of the enemy.  The scouts reported that the Union had abandoned Dranesville and that several Confederate wounded were left in town.  The Union commander, Brig. Gen. E.O.C. Ord, had lacked a sufficient number of ambulances and was unable to take all of his wounded prisoners with him to Camp Pierpont in Langley. 

Gen. Jeb Stuart (courtesy of National Park Service)

Stuart, desiring to collect his wounded and dead, pushed his men to Dranesville and arrived around 11 a.m.  Outside of town, in a house not far from the scene of the previous day's action, Stuart's men located between eight and ten wounded Confederate soldiers.  According to the soldier from the 18th Virginia, in front of the home "stood several charmingly looking ladies, who very soon became the paramount attraction":

They were kindly attending our wounded . . . .  They say the Yankees were very kind to our wounded, in bringing them to the house; they also left with them a good many bandages, to be used in dressing their wounds. . . .  These ladies with their mothers had come up from their comfortable homes, bringing with them beds and bed clothes. They also prepared soups and such like delicacies suited to the conditions of the wounded.  (Richmond Daily Dispatch, Dec. 30, 1861).

Stuart ordered his men to place the wounded in ambulances for the return to Centreville.  Two of the men were severely injured, and it soon became clear that they could not survive the long trip back.  Stuart reported that "at their own desire and at the surgeon's advice" the two soldiers "were left in charge of the ladies" in Dranesville  (OR, 1:5, 492.) 

The Confederate general also heard wild rumors about the battle from local inhabitants.  The Union force had consisted of "fifteen regiments of infantry, several batteries, and seven companies of cavalry."  (OR, 1:5, 493.)  In fact, Ord had just five regiments of infantry, one battery, and two squadrons of cavalry, but at the time, Stuart was not entirely certain of the size of Ord's force.  (Some locals may have seen the brigades of John Reynolds and George Meade, who had arrived too late to take part in the fight, and overestimated the number engaged on the 20th.)  The residents of Dranesville also informed Stuart that Ord had left with twenty wagon loads of dead and wounded!

Stuart set about the grisly task of collecting the dead from the battlefield.  The soldier from the 18th Virginia witnessed the carnage.  He wrote:

I was horror-struck by the ghastly appearance of the dead, as they lay all besmeared with their own blood, which in the agents of death they had gotten all over their faces, having as soon as shot clapped their hands to the part affected and drawn across their faces; shots of a more deadly character, I never saw.  (Richmond Daily Dispatch, Dec. 30, 1861.) 

Once the wounded and dead were loaded in wagons, Stuart set out for the Confederate lines at Centreville around 4 p.m.  The colonel of the 18th Virginia gave his men the option of stopping for the night, or going the entire way back to camp.  His men agreed to continue the march.  As the soldier from the 18th Virginia wrote to the Daily Dispatch:

[S]ome of our men complained bitterly of sore feet, made so by traveling so much on this hard frozen ground. Some one or two were so lucky as to get a ride on horseback. Others were obliged to remain the over-night, and come in the following (Sunday) morning. No order as to regularity of marching could be maintained, each getting along as best he could. My Captain, myself, and several others were amongst the first to get to camp — how glad were we to get there. We found hot coffee and warm fires. So, drinking the coffee and toasting our feet, we retired for the night.  (Richmond Daily Dispatch, Dec. 30, 1861.)

Back in Centreville, the Confederates attended to their wounded and buried their dead.  The 11th Virginia, which had fought at Dranesville, was brigaded with the 17th Virginia.  The men of the 17th attended the internment of the 11th's dead, "prompted by the friendly feeling that had existed between the two commands ever since the organization of the brigade."  (Warfield 66.)  As Private Edgar Warfield remembered:

The act brought forth from Colonel [Sam] Garland of the Eleventh a beautiful letter, which was read on dress parade, expressing his grateful appreciation of the soldierly friendship which induced our command to unite with them in paying this last tribute of respect to their dead comrades. (Warfield 66.)

The Confederates recovered from their setback at Dranesville and prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday.  The battle had been an unsettling experience for many soldiers, including those who visited the scene of the fight on the 21st.  But as 1861 drew to a close, much worse awaited Confederate and Union soldiers alike in the upcoming year and beyond.

Sources

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

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form for Frying Pan Meetinghouse; Richmond Daily Dispatch, Dec. 30, 1861; Edgar Warfield, Manassas to Appomattox: The Civil War Memoirs of Pvt. Edgar Warfield, 17th Virgina Infantry (1996 ed.).

Historic "Firsts," the Railroad and the Battle of Vienna

The Battle of Vienna is often described as being a historic first, although not everyone agrees on what that first is. A historical marker in Vienna, erected in 1975, describes the action as one in which "a railroad was first used tactically in warfare."  The Vienna Centennial Park marker notes that in 1861, "[f]irst use of a railroad in war occurs in Vienna during the Civil War."  The Strategic Junction marker on Hunter Mill Road explains that the action at Vienna "was the first tactical use of railroad in the war."  The Fairfax County Sesquicentennial website description of the Battle of Vienna concludes that "[t]his would go down in history as the first time a train was engaged in warfare in US history."  So, who is right? What claim does the Battle of Vienna have in the annals of military and railroad history?

Certainly the skirmish in Vienna cannot be considered the first time a railroad was ever used in the history of warfare.  Trains saw some limited use for westward troop movements during the Mexican War (1846-48). The 1st Georgia Infantry, for instance, gathered in Columbus, Georgia in 1846 and marched to Chehaw, Alabama, where they took a train to Montgomery on their way to rendez-vous with other forces gathering along the Rio Grande.  Trains were also used in Europe during the Crimean War (1853-56). In 1855, a railway was constructed from Balaclava to Sevastopol to transport ammunition and other supplies to British and French troops laying siege to the Russians at Sevastopol.


The railroad town of Grafton, occupied by Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's troops, 1861.  Note the train at the center of the engraving (courtesy of Wikipedia).


The railroad also saw what was likely its first tactical use in the Civil War a couple of weeks before the June 17, 1861 action at Vienna.  Following the Union seizure of the important rail hub at Grafton, (West) Virginia on the Baltimore & Ohio line in June 1861, Major General George B. McClellan ordered his forces in the area to pursue the retreating Confederates at Philippi.  The movement was designed "[t]o prevent their further outrages upon the railroads or upon the property of loyal citizens." (McClellan Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 65.)  The Union soldiers, starting for Philippi on June 2, advanced in two separate columns.  The part of the force under Col. Benjamin Kelly, numbering around 1,600 men, took the train eastward towards Harpers Ferry to mislead Confederate scouts and pickets as to the intention of the movement.  About six miles from Grafton, Kelly's force left the train cars at Thornton and marched over a little-used road towards Philippi. The Federal troops defeated the Rebel force at a battle on June 3.  Today, the state of West Virginia is proud to proclaim that the "first tactical use of the railroad to move troops to battle" in the Civil War occurred at Grafton on June 2, 1861.  And keep in mind this movement predates the more-often cited tactical use of the rails to move Confederate troops from the Shenandoah Valley to the front at Manassas in mid-July 1861.

Given that railroads had seen use prior to the Civil War, and that a Union force had already employed a railroad for tactical purposes at Philippi, Vienna's "first" must relate to something other than what the historical markers say.  The train at the Battle of Vienna was ambushed, making it inaccurate to speak of "tactical use."  Above all else, the attack on the train at Vienna appears to be the first time a train came under fire in the Civil War, if not in all of U.S. history.  The prize goes to Fairfax County's website for using such a description of the battle.  And it turns out that the Vienna Centennial Park marker gets it at least partially right.  Text on another part of the marker notes, "Though the battle was short, Vienna achieved distinction as the site of the first railroad battle in history."  (Although I am not sure if it was the first in world history, it likely was the first in our nation's history and in the Civil War.)

U.S. Military R.R. locomotives during the Petersburg Campaign, c. 1864-65 (courtesy of Library of Congress).  Created in 1862, the U.S.M.R.R. operated a rail network in support of the Union war effort.

Vienna set the stage for the future appearance of railroads in military engagements, such as the Battle of Wentzville, Missouri on July 16-17, 1861, where a train carrying six companies of Union infantry was attacked near Wentzville by Confederate bushwhackers over the course of two days. Trains were also used offensively during the Civil War, including the "dry land Merrimac" train battery employed by the Confederates at Savage's Station in June 1862.

Vienna can rightfully claim a Civil War "first," even if that "first" is not always stated as precisely as it could have been.  The attack on the Union train there reminds us of just how central a role railroads would play during four long years of combat.

Battle of Vienna, June 17, 1861: An Overview

This upcoming Friday marks the 150th anniversary of the so-called "Battle of Vienna." This little-known encounter in Northern Virginia is now getting its fair share of attention, at least in the D.C. area.  The Town of Vienna will even be putting on a reenactment of the battle this Saturday, complete with a locomotive brought in from the Shenandoah Valley.  (More on the train a little later....)  There are some interesting angles to explore in connection with this early action in the Civil War, so I've decided to dedicate the entire week to the skirmish.

General Robert Schenck (courtesy of Library of Congress)

On June 17, 1861, Brigadier General Irvin McDowell, commander of the Union Department of Northeastern Virginia, ordered Brigadier General Robert Schenck to undertake a reconnaissance mission in the direction of Vienna.  Schenck selected the 1st Ohio, and set out with his troops on the Alexandria, Loudoun, and Hampshire Railroad.  At a wagon crossroads near Falls Church, he relieved the 69th New York with two companies.  He sent two other companies to patrol Falls Church, and dispatched an additional two companies to guard the railroad and bridge between the crossroads and Vienna.  With the remaining four companies of 271 men, Schenck proceeded slowly towards Vienna.  A locomotive pushed the train along the tracks.  Most of the soldiers sat on platform cars, while Schenck rode in a passenger car with Col. Alexander M. McCook, commander of the 1st Ohio.

Col. Maxcy Gregg (courtesy of Wikipedia)

The day before, Col. Maxcy Gregg, head of the 1st South Carolina, was ordered to conduct a reconnaissance towards the Potomac River.  He set out from camp near Fairfax Court House with about 575 soldiers and 70 cavalrymen.  At Frying Pan Church, Gregg met an additional 70 cavalry, as well as an artillery detachment of 34 men and two guns.  The force proceeded towards the Potomac, where on June 17 Gregg "went in person to the bank of the river to reconnoiter," but he "could see but few troops of the enemy, and no boats prepared for crossing the river." (Gregg Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 129.)   The Confederate troops began the long march back towards camp.  In Vienna, Gregg expected to see the enemy, who had recently sent an expedition to the area, but detecting no Federals, he ordered his men to proceed to Fairfax Court House.  At around 6 p.m., however, "a distant railroad whistle was heard." (Gregg Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 129.)  As Gregg wrote in his battle report:

I marched the troops back, placing the two 6-pounder guns on the hill commanding the bend of the railroad, immediately supported by Company B, First South Carolina Volunteers. . . . . The rest of the regiment . . . was formed on the crest of the hill to the right of the guns. The cavalry were drawn up still farther to the right. (Gregg Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 129.)

As the 1st Ohio turned the curve outside of Vienna, the Confederate battery opened fire with shot, shell, and grapeshot.  The first platform car was untouched, but the second and third cars received the deadliest fire.  The train encountered some mechanical difficulties, and the engineer could not pull the train out of range of the guns.  (By some accounts, the breaks had locked when the engineer slammed them at the outset of the attack.)  The soldiers, coming to the realization that they were sitting ducks, "left the cars, and retired to right and left of [the] train through the woods."  (Schenck Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p.126.)  Meanwhile, to Schenck's disgust and amazement, the engineer "instead of retiring slowly, as I ordered, detached his engine with one passenger car from the rest of the disabled train and abandoned us, running to Alexandria." (Schenck Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p.126.) Believing that his force was badly outnumbered by as many as 1,500 Confederates, Schenck threw skirmishers out along his flanks and retired towards Arlington.  Without the train, his men were forced to carry the wounded on litters or in blankets.

Fanciful sketch of the Battle of Vienna, from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Gregg dispatched two companies to skirmish with the retiring Union soldiers, but seeing that they were slipping out of his grasp, he sent cavalrymen in pursuit.  As Gregg later recounted, "[f]rom the lateness of the hour, however, the nature of the ground, and the start which the enemy had, they could not be overtaken." (Gregg Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 129.)  He also may have been convinced that he was outnumbered by a larger Union force.  Under orders "to avoid any unnecessary engagement, and not to remain absent from my camp more than one night," Gregg marched his regiment back to Fairfax after burning the railroad cars that were abandoned in Vienna. (Gregg Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 129.)

A Unionist from Vienna eventually loaded six of the dead into his wagon and took them to Schenck's camp.  In all, Schenck reported eight dead and four wounded in the engagement.  The casualties came entirely from Companies G and H, which had been positioned on the second and third rail cars.

In the immediate aftermath of the skirmish, McDowell wanted to move in force upon Vienna.  As he wrote in his official report, "[h]ad the attack not been made, I would not suggest this advance at this time; but now that it has, I think it would not be well for us to seem even to withdraw."  (McDowell Report, OR, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 125.) General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, however, opposed the idea of sending more troops in the direction of the town.  He would soon recall Brigadier General Daniel Tyler from an advanced position at Falls Church, which Scott viewed as too exposed and vulnerable.

The news of the skirmish at Vienna spread across the North. The New York Times was particularly critical of the defeat, which followed closely on the heels of the Union loss at Big Bethel.  According to a June 20, 1861 article, a local man had flagged the train near Vienna and warned the 1st Ohio of an impending disaster, but Schenck did not halt the train or prepare his soldiers for an attack.  (Schenck makes no mention of this episode in his report.)  The Times also questioned the failure of the Union force to send scouts or skirmishers ahead of the train to ascertain any dangers.  As the Times wrote on June 19:

In the present case an entirely inadequate body of men was actually within the enemy's lines, in a railroad train, with no more careful exploration of the country than a traitorous engineer, or an accidental glance from a car-window, might furnish. . . .   Surely, the simplest knowledge of military matters must condemn so heedless a movement as to the last degree reckless and unscientific, and may fairly sit in judgment upon those who planned it. The entire policy of these detached and apparently purposeless expeditions is questionable. If they are understood to be what are technically known as reconnaissances in force, they should have force in the possession of flying-artillery, and dragoons. To enter upon doubtful territory, where the enemy may be in the greatest strength, without precaution, is simply foolhardiness.

Such reporting fed concerns about the preparedness of the Union volunteers camped around Washington.  As journalists dissected the action at Vienna, however, the Union high command was busy contemplating its next move.  

Note on Sources

The Battle at Bull Run by William C. Davis and The Glories of War: Small Battles and Early Heroes of 1861 by Charles P. Polland, Jr. contain fairly detailed accounts of the Battle of Vienna.

Vienna and the Civil War

One Saturday not long after the record snowstorms in the DC area this past winter, I decided to go with my wife up the road to Vienna, Virginia, where she had a spa appointment.   I knew I wanted to get my stir-crazy self out of the house, but I wasn't sure what I could do while she was getting pampered.  So, I did what any self-respecting Civil War buff would do -- I looked at the Civil War Trails web page for Northern Virginia sites to see if there might be something historic to explore.  I wasn't expecting much.  The search, however, actually turned up a few places worth checking out.  Who knew?

During the Civil War, the Alexandria, Loudoun, & Hampshire Railroad ran through the town of Vienna.  This railroad, which began in Alexandria and passed through Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, was slated to reach the Shenandoah Valley and the plentiful coal fields of Hampton County (present-day West Virginia).  Natural barriers and the start of hostilities between North and South ended the railroad's progress.  By the outbreak of the war, the railroad ran only about as far as Leesburg, in Loudoun County. 

Railroad Station in Vienna (built in the 1880s; the Civil War era station is long gone)

Major General Irvin McDowell, the Union commander in the area who was soon to be trounced at First Bull Run, wanted to use the Alexandria, Loudoun, & Hampshire R.R. to move supplies and soldiers westward as part of the effort to engage the Confederate Army.  General Robert E. Lee, then-commander of the volunteer forces in the Commonwealth of Virginia, displayed the strategic insight for which he later would become so famous as head of the Army of Northern Virginia, and ordered the destruction of the tracks west of Vienna in late spring 1861.  Lee also took the liberty of sending a few locomotives south for Confederate use.

On June 17, 1861, not far from the station pictured above, around 700 South Carolina infantry and cavalry attacked a Union train carrying 271 soldiers of the 1st Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  The soldiers, in a panic, jumped from the railroad cars and sought cover in the nearby woods.  The engineer was not so eager to wait for the soldiers to return.  He unhitched the cars, left the troops behind, and raced the locomotive back to Alexandria.  The South Carolinians feared that Federal reinforcements were on the way.  They burned the abandoned cars and fell back.  Eight Union troops were killed in the skirmish.

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, "The Battle of Vienna"

During the war, the Union used the railroad to move troops and supplies between Alexandria and Vienna.  Mounted guerrillas under the command of Colonel John Mosby, the famous leader of "Mosby's Rangers," harassed the line from 1863 onwards.

After the war, the Alexandria, Loudoun, & Hampshire R.R. evolved into the Washington & Old Dominion R.R.  The old railroad line is now a popular hiking and bicycling trail through Northern Virginia.

The war affected Vienna as it did many small Virginia towns around Washington.  The surrounding area served as a campground for both the Union and Confederate armies, and the town changed hands frequently.  Many residents fled Vienna rather than live through the tumult and uncertainty associated with civil conflict.  After the war, Northerners moved to Vienna, attracted by the mild climate, fertile soil, and proximity to the nation's capital.

Freeman Store and Museum

While strolling through the historic part of Vienna, I had a chance to visit the Freeman Store and Museum, run by Historic Vienna, Inc.  In 1859, the Lydecker family from New Jersey purchased property in Vienna and built a store and residence there.  They fled Vienna as the Civil War descended and disrupted life in the small town.  During the conflict, both sides occupied the Freeman's store and residence.  Union officers were quartered here and kept horses in the cellar.  (How that worked, I am not quite sure. And it must have been a bit malodorous!)  The Confederates used the property as a hospital.

Today, the Freeman Store and Museum houses a general store on the ground level, with an offering of candies, toys, Civil War books, and assorted souvenirs.  In the hallway off the main storeroom, one can read an original newspaper clipping concerning the June 17, 1861 skirmish in Vienna.  The level of detail in the article was surprising for such a small and inconsequential battle, but then again, it was early in the war and readers were likely hungry for such stories.  Upstairs houses a museum with rotating exhibits, as well as a parlor and dining room decorated with Victorian-era furnishings and other household items.

While in Vienna, I also walked over to the site of the Star Fort, located on the grounds of the American Legion post there.  The Civil War Trails marker indicates that the six-point, star-shaped fort was constructed on the highest point of land in the area sometime between 1863 and 1865.  Because Vienna changed hands so many times during the Civil War, researchers have been unable to determine whether the fort is Union or Confederate.  The outline of the Star Fort is difficult to perceive, and but for the marker, it would just look like any other wooded plot of land covered with dead leaves and snow.

Staircase up to the Star Fort in Vienna, Virigina. Civil War Trails Marker is visible at the left foreground. More photos can be found here.