History buffs on Saturday opened a new museum in the Historic Centreville Park, the first such facility in the community’s historic district that dates back to pre-revolutionary Virginia. The launch of the Stuart-Mosby Civil War Cavalry Museum was timed to coincide with Centreville Day, the one-day festival that celebrates the community’s rich historical tapestry back to when it was known as a humble crossroads town. The museum display artifacts connected to Confederate stalwarts Gen. James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (who first distinguished himself at the battle of First Manassas in July 1861…

On Oct. 21, 1861, Leesburg became the site of the second-largest battle of the first year of the Civil War. The Battle of Ball’s Bluff, one of a string of Union defeats, destroyed the career of Gen. Charles Pomeroy Stone and resulted in the death of Col. Edward Dickinson Baker, who is the only sitting U.S. Senator ever to be killed in battle.Baker’s death probably shouldn’t have happened.  “It was an accident,” said James A. Morgan III, author of "A Little Short of Boats: The Civil War Battles of Ball's Bluff and Edwards Ferry, October 21 - 22,1861," during a recent conversation. “You had a …

Paul Gilbert is the executive director of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. He is also an historian and an expert on leadership who serves as an adjunct professor at George Mason University and on the Board of Regents at the School for Revenue Development and Management at Oglebay. His new book “Lead Like A General” uses examples from the Civil War to illustrate modern leadership principles that can be applied to any endeavor in life. Patch contributor Mike Conway spoke with him about the book. Here are highlights from the conversation:   What was your purpose in writing this …

Zipping along Route 50 west toward the mountains, it is incredibly easy to miss Mt. Zion Church. It’s tucked semi-hidden in the Southeast corner of the Watson Road roundabout, the first of several roundabouts you’ll hit in the vicinity of Route 15. It’s marked and easy enough to find if you’re looking for it, but very easy to miss altogether if you’re unaware of its significance. The large, slightly menacing brick building, built to house a breakaway Baptist contingent eager to establish a church based on absolute Calvinist principles of predestination, according to the Mount Zion Church …

Despite the almost 100 degrees temperature and humidity, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, not far from the original site, at Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville. To commemorate the battle, NVRPA featured a 21 gun salute to those killed or wounded in the battle, along with a living history camp, comments from Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova, and historian Mark Trbovich. There was also a dedication of the recently constructed winter quarters and a camp life exhibit built at Bull Run …

Most people have never heard of the Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, even though it occurred in Centreville, was fought before the Battle of First Manassas and came close to being the first land battle of the Civil War. Although the battle of of July 18,1861, resulted in only 160 casualties and was downgraded to a skirmish, it remains significant as a precursor to the Battle of First Manassas. Of those who have, plenty have asked, What would have happened if the Battle of Blackburn’s Ford had never occurred? Could it have changed the course of history for the Battle of First Manassas? The question…

A series of Civil War commemorative events will be held just miles from Centreville on July 21-24, presenting the varied perspectives of Federal and Confederate soldiers, civilians, slaves, and freed African Americans.  The diverse offerings include: lectures, concerts, film, living history displays, cavalry and cannon demonstrations, encampments and period music.The highlight of the 150th Anniversary Commemoration will be the definitive reenactment of the first major land battle of the American Civil War at Pageland Farm adjacent to Manassas National Battlefield Park on Saturday, July 23 and…

On the morning of July 16, 1861, a reluctant General Irwin McDowell set out from Washington towards Manassas, arriving in Centreville on the 17th. He arrived in the Fairfax area on the 17th, then dispatched a division under General Daniel Tyler on the 18th, with orders to "observe well the roads to Bull Run and to Warrenton,” according to National Park Service literature. The idea was to create the impression the Union had designs on Manassas. “The defense line [the Confederates] had chosen was Bull Run, because of its natural defensive characteristics," said Margo Khosravi, chair of the …

On July 2nd, 1861 a small battle – The Battle of Falling Waters -- took place near Martinsburg.  Union General Robert Patterson crossed the Potomac with 3,500 men in the hopes of pinning Confederate General Joseph Johnson down.  Johnson sent about 380 men north to greet Patterson, and while the Union forces eventually won the skirmish and forced the Confederates to retreat, it slowed them down considerably. The idea was “to launch a two-pronged attack,” according to Civil War historian Rick Britton.  “Patterson was to keep Johnson from reinforcing General P. G. T. Beauregard at Bull Run.” …

On April 18, 1863, U.S. Cavalry officer William McDowell ended the day with an entry in his diary. "Went out foraging stealing grain. Rebs had lots of wheat stored away. Got 15 bushels for 20 of us," wrote McDowell. "I can not stand foraging, too much humanity about me, I can not have cheek enough to see old men, women and children cry, while soldiers rob and plunder their last sack of grain." McDowell’s diaries, photographs and letters were just a few of the items scanned at the Fairfax Regional Library on Friday as part of Virginia’s Civil War 150 Legacy Project. Archivists from the Library…

During the Civil War, Captain John Singleton Mosby and his expanding group of men created a nightmare for Union soldiers in Northern Virginia. By drawing support from the local population, he was able to conduct raids behind enemy lines and tie up Union forces that might otherwise have engaged General Robert E. Lee elsewhere. His legendary success is discussed in military circles to this day. Local historians Chuck V. Mauro (an occasional Herndon Patch contributor), Don Hakenson and Steve Sherman recently completed a 90-minute documentary, Mosby's Combat Operations in Fairfax County, Virginia…

On Thursday, Centreville residents can learn about the first major land battle of the American Civil War.  150 years ago, Robert E. Lee needed to consolidate forces to defend the major avenues to Richmond, according to Britton. One of those avenues was the Virginia Peninsula, between the York and James rivers near Newport News. The Union had a stronghold at Fortress Monroe, a huge masonry fort at the tip of the peninsula, and had begun to spread outward. The Confederates wanted to drive them back.  On June 10, 1861, the two groups collided. This was before the battle of First Manassas.  “…

The Ancient Order of Hibernians Father Corby Division, along with the Fairfax County Park Authority, conducted a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate The Battle of Chantilly (Ox Hill).  The tribute took place in front of the two Kearny and Stevens monuments located at the battlefield.  Kearny and Stevens were two Union commanders who died during the battle. The program consisted of the Presentation of Colors by the Fr. William Corby Division Color Guard, wreath-laying by Boy Scouts from St. Leo the Great, featured speaker Floyd Houston, Lt. Col. U.S.M.C (ret.) and Commander VFW Blue & Gray …

One hundred and fifty years ago today—May 23, 1861—Fairfax County overwhelmingly voted to ratify an ordinance "to repeal the ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, and to resume all the rights and powers granted under said Constitution."  While a few of the precincts in the county did reject the ordinance, Centreville unanimously approved it, voting 105-0 to secede. The county as a whole approved the ordinance by a vote of 945-249. After that day, Virginia would no longer consider itself a part of the Union. According to local historian Claudette Ward, the vote was …

Kurt eyed me warily. An avid Civil War relic hunter, he wasn't, at first, too keen to show me the remaining rail bed of the Centreville Military Railroad, lest I pull out some space-age metal detector and claim all the booty he'd failed to find over the years, but when I explained I was simply a reporter, his tone quickly changed.  "You're standing in it," he informed me, which I appreciated, as it shortened my search. The Centreville Military Railroad had the distinction of being the first railroad ever constructed specifically for military use. First put into use in February 1862 and …

Here is a story about Abraham Lincoln, frustrated Commander-in-Chief. Seeing an opportunity in late 1862 to seize the initiative following the horrific fighting at the Battle of Antietam, he traveled out to the Virginia Piedmont to meet with General McClellan. The Union army had somehow managed to find itself closer to Richmond than the Confederates, and Lincoln hoped to take advantage by attacking the Confederate capital. “First he suggested, then he directed and then he ordered McClellan to take a shortcut through Loudoun Valley to Richmond,” Paul Hodge from the Unison Preservation Society …

One hundred and fifty years ago today, shots were fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, beginning a four-year war that split a nation in half.  Centreville was hit hard by the war, due to the clash that would inevitably take place on Manassas National Battlefield.  For a glimpse of what the Centreville area looked like during the Civil War era, click on the slideshow. The information in the captions is from the Library of Congress. If you have historical photos that you would like to share with the community, you can upload digital files to the site directly. Or contact Centreville Patch …

History —sweet, inconsistent history. Virginia, though a bitterly divided state during the Civil War (and a quite literally divided one as West Virginia split off to become its own state) tends to see the conflict through glasses of many different colors. A lot of those colors are shades of rose, for sure, but there is a lot of disagreement over the war's history today that is, essentially, an outgrowth of the disagreements of the time. The only difference is that now, 150 years later, the incredibly brutal, violent, bloody and horrifying conflict can frequently turn up as slightly …

With a tremendous degree of anticipation, I decided recently to set out, Indiana Jones-style, and find a relic from the past. Of course, being limited to Centreville and the surrounding area, I wouldn't find a gold trinket or biblical treasure. Instead, I looked for an archaeological relic—in this particular case a pair of bridge abutments from the Civil War. "You know, you're kind of reinventing the wheel," Jim Burgess, Ranger and Museum Specialist from Manassas National Battlefield Park warned me. "Others have already written about the unfinished railroad." They have, indeed, but with the …