Old Stone Church Marker

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Centreville in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Old Stone Church
Haven for the Wounded

By J. J. Prats, September 16, 2006

1. Old Stone Church - Haven for the Wounded Marker

Inscription. Here, where the Warrenton Turnpike turned west from Braddock Road, the Union army marched from Centreville to meet Confederate forces in the first great battle of the Civil War on July 21, 1961. The afternoon, Union soldiers passed by here again, fleeing from the Manassas battlefield to reach Washington, D.C., the next day.

To your right is the “Old Stone Church” used as a Union hospital by Assistant Surgeon David L. Magruder, who later wrote that he “took possession of a stone church, pleasantly situated in a grove of timber, directly … to the right of the road we had passed on advancing t the attack.” The numerous casualties treated here and in other nearby hospitals overwhelmed the Federal medical service, which was not well-organized, had too few ambulances, and lacked trained personnel. The church served as a Union hospital again during the Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862. Both armies used these roads and occupied this area several times during the war. Soldiers dismantled the church, but it was rebuilt in 1870.

Behind the church to the south stood the largest fort in the Confederate defensive network around Centreville. Nearby camps housed 40,000 Confederate soldiers in log huts during the winter of 1861–1862. Some of the smaller fortifications, a connecting trench, and hut

Close-Up of Sarah Emma Edmonds Portrait Photo, Click for full size

By J. J. Prats, September 16, 2006

2. Close-Up of Sarah Emma Edmonds Portrait

sites survive today about a mile to your left.

Pvt. Frank Thompson, 2nd Michigan Infantry, served as a nurse here after the battle to 1861. Thompson was in reality Sarah Emma Edmonds (1841–1898), one of hundreds of women who assumed male garb to participate in the war. Edmonds wrote a book, Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, recounting her experiences and later received a pension for her service.

Marker series. This marker is included in the Virginia Civil War Trails marker series.

Location. 38° 50.473′ N, 77° 25.802′ W. Marker is in Centreville, Virginia, in Fairfax County. Marker is on Braddock Road west of Lee Highway (U.S. 29), on the left when traveling west. Click for map. There has been a lot of street alignment and name changes in this section of Centreville, so be sure to have the latest map. This is the short section of Braddock Road that is not connected to the other Braddock Roads. Marker is at or near this postal address: 13941 Braddock Road, Centreville VA 20120, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 5 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Mount Gilead Historic Site (about 700 feet away, in a direct line); A Place on the High Ground (approx. 0.2 miles away); Centreville, Virginia (approx. 0.4 miles away); Civil War Fortifications (approx. 0.4 miles away); On This Site (approx. 0.5 miles away). Click for a list of all markers in Centreville.

Old Stone Church Photo, Click for full size

By J. J. Prats

3. Old Stone Church

More about this marker. One in the series of Virginia Civil War Trails markers.

Also see . . .
1. Stone Church, Centreville, Va. Photograph from [Alexander] Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War on the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film website. (Submitted on September 17, 2006.)
2. Civil War Photographs of Centreville. These photos are on Frank Harrell's website. (Submitted on September 17, 2006.)

Tablets on the Old Stone Church Photo, Click for full size

By J. J. Prats, September 16, 2006

4. Tablets on the Old Stone Church

The first reads: Centreville Methodist Church. Built 1855. Destroyed during the Civil War. Rebuilt 1870. This marker presented in memory of Martha Elliott Saunders by her children, Otto, Frank and Martha; 1939. The second reads: This edifice became the Anglican Church of the Ascension on December 23, 1973.