| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — A Civil War Redoubt — The Manassas Museum System |
| | This 11-acre historic park, part of the Manassas Museum System, contains one of only two surviving Civil War fortifications in the City of Manassas. The earthwork was built by Confederate troops in the Spring of 1861 as part of the Manassas Junction defenses, on the Hooe family farm, Mayfield. The historic site contains the Mayfield house foundation and the Hooe family cemetery, as well as walking trails, interpretive markers, and reproduction cannon. Please proceed along the marked trails . . . — Map (db m2366) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — Fortifying the Junction — The Manassas Museum System |
| | Following Virginia’s decision to secede from the Union in in April 1861, Southern troops began arriving here at the small village of Tudor Hall, which soon came to be known as Manassas Junction. This place, where the Orange & Alexandria and Manassas Gap railroads intersected, was quickly transformed from a quite farming community into a military stronghold. Some 20,000 new recruits poured in from across Virginia and other Southern states. Confederate leaders recognized the importance of . . . — Map (db m2369) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — Monster Manassas - How Strong a Stronghold? — The Manassas Museum System |
| | The Mayfield earthwork, known in military engineering terms as a redoubt, was a circle of raised earth some 200 feet in diameter. It may have included a retaining wall of timbers and brush, and planks to support artillery. While capable of self-defense, a redoubt was designed to provide overlapping fields of fire with other earthworks. Contemporary opinions on the strength of the Manassas defenses varied considerably. Some authors of the day spoke of the strength of the fortifications: . . . — Map (db m2396) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — Firepower — The Manassas Museum System |
| | Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, commander of the troops defending Manassas, had been one of the pre-war U.S. Army's outstanding artillerists. Fearing an imminent Union attack, he worked feverishly to obtain cannons for the fortifications and experienced crews to man them. Most of the available guns were horse-drawn field pieces capable of firing canister (cases of small iron balls) or solid shot in weights of 10 or 20 pounds. The reproduction Model 1857 “Napoleon” cannon at right was . . . — Map (db m2405) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — Quaker Guns — The Manassas Museum System |
| | Some of the Confederate cannons placed at Manassas and nearby Centreville were for show only. These non-functioning cannon were intended to deceive Union soldiers who might turn their telescopes on the earthworks: “This was nothing other than huge mock guns of wood—‘Quaker guns’ as they have come to be called....Some of these Quaker guns are mere logs with the bark on, just as they come from the tree. Others have the end pointing outward, colored black. Others again are fashioned . . . — Map (db m2408) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — Manning the Fort — The Manassas Museum System |
| | The life of Civil War soldiers in camp was one of boredom, fear, mischief, disease and even death. Thousands of young men, many of whom had never before left their family farms or urban neighborhoods, were crowded into the makeshift camps. Disease could run rampant, and sanitary conditions were often inadequate. Most men lived in tents year-round, though the Confederates built crude wooden huts during the winder of 1861-1862. Much of the soldier's day was spent learning military drill. They . . . — Map (db m2409) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — The Changing Fortunes of War — The Manassas Museum System |
| | After the First Battle of Manassas on June 21, 1861, Confederate forces continued to hold Manassas Junction until March 1862. They evacuated Manassas and moved south in order to counter Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s plans to attack Richmond. During this period, Union forces occupied the abandoned Confederate earthworks. Manassas Junction became an important supply base for the Federals. On August 26, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s troops briefly . . . — Map (db m2370) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — The People and the Land — The Manassas Museum System |
| | American Indians lived on the land long before white settlers and slaves came to this area. Living in nomadic hunter-gatherer groups, people called the Dogues and the Mannahoacs roamed the Northern Virginia Piedmont region. Archaeological evidence dates human activity on this site to at least 6,000 years ago. As European settlement advanced westward from the Tidewater region, the native peoples withdrew. In 1740 Patrick Hamrick patented his tract of land, which became known as Mayfield. The . . . — Map (db m2386) |
| Virginia, Manassas — Mayfield Civil War Fort — Unearthing the Past — The Manassas Museum System |
| | Archeology is the detective work of history. Evidence recovered from the soil often provides valuable clues for learning how people lived, worked, and died, especially when documentary sources are scarce. Excavations were conducted at the Hooe House site by the Archeology Society of Virginia (ASV) in 1984-85. The fort site was excavated during a nine-month period in 1987 by Thunderbird Archeological Associates. Additional fieldwork, including a cross-section of the earthwork wall, was carried . . . — Map (db m2393) |
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