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Upcoming Events: Saturday Morning Special Field Trips Aldie Triangle Program for Loudoun County 4th Graders Mosby Ranger Decendant Reunion Conference on the Art of Command in the Civil War "The 1862 Valley Campaign" Forward to a Friend Become a Member Learn more about Newsletter Archive: January 2008
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The Mosby Heritage Area Association Newsletter From The President
No Longer On Hold in Loudoun County On February 5th of this year, a more recently elected and friendlier BOS reaffirmed the Heritage Plan and instructed its Planning Commissioners to update it and consider adding Civil War battlefield provisions. In July, after four lengthy and intensive meetings, the Commissioners forwarded their recommendations to the BOS, including an important new Civil War battlefield section. You will find all 94 pages of the plan on the County website at http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=574. The Heritage Preservation Plan is designed to bring together a broad cross section of volunteers, experts, preservation organizations, the development community and local government to provide innovative strategies and strong leadership. A plan for all of us to be proud of, it should reap enormous preservation benefits for Loudoun and prove to be a useful model for nearby counties. A Public Hearing was held on December 18 after which the Planning Commission voted to recommend BOS approval and adoption of the Heritage Plan. Continued aggressive citizen support for this plan is an essential ingredient on the road to success. Contact Paul Ziluca at 703-309-1266 or pziluca@aol.com if you would like to become involved in this effort.
A Fireside Mosby to Be Presented January 24th
New MHAA Saturday Morning Adventures Offered
MHAA Calendar of Events Update January 24, 2009 – Cavaliers, Courage and Coffee Program
Virginia's Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War At the state level, a legislative commission, headed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates, Hon. William J. Howell, will oversee signature events, activities, and education. County and city committees are up and running now in Loudoun, Prince William, Fauquier, Clarke, and Warren counties. These committees are guided by goals set forth by the state commission. Programs are to be inclusive of all Virginians, producing meaning from the 1860s for today’s diverse Virginia population. Programs will stress local history education. We hope that the programs will leave our counties with a legacy of interest in local history and a better interpretive infrastructure with more exhibits and markers, more walking and driving trails, and more publications for the future to enjoy. In Loudoun County A Citizen’s Guide to Loudoun and the Civil War, a 28-page booklet providing information on the war in Loudoun, historic sites, personalities, places to go with good programs for students or children, and resources for learning about the Civil War locally, has been completed. This will be distributed to teachers and be available at libraries, community centers, visitor centers, and historic sites. It is expected to be released in the spring of 2009. The committee has also produced a narrative of the war, a chronology, an inventory of the county’s Civil War infrastructure (historic sites open to the public, sites not open, libraries with relevant collections, markers, and businesses overlapping the war by what they purvey or their historic location), and a master plan of Virginia Civil War Trails signs needed. Loudoun’s Sesquicentennial Committee will be working to encourage, coordinate, and brand Civil War Sesquicentennial programming in the county by 0Aits many communities, historic sites, and historical organizations. In future e-newsletters, we will update you on what the other county committees in the region are doing. Dwayne, the photo of the booklet should be used here
A Glimpse of the Civil War Along Route 50 Let’s take a visit to several very special places along Route 50. We will use a few colorful historic markers to highlight four extraordinary personal stories. We start with a short trip on Route 50 to the village of Aldie, where it all began. In the early afternoon of a blistering hot Wednesday on June 17, 1863, a classic fast-moving series of cavalry battles erupted over the next five days with upwards of 17,000 troops from both sides colliding midst the roar of artillery and the mad clash of sabers. As we enter the village from the east and turn left into Aldie Mill, we will find two large and eloquent Civil War Trails historic markers that tell the story of these battles. While on the mill grounds, we might take the tour and learn the story of this enormous relic of early nineteenth century entrepreneurship. Proceed next to the west end of the village, turn north on Snickersville Turnpike and travel about 1 mile to a tight bend in the road, bordered by confining stonewalls and rail fences where Confederate forces sprang a deadly ambush o n the Federal horsemen. At this site, 198 men of the 1st Massachusetts (67% of its strength) were “killed, wounded or captured.” This disaster is commemorated with a beautifully designed stone obelisk and by a historic marker that recounts the details of this deadly fight.
Further west at Atoka, a newly installed historic marker reports that on Sunday morning June 21, 1863, Rebel Gen. Jeb Stuart had moved his cavalry west to this old crossroads from two earlier positions. Here, he detached a rear guard of 200 men under Captain Angus P. Brown of the 1st South Carolina Cavalry while the rest of the Southern troops hurriedly took up a third position at Goose Creek Stone Bridge, just a short distance to the west. Brown’s men skirmished briefly with the advancing Union cavalry before falling back to nearby20high ground. Holding off the Northerners until ordered to retire, Brown and several of his men were wounded “but they did their job,” thus enabling Stuart to establish a strong defense at the Stone Bridge and earning an engraved plaque dedicated to Captain Brown by today’s Atoka residents. Stuart’s troops quickly moved to the steep ridge just west of the Bridge with two batteries of cannon while soon afterwards two Yankee batteries unlimbered on the opposite bluffs. Located off Lemon’s Bottom Road, the Bridge, a magnificent stone structure built in 1801-03 during the first administration of President Thomas Jefferson, was by this time in 1863 a major feature of two busy macadamized turnpikes connecting Shenandoah Valley to the port of Alexandria. At midday, a fierce artillery duel began. It lasted for almost two hours with the Federals finally sending two infantry regiments scrambling down the steep banks of Goose Creek and edging left toward the Confederate flank. Having breasted the strong current of the creek, the Yankee infantrymen fanned out on the floodplain and pushed the Rebel skirmishers back. Aided by the infantry’s flanking attack, a small contingent of dismounted Federal cavalry “led by Nehemiah H. Mann,” bravely dashed across the Bridge (see his picture on the nearby historic marker). At this point, Stuart, with his position becoming increasingly perilous, ordered his forces to withdraw westward to their next defensive stand at Vineyard Hill, immediately east of Upperville. Vineyard Hill commands a magnificent view of the turnpike, the nearby fields and stonewalls and is nicely pictured on a historic marker strategically placed on its crest. The fighting around this high ground soon became desperate and hand-to-hand. Finally, consistent with his orders to conserve his forces, Stuart gave the command to retire to the west. The last of these battles came to a bloody end as described by a final historic marker at the intersection of Trappe Road and Route 50 at Upperville’s west end. It was here that we have one more glimpse of the tragic irony of war. In the closing minutes of the hurried retreat of the Southern horsemen westward to safety at the top of the Blue Ridge, Col. Peter Evans, who commanded the 5th North Carolina Cavalry, ordered a final charge and spurred his horse forward toward the Northerners swarming through this intersection. Unfortunately, due to the loud noises of battle, Evans did not hear his superior countermanding the order. With only a handful of his men charging with him, he quickly went down mortally wounded. Years later, a Union officer, reflecting on this bloody day, aptly remarked, “Thus passes a Sunday in war.” Bring the family. See for yourself!
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Audio Tours Then you need to get a copy of our Civil War audio driving tours! “Prelude to Gettysburg” Descriptions of Audio Tours: Historical Events of the Mosby 43rd Virginia Battalion, Part I: 1863-1865 from Truro Church, Fairfax to Atoka Historical Events of the Mosby 43rd Virginia Battalion: Part II In the Wake of Antietam TO ORDER: Because this is a special order, you need to use the ORDER FORM on our website (found on the Store Page) to pay by check or credit card. Items cannot be ordered through PayPal. Mark out the original price listed on our order form and write in the special sale price.
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