Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Confederate Earthworks
Guarding the Potomac River Frontier
Photographed By Brandon Stahl
1. Confederate Earthworks Marker
Inscription.
Confederate Earthworks. Guarding the Potomac River Frontier. Across the ground in front of you are the remains of Confederate infantry earthworks most likely built after the Battle of Ball’s Bluff on October 21, 1861. At this time, Leesburg was on the front lines of the American Civil War and an outpost on the Potomac River frontier. The river was, for the Confederates, an international boundary between two nations at war. Leesburg was an important point to defend on that line., After Ball’s Bluff, the Confederates under Gen. D.H. Hill continued work on several preexisting forts to discourage another Federal attack from Maryland. They included Fort Evans (which stands today on private property to your right just beyond the shopping complex), Fort Johnson on Catoctin Ridge immediately west of Leesburg, and Fort Beauregard on a ridge overlooking Tuscarora southeast of town. Additional outer works, such as the one here, augmented the forts and sheltered the troops guarding Leesburg., Although records for this work are lacking, it is located on a spur extending 600 yards from Fort Evans to protect the approach to the fort from the southeast. Surveys conducted early in the 21st century located at least twelve platforms where soldiers’ huts may have stood., Early in March 1862, the Confederates withdrew from Leesburg, and Union Col. John Geary’s 28th Pennsylvania Infantry occupied the town and the fortifications. The earthworks around Leesburg soon fell into disuse and deterioration. Much of Fort Evans, however, as well as traces of Fort Johnson and other works along Edwards Ferry Road such as this one, have survived.
Across the ground in front of you are the remains of Confederate infantry earthworks most likely built after the Battle of Ball’s Bluff on October 21, 1861. At this time, Leesburg was on the front lines of the American Civil War and an outpost on the Potomac River frontier. The river was, for the Confederates, an international boundary between two nations at war. Leesburg was an important point to defend on that line.
After Ball’s Bluff, the Confederates under Gen. D.H. Hill continued work on several preexisting forts to discourage another Federal attack from Maryland. They included Fort Evans (which stands today on private property to your right just beyond the shopping complex), Fort Johnson on Catoctin Ridge immediately west of Leesburg, and Fort Beauregard on a ridge overlooking Tuscarora southeast of town. Additional outer works, such as the one here, augmented the forts and sheltered the troops guarding Leesburg.
Although records for this work are lacking, it is located on a spur extending 600 yards from Fort Evans to protect the approach to the fort from the southeast. Surveys conducted early in the 21st century located at least twelve platforms where soldiers’ huts may have stood.
Early in March 1862, the Confederates withdrew from Leesburg, and Union Col. John Geary’s 28th Pennsylvania Infantry
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occupied the town and the fortifications. The earthworks around Leesburg soon fell into disuse and deterioration. Much of Fort Evans, however, as well as traces of Fort Johnson and other works along Edwards Ferry Road such as this one, have survived.
Location. 39° 6.365′ N, 77° 31.625′ W. Marker is in Leesburg, Virginia, in Loudoun County. Marker can be reached from Fort Evans Road NE (Virginia Route 773) 0.1 miles west of Battlefield Parkway, on the right when traveling west. The marker is outside Pho Royal in the in the Fort Evans II shopping center. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 542 Fort Evans Rd NE, Leesburg VA 20176, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . Defenses of Leesburg. (Submitted on May 25, 2017, by Brandon Stahl of Fairfax, Virginia.)
Library of Congress
3. African Americans constructing military stockade and ditch
The elaborate nature of fortifications required much labor. As occurred many times during the war, the Confederate government requisitioned slave labor and impressed free blacks to assist soldiers in building earthworks here in Loudoun County. One such freedman, James Fields, later recalled, “When the rebs put up forts at Leesburg, they took me and made me work on the breastworks. … I stayed there 31 days – they paid me $6.00 in script for working.
Library of Congress
4. Confederate earthworks and soldiers' huts
Photographed By Brandon Stahl
5. Confederate Earthworks
Photographed By Brandon Stahl
6. Confederate Earthworks
Photographed By Andrew Joseph Russell
7. Building stockade, Alexandria, Va.
Library of Congress (LC-DIG-ppmsca-34822)
Credits. This page was last revised on June 5, 2022. It was originally submitted on May 25, 2017, by Brandon Stahl of Fairfax, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,072 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on May 25, 2017, by Brandon Stahl of Fairfax, Virginia. 7. submitted on November 10, 2021. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.