| Virginia, Fairfax — B 261 — Birthplace of the Confederate Battle Flag |
| | During the First Battle of Manassas, amid the smoke of combat, troops found it difficult to distinguish between Union and Confederate flags. Generals P.G.T. Beauregard, Joseph E. Johnston and Quartermaster General William L. Cabell met near here in September 1861 and approved the first Confederate battle flag; a square red flag with blue diagonally crossed bars, and 12 stars. This pattern was adapted for use in other battle flags and was incorporated into the Confederate national flag in 1863. . . . — Map (db m7095) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Blenheim (Willcoxon Farm) — Civil War Soldier Art |
| | Blenheim, built for Albert and Mary Willcoxon about 1859, contains some of the nation’s best-preserved Civil War soldier writings. More than 110 identified Union soldiers, representing units from New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, left their marks on the house walls. The earliest dated signature is from March 11, 1862, and the last is from June 20, 1863. From the front door to the attic, the soldiers covered the new white plaster walls of . . . — Map (db m21077) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — C-19 — Bull Run Battlefields |
| | Ten miles west were fought the two Battles of Manassas or Bull Run. — Map (db m619) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — BW-2 — Burke’s Station Raid |
| | Burke’s Station, four miles south, was raided by Stuart’s cavalry, December, 1862. Stuart telegraphed to Washington complaining of the bad quality of the mules he had captured—a famous joke. — Map (db m618) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Dairy Barn Complex — Historic Blenheim |
| | “The outlook for agriculture in Fairfax is dismal.”County Agent R.B. Davis, Jr., 1946 Why was Davis so pessimistic? As he wrote, Blenheim owner Marguerite “Daisy” Duras’s diary cows were setting production records. Just seven years earlier in 1939, her Uncle Harry P. Willcoxon’s dairies were lauded for bringing “Fairfax milk into favorable notice in city markets.” Grandfather Alfred Willcoxon helped found the Central [Fairfax] Farmers Club; he grew corn, . . . — Map (db m25842) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Dr. William Gunnell House |
| | Built c.1835 Old Town Fairfax It was in this house that Ranger John Mosby captured the Union area commander Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton, in bed, the night of March 9, 1863. — Map (db m6233) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Draper House |
| | Built c.1820 Old Town Fairfax Built by Dr. Samuel Draper, this house probably served as his office and examining rooms. Many of the buildings adjoining the house were constructed as out-buildings. — Map (db m6298) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Draper House — 1821 |
| | Built by Dr. Simeon and Catherine (Wilkinson) Draper on a lot leased from town founder Richard Ratcliffe, this is the second oldest home still standing in the Old Town Fairfax Historic District. Catherine's sister was Matilda Wilkinson, the daughter-in-law of Richard Ratcliffe. Later, it became the family home of the Drapers' daughter Maria Louisa and husband William Chapman. Chapman was the village tailor and later postmaster. — Map (db m8226) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Efe Quality House |
| | Built 1930 Old Town Fairfax The home was built on top of the Manassas Gap Railway right-of-way which was the railway started before the Civil War. This railway construction was disbanded during the Civil War. The house was renovated in 1992 by Dr. Johnson A. Edosomwan. — Map (db m6296) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Fairfax — Spies, Mosby and Marr |
| | On June 1. 1861, the first major skirmish of the Civil War occurred on the main street of Fairfax Court House. In the pre-dawn hours 50 men of Co. B, Second U.S. Cavalry, led by Lt. Charles H. Tomkins, rode into town firing their weapons. As Capt. John Quincy Marr, commander of the Warrenton Rifles, rallied his men against the Union attack, he was killed by a stray bullet—becoming the first Confederate officer to die in the war.
On March 9, 1863, Confederate Col. John
S. Mosby and . . . — Map (db m626) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Fairfax Court House |
| | Built in 1800. This building, designed by James Wren, served as the first permanent courthouse of Fairfax County. — Map (db m621) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Fairfax Court House |
| | Built 1800 Old Town Fairfax This building is on the National Register of Historic Places. George and Martha Washington’s wills were recorded here and still remain in this complex. Confederate President Jefferson Davis reviewed strategy in the tavern across the street with his generals on October 1 and 2, 1861. — Map (db m6259) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Fairfax Hay & Grain Store |
| | Built 1900 Old Town Fairfax This vernacular, commercial building is a typical example of construction at the turn of the century. — Map (db m6286) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Fairfax Herald & Print Shop |
| | Built 1900 Old Town Fairfax The Fairfax Herald was established in 1882 by Capt. S.R. Donohoe, who, in 1904 moved it to this small, one-story frame structure. The Herald remained in operation until 1966. — Map (db m6275) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — B 262 — First Confederate Officer Killed |
| | In the early morning hours of 1 June 1861, a detachment of Co. B, Second Cavalry, entered the Town of Fairfax Court House and engaged the Warrenton Rifles in the first land conflict of organized military units in the Civil War. The skirmish resulted in the death of Capt. John Quincy Marr, who was struck by a stray bullet, the first Confederate officer killed in the Civil War. Marr's body was found at daybreak near this location. — Map (db m21451) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Ford Building |
| | Built c.1835 Old Town Fairfax This was the home of Antonia Ford, imprisoned as a spy following Ranger Mosby's night capture of the local Union commander, Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Stoughton, March 9, 1863. A search of the house had revealed an honorary aide-de-camp commission to Antonia from Gen. Jeb Stuart. — Map (db m6366) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Historic Blenheim |
| | A family farm, a Civil War encampment site, and a country home, Historic Blenheim now welcomes visitors to explore its landscape and many stories. Over 200 years ago, family patriarch Rezin Willcoxon moved here from Prince Georges County, Maryland. By the Civil War, his extended family owned most of the acreage along today’s Old Lee Highway. A labor force, including a small number of African-American slaves, aided the family’s growing prosperity. During the Civil War, Union soldiers camped . . . — Map (db m24662) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Historic Fairfax Elementary School |
| | Built 1873 Old Town Fairfax This is the oldest, two-story, brick public school house in Fairfax County. Bricks were made from a clay pit on the Farr property across Main St. The original portion of this structure, the rear, was build for then considered exorbitant cost of $2,750. The front was added in 1912. — Map (db m6303) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Joshua Gunnell House |
| | Built c.1830 Old Town Fairfax The first skirmish of the Civil War occurred on Main Street June 1, 1861. Ex-Governor, "Extra Billy" Smith, a civilian, ran from this house to take charge of the Warrenton Rifles. Their commanding officer, Capt. John Quincy Marr, had been killed, the first Confederate officer killed during the Civil War in a military engagement between opposing forces. — Map (db m6258) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Monument to John Q. Marr |
| | This stone marks the scene of the opening conflict of the war of 1861–1865, when John Q. Marr, Captain of the Warrenton Rifles, who was the first soldier killed in action, fell 800 ft. S. 46 W. Mag. of this spot, June 1st, 1861. — Map (db m620) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Moore House |
| | Built c.1840 Old Town Fairfax During his March 1863 raid, Ranger John S. Mosby searched here, with no success, for the Union mercenary Col. Percy Wyndham who had called Mosby a horse thief. Mosby had replied that the only horses he had every stolen had Union troopers on their backs armed with two pistols and a saber. — Map (db m6260) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Mosby |
| | Here on the night of March 8th, 1863, Col. John Singleton Mosby with 29 Confederate soldiers penetrated the Union lines of 3000 men and captured in the brick dwelling north of this spot Brig. General Edwin H. Stoughton, U.S.A., with 100 prisoners and horses. — Map (db m6246) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — B 26 — Mosby’s Midnight Raid |
| | Col. John Singleton Mosby formed the 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry “to weaken the armies invading Virginia by harassing their rear.” Near midnight on 8 March 1863, he led his horsemen undetected through Union lines to disrupt communications between Dranesville and Alexandria. Without losing a man or firing a shot, Mosby and his Rangers rode into and out of the garrisoned village of Fairfax Court House and captured Union Brig. General Stoughton in his bed, as well as two captains, . . . — Map (db m5086) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Nickell's Hardware |
| | Built 1895 Old Town Fairfax An example of venacular commercial architecture, a popular construction type at the turn of the century. — Map (db m6278) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Old Baptismal Area |
| | Local residents recall the period through the 1930s when Mount Calvary Baptist Church regularly conducted baptismal services in the Accotink Branch, in the pool formed at its confluence with the Tussico. White-robed candidates were immersed by the church clergy as they were baptized into the Christian community. Mount Calvary Baptist Church, founded 1870, is believed to be the first African-American church in the city of Fairfax. — Map (db m5593) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Old Fairfax High School |
| | This building opened in 1935 as the first 4-year "Fairfax High School," becoming the largest consolidated high school in the county as the Oakton and Clifton High Schools were closed. It closed in 1972 when the new school opened on Old Lee Highway. Serving briefly as the north campus of George Mason University, it became Paul VI Catholic High School in 1982. Fairfax High School began in 1911 in the 1873 elementary school building as a 1-year school, expanded in 1913 to a 2-year school and . . . — Map (db m7099) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Old Fairfax Jail |
| | Built in late 19th Century Old Town Fairfax The original “gaol” (1802) burned down in 1884. The Alexandria jail was used until this building was completed. The last jailer, Mr. William F. Lowe, and his family lived in the front quarters of this building until 1954. The structure is of the Italianate architecture. — Map (db m6256) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Old Town Hall |
| | Built 1900 Old Town Fairfax Joseph E. Willard, who served as lieutenant governor of Virginia and minister to Spain, built Old Town Hall and gave it to the town in 1900. He was said to have been the most influential political figure in Fairfax County at the turn of the century. He was the only child of Confederate spy, Antonia Ford and Joseph C. Willard, a Union major, co-owner of the famed hotel in Washington, D.C. — Map (db m6361) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Peyton Anderson |
| | Payton Anderson of the Rappahannock Cavalry was severely wounded on picket duty 122 ft. N.W. of this spot May 27, 1861.
The first soldier of the South to shed his blood for the Confederacy. — Map (db m1020) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Ralston's Store |
| | Built 1895 Old Town Fairfax This vernacular, commercial building is a typical example of construction at the turn of the century. — Map (db m6295) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Ratcliffe-Allison House (Earp’s) |
| | Built 1812 Old Town Fairfax This is the oldest house in the City of Fairfax and the first city-owned building to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places (1973). The oldest section of the house, the eastern portion, was built by Richard Ratcliffe around 1812 to the specifications of the original lot sales in the Town of Providence. — Map (db m6261) |
| Virginia, Fairfax — Richard Ratcliffe's Mount Vinyard Plantation |
| | On the knoll 70 yards NE of this marker, stood the home of Richard Ratcliffe (1751-1825). The mansion was on his 600-acre "Mount Vineyard," part of a 1714 land grant of 1,930 acres to George Mason II. In 1798 Ratcliffe donated 4 acres to the east of Mount Vineyard for the Fairfax County Courthouse, built in 1800. Ratcliffe petitioned the Virginia Assembly to establish a town on adjacent property and on January 14, 1805 this town was chartered as "Providence," becoming the City of Fairfax in 1961. — Map (db m7096) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — Battle of Chantilly - Ox Hill |
| | On September 1, 1862, Confederate forces under the command of Major General Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson moved across and to the southwestern edge of this site to engage Union forces determined to prevent a glancing movement on demoralized Union troops fleeing the field at Second Manassas. The ensuing battle raged on for a little less than three hours terminating in ferocious hand-to-hand combat in a violent late afternoon thunderstorm. Tactically the battle ended in a stalemate leaving . . . — Map (db m110) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — B 13 — Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly) |
| | Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's wing of the Army of Northern Virginia reached here 1 Sept. 1862. Jackson's march from the battlefield of Second Manassas turned the position of Maj. Gen. John Pope's army at Centreville and threatened the Union line of retreat near Fairfax Court House. Here at Ox Hill, the Confederates encountered Federal troops of the IX and III Corps and a fierce battle was fought amid storm and darkness. Union generals Isaac Stevens and Philip Kearny were killed. . . . — Map (db m115) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — E 98 — Fairfax Nike Missile Site |
| | During the Cold War a ring of Nike anti-aircraft missile sites defended the nation’s capital, reminiscent of the perimeter of forts that protected it during the Civil War. Just east of here was located the launch control equipment for one of the three Nike complexes in Fairfax County. To the west stood the missiles, poised on above-ground launchers. The U.S. Army (1954–1959) and the Army National Guard (1959–1963) operated this battery. Built to oppose Soviet air attack, this . . . — Map (db m2093) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — Manassas Gap Railroad Independent Line |
| | The Independent Line of the Manassas Gap Railroad ran through this area. Conceived to extend the Manassas Gap Railroad to Alexandria, grading on this part of the line began in September 1854. Financial problems stopped the work in May 1857. In various places the roadbed provided shelter from attack and a route for troop movements during the Civil War. The Manassas Gap Railroad merged with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in 1867. Track was never laid along the Independent Line. — Map (db m528) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — B 29 — Maryland (Antietam / Sharpsburg) Campaign |
| | Following the Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly) on 1 Sept. 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee pondered his options and strategy. Encouraged by Confederate victories and Federal disorganization, Lee acted quickly to continue the offensive. On 3 Sept., Lee's Army of Northern Virginia marched north towards Leesburg, from where it could cross into Maryland, flank the Washington fortifications, and draw the Union army out of Virginia. The troops of Maj. Gens. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and James Longstreet . . . — Map (db m111) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — Pozer Garden |
| | Old Town Fairfax
Pozer Garden honors Kitty Barrett Pozer, who owned the adjacent historic Ratcliffe-Allison House from 1927 until she bequeathed it to the City at her death in 1981. Mrs. Pozer had a lifelong interest in horticulture and was the Washington Post's gardening columnist for many years. — Map (db m9095) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — Reid-Ballard House — Once a Prominent Landmark — Ox Hill (Chantilly) Battlefield |
| | The historic Reid-Ballard House once stood 140 yards west-northwest of this marker. The original log structure was built by Joseph Reid before the Revolution on land inherited by his wife, Barbara Walker Reid. The house and land passed to succeeding generations of Reids and upon his death in 1860, Col. John Reid willed the house, 143 acres and two slaves, Daniel and Harriet, to his granddaughter, Mary Lillie Reid Thrift.
On September 1, 1862, during the Second Manassas Campaign, the Reid . . . — Map (db m3216) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — The Death of Generals Stevens and Kearny — Second Manassas Campaign |
| | The Battle of Ox Hill (or Chantilly) was fought here, in rain and storm, on September 1, 1862. It was a bloody aftermath following the Second Battle of Manassas (August 28-30) where the Union Army under Gen. John Pope was defeated and driven across Bull Run by the Confederate forces of Robert E. Lee. Pope retreated to Centreville seven miles west of here. To turn Pope's position, Lee sent Stonewall Jackson moving around Pope via the Little River Turnpike (Route 50) in order to cut the Union . . . — Map (db m116) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — The Attack and Death of General Stevens |
| | Acting to protect Pope’s line of retreat along the Warrenton Turnpike, Brigadier General Isaac Stevens, commanding the 1st Division, IX Corps, seized the initiative and ordered an attack. With storm clouds threatening and artillery fire booming overhead, Steven’s infantry moved briskly in three lines across the Reid lane and up the slope toward the woods. As Stevens’ first line came within 200 yards of the woods, Captain Lusk of the 79th New York “Highlanders” shouted, There is no . . . — Map (db m15160) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — The Battle of “Chantilly” (Ox Hill) — Then & Now |
| | This early 20th-century photograph of the “Chantilly” battlefield was published by Fairfax County in 1907. The photo was taken from a vantage point a short distance ahead and to the right, beyond the park. It shows the pasture of the old Reid farm, at that time virtually unchanged since the day of the battle. The view today is unrecognizable. The attack by General Isaac Stevens’ 1st Division, IX Corps came north across this pasture (toward you). In the foreground, the Union . . . — Map (db m15162) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — Attack of General Birney’s Brigade |
| | A courier with an urgent request galloped up to 1st Division, III Corps commander Major General Philip Kearny on the Warrenton Turnpike. General Stevens’ division had intercepted Stonewall Jackson’s column on the Little River Turnpike and was in desperate need of support. “By God, I’ll support Stevens anywhere!” exclaimed Kearny. He ordered General David Birney’s brigade to hasten forward. General John Robinson’s and Colonel Orlando Poe’s brigades were directed to follow. . . . — Map (db m15163) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — The Death of General Kearny |
| | As a rainy darkness enveloped the battlefield, Major General Philip Kearny rode eastward to investigate the reported gap in the Union line. Reigning up in the pasture, Kearny became alarmed that Stevens’ division had abandoned that part of the field after being repulsed. Finding remnants of the 21st Massachusetts, Kearny immediately ordered them into the cornfield to protect Birney’s flank. They protested that their ammunition was wet and the cornfield was full of rebels. Kearny vehemently . . . — Map (db m15165) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — Boulders and Quartz Stone — The Spot Where General Stevens Fell |
| | The boulders and quartz stone beside this fence mark the location where Union General Isaac Stevens fell with the flag of the 79th New York “Highlanders” during the initial Union assault. Here, Stevens’ troops threw down the fence and drove Hay’s Louisiana brigade back through the woods. In 1883, Hazard Stevens, the general’s son and adjutant, and Charles Walcott of the 21st Massachusetts, returned to this field and identified the places where generals Stevens and Kearny were . . . — Map (db m15168) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — Kearny and Stevens Monuments |
| | In July 1915, John and Mary Ballard deeded a 50x100-foot lot on their farm to six trustees, three from Virginia and three from New Jersey, General Kearny’s home state. The small lot was reserved for monuments to any Confederate or Federal soldier who fell in the Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly). Subsequently, these monuments to generals Isaac Stevens and Philip Kearny were dedicated on October 2, 1915. Captain Hazard Stevens, John Watts Kearny, Lieutenant John N. Ballard and Colonel Edmund . . . — Map (db m15170) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — Kearny's Stump and the Monument Lot |
| | The history of this small granite monument, marked simply “Kearny’s Stump,” is a mystery. According to tradition, a tree stood here at the time of the Ox Hill battle that subsequently became known as the “Kearny Tree.” It was said to be either the place where General Kearny was killed, or where his body lay after the battle ended. Both of these scenarios are doubtful. Kearny was definitely killed in the cornfield west of here. The Confederates recovered his body and . . . — Map (db m15172) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — General Reno's Probe East of Ox Road |
| | While General Stevens’ division attacked the Confederates on this side of Ox Road, part of General Jesse Reno’s division entered the woods east of the road to protect Stevens’ flank and probe the Confederate line. Reno’s two leading regiments received vague orders to “find the enemy.” Just before 5 p.m., the 21st Massachusetts stumbled through the darkened woods, their line of battle broken by fallen trees and underbrush. As the thunderstorm erupted, the regiment halted to reform . . . — Map (db m15180) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill — Aftermath: The Invasion of Maryland |
| | The clash at Ox Hill ended the Second Manassas Campaign. A small force of 6,000 Union soldiers had battled to a stalemate a much larger Confederate force of 17,000 of whom about 10,000 were engaged. In little more than two hours, the Confederates lost 516 men killed, wounded and missing. Union forces lost at least 1,000 casualties and withdrew during the night to Jermantown and Fairfax Court House, leaving behind nearly 250 severely wounded. The next day Pope’s army escaped to the safety of . . . — Map (db m15184) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill |
| | (Kiosk Panel): Ox Hill Battlefield Park & Interpretive Trail This small park is the last remnant of Fairfax County’s only major Civil War battlefield. The Battle of Ox Hill, also known as the “Battle of Chantilly,” lasted but a few hours on the afternoon of September 1, 1862. Here, some 6,000 Union troops encountered and attacked about 17,000 Confederates of General Stonewall Jackson. It was a “beastly, comfortless conflict” fought during a ferocious . . . — Map (db m15599) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill |
| | (Kiosk Panel): Sequel to Second Manassas The Battle of Ox Hill, September 1, 1862 The Confederate victory at Second Manassas (August 28-30, 1862) forced Union General John Pope’s Army of Virginia to retreat to the heights of Centreville. To dislodge Pope from his strong Centreville positions, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, ordered General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s 17,000 troops on a flank march to cut off Pope’s army . . . — Map (db m15618) |
| Virginia (Fairfax County), Fairfax — The Battle of Ox Hill |
| | (Kiosk Panel): Wounds Suffered at Ox Hill (Chantilly) September 1, 1862 Union Soldiers 4th Maine, 2nd Brigade (Birney), Kearny’s Division: Pvt. Lorenzo E. Dickey, Co. A, Age 21: At Chantilly, received gunshot would in right thigh. Taken to a field hospital “in the vicinity of the battleground” where the leg was amputated at the upper third, four days after the battle. Arrived at Douglas Hospital, D.C. Sept. 8. On Oct. 16, twenty ounces of blood lost in . . . — Map (db m15620) |
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