Loudoun County in the American Civil War
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Loudoun County in the Civil War - Loudoun County, Virginia was destined to be an area of great military activity during the American Civil War. Located on Virginia's northern border, the Potomac River, Loudoun became a borderland upon Virginia's succession from the Union in 1861. Loudoun's numerous fords, ferries and bridges across the river made it an ideal location for the two armies to cross in and out of Virginia. Likewise the county contains several gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains through which key roads lead to Winchester. The fertile Loudoun Valley with its wealth of produce and livestock was of vital importance to the Confederacy and ideal for forage of an invading army. Furthermore, Loudoun's population was deeply divided over secession, and tensions and hostilities against one-time neighbors added to the death and destruction wrought upon Loudoun during the war. It has been said that no county in Virginia which did not witness a decisive battle suffered more than Loudoun.
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[edit] Geography
The geography of Loudoun did more to shape the nature of Loudoun's involvement in the war than any other single factor. Loudoun sits at the northern frontier of Virginia along the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county is bounded to the north by the Potomac River and Maryland, to the west by the Blue Ridge and Clarke and Frederick counties as well as Jefferson County, which became part of West Virginia during the war, to the south by Fauquier and Prince William counties and to the east by Fairfax County.
Within the county at the time of the war there were three bridges, three ferries and at least three fords across the Potomac into Maryland. Two ridges of the Blue Ridge Mountains run through the county, in addition to the main ridge making up its western border. The easternmost ridge is the south end of Catoctin Mountain which comes down out of Maryland at Point of Rocks. The low-lying ridge extends through the county just west of Leesburg to Aldie, where it meets with Bull Run Mountain at the Loudoun-Prince William County border. Though by today's standards the 500-800 ft ridge is unimposing, it comprised a formidable barrier to east-west movement across the county in the 1860s. The only major crossings of the ridge were the Winchester Turnpike (present day Rt 7) at Clarks Gap west of Leesburg and the Little River Turnpike (present day Rt 50) at the Aldie Gap. To the west of the ridge lay the Loudoun Valley.
The northern portion of the Loudoun Valley is similarly bisected by Short Hill Mountain, which extends from the Potomac to just south of Hillsboro. The Charlestown pike (present day Rt 9) ran through the gap in the Short Hill at Hillsboro into Jefferson County, while the Winchester Turnpike ran to the south of the mountain. Despite its name, Short Hill Mountain is an imposing feature even today and kept the area to its west, known as Between the Hills, isolated from the rest of the county. Along Loudoun's western border only three gaps allowed access through the Blue Ridge: Keys Gap, through which the Charlestown Pike traveled, Snickers Gap through which the Winchester Turnpike traveled and, just south of Loudoun in Fauquier County, Ashbys Gap through which the Ashby's Gap Turnpike traveled. One could also skirt the ridge by traveling up through Between the Hills to Harpers Ferry, where the Potomac comes through the mountain. Further hindering westward travel was the Shenandoah River which lay just west of the ridge.
Loudoun's geography would play heavily in its settlement, which in turn would come to determine the loyalties of different regions of the county to the respective government. Through the course of the war Loudoun would be torn apart by bitter partisan conflict because of these opposing loyalties. Loudoun's geography would also dictate how armies traveled through the area. The numerous river crossings were an ideal place for an army to cross in and out of Virginia, and the mountains provided a screen against the movements of opposing armies.
[edit] Slavery and settlement
The settlement of Loudoun occurred through two distinct patterns. First, Quaker and German settlers moved down from Pennsylvania and into the northern Loudoun Valley, establishing small farming operations in and around the areas of Lovettsville and Waterford. The small, self-sufficient nature of the farms they established, as well as their religious convictions, precluded the use of slaves in these areas. Slightly later, descendants of tidewater planters moved into the eastern and southern parts of the county, settling the areas east of Catoctin Mountain and the southern Loudoun Valley. These settlers brought with them the plantation-style agriculture of the tidewater, establishing large slave-operated plantations such as Oatlands and Cotton. The 1860 census 670 slave owners holding 5,501 slaves in the county.
[edit] Secession
Prior to the developing divide between North and South in the 1850's, Loudoun County politics was firmly Whig in nature. Despite the party's collapse in the 1850's, Loudoun remained true to its principles and was strongly for the preservation of the Union, even after Abraham Lincoln was elected and assumed the presidency. On February 13, 1861, the Commonwealth of Virginia convened a special convention in Richmond to decide Virginia's course in the rapidly developing conflict. To this convention Loudoun sent John Janney and John A. Carter, to advocate for maintaining the union. Janney, a one-time would be vice presidential candidate being well respected among his peers on the bar was named president of the convention (As president of the convention, it would be he who formally gave Robert E. Lee command of all the forces of the commonwealth). Even as this convention was being held, Loudoun began to sway in its opinion, and prior to Fort Sumter a meeting in Leesburg was held in which a resolution was adopted endorsing an Ordinance of Secession.
Five days after the fall of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops, the convention passed the Ordinance of Secession, subject to special referendum by the people. Janney and Carter voted against the measure. Despite the delegates' representation of the county the Ordinance was ratified in Loudoun on May 23 by a vote of 1,626 to 726. The votes against secession came primarily from the northwestern part of the county, where some precincts voted as much as 7 to 1 against the Ordinance. The southern and eastern portions were strongly in favor of the measure, with some precincts voting unanimously in its favor.
| Precincts | For Secession | Against Sucession |
|---|---|---|
| Aldie | 54 | 5 |
| Goresville | 117 | 19 |
| Gum Spring | 135 | 5 |
| Hillsboro | 84 | 38 |
| Leesburg | 400 | 22 |
| Lovettsville | 46 | 325 |
| Middleburg | 115 | 0 |
| Mt. Gilead | 102 | 19 |
| Powells Shop | 62 | 0 |
| Purcellville | 82 | 31 |
| Snickersville | 114 | 3 |
| Union(Unison) | 150 | 0 |
| Waterford | 31 | 220 |
| Waters | 26 | 39 |
| Whaleys | 108 | 0 |
| Totals | 1626 | 726 |
[edit] 1861
[edit] Preparations for war
As it became clear that Maryland would not leave the Union with Virginia, preparations were made to protect the borderland of Loudoun County. On June 9th, 1861 Col. Thomas Jackson came to Loudoun to oversee these preparations. Under his direction the bridges over the Potomac at Harpers Ferry, Berlin (present day Brunswick) and Point of Rocks were destroyed. It is also rumored that commanded a company of men who rode through Taylorstown, a strongly Unionist village, and that he ordered the burning of the mill and bridge of over Catoctin Creek in that village. In addition, three forts were constructed to protect Leesburg from invasion should an army cross one of the numerous fords in the county. Fort Johnston was built to the northwest of town along the Winchester turnpike atop Catoctin Mountain, Fort Beauregard to the southeast on a small hill, and Fort Evans to the northeast of the road to Edward's Ferry. (The earthworks of Fort Johnston and Fort Evans still remain intact on private property, while Fort Beauregard has been demolished by the construction of a housing development). In addition to the physical preparations, the county militia was called up and absorbed into regular service, and recruiting efforts were held, eventually contributing to the formations of Turner Ashby's 7th Virginia Cavalry, the 6th Virginia Calvary, E.V. White's 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry, John Mosby's 43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry, Montgomery Corse's 17th Virginia Infantry, Eppa Hunton's 8th Virginia Infantry and the Loudoun Artillary divison ofR.W. Stribling's Battery of Artillery of Longstreet's Corps.
Loudoun did not contribute to the formation of the Confederate army only. Despite guards at the river crossings, Union sympathizers made it into Maryland and joined Federal units, including William Maulsby's Potomac Home Brigade and Henry A. Cole's Battalion of Maryland Cavalry. In addition, Union sympathizer Samuel C. Means of Waterford raised the Loudoun Rangers who although serving mainly as partisans during the war, would eventually be absorbed into regular service and earn the distinction of the only organized body from Virginia to enter the Federal Army.
[edit] Ball's Bluff
The first of several conflicts in Loudoun County involving regular units took place on October 21st 1861 on the banks of the Potomac northeast of Leesburg. Known to the Confederates as the Battle of Leesburg, history has recorded the event by the name the Federals gave to it: the Battle of Ball's Bluff. Hoping to drive the Confederates, under Brig. Gen. Nathan Evans, out of Leesburg, Gen. McClellan advised the Union commander at Poolesville, Maryland, Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone, that a small show of force on his part might cause Evans to abandon his position. On the night of the 20th Stone sent of a reconnaisance party across the river into Loudoun to scout the Conferderate's postion and in the dim moonlight, mistook a row of haybails for a Confederate camp. The following day Stone ordered and assualt on the haybail camp. Upon crossing the River the Union soldiers discoverd there error but soon encountered Confederate pickets patrolling the area and a firefight ensued. Both sides began reinforcing their lines, but because for the Union this involved ferrying men across the river they could not do so as effectively as the Confederates, due to a shortage of boats. By the end of the day the Union army was driven back across the river. This small but resounding Confederate victory sent Union bodies floating down the Potomac past the Capital, left Senator and close friend of the President, Edward D. Baker, dead and ruined the career of Stone.
[edit] 1862
[edit] Invasion
Following the debacle at Ball's Bluff, the Union Army began amassing at Harper's Ferry in preparation for operations in the Shenandoah Valley. Part of this force, under the command of Col. John W. Geary, was charged with the undertaking of securing Loudoun County and the Army's left flank from across the Blue Ridge as it operated in the Valley. On February 24th Geary set out across the Potomac from Harpers Ferry, but high water delayed his crossing and it was not until the 27th that his force was fully across into Loudoun. The next day his force occupied Lovettsville, a German settlement in the heart of unionist Loudoun, where he established his headquarters. On March 6th, Brigadier General D.H. Hill, who had assumed control of Confederate forces in Loudoun from Brigadier General "Shanks" Evans shortly after Ball's Bluff, was ordered to abandon Loudoun in order to join with Joseph E. Johnston in Richmond to halt McClellan's drive up the peninsula. The following day Geary's force left its camp at Lovettsville, brushing aside the small rearguard left by Hill to protect his withdrawal. By the end of the day Union forces occupied Leesburg. Leaving a small garrison at Leesburg, Geary set out the following day to pursue the retreating Confederates. During a skirmish with the Confederate rearguard, Geary was wounded and captured but then immediately paroled, whereupon he continued his pursuit. By the 15th Geary's men had traversed the county and reached Upperville, and all of Loudoun was under Federal occupation.
From this point forward the Federals would maintain a presence in the County, though by no means were they able occupy the land in the sense of impossing their will and rule on the people of the county though they tried. the land and hearts and minds of the people were very much in contention. Partisan groups such as John Mosby's Rangers and E.V. White's Comanches made a practice of harasing and antagonizing the Federals in the area with great success, such that for much of the war the Federals in the county operated from Harper's Ferry, unable to keep a command safely within the counties borders. One event of note of the attempted Federal occupation occured on September 15 of 1862. Union soldiers operating in the Between the Hills region stopped at a local farm and an altercation ensued, likely over the impressment of goods or livestock, in the course of the altercation the Lady of the house was greatly insulted, no small matter even in this less-then-genteel corner of Virginia. A young farmhand by the name of John Mobberly overheard the insulting remarks and immediately upon the departure of the Federals made his way to Hillsboro and enlisted in Co. A of White's 35th Battalion.
[edit] Waterford
During Geary's invasion of Loudoun, local unionist Samuel C. Means of Waterford served as a guide for the Federal army. For his service he was granted a commission of captain and charged with the authority to raise a company of cavalry. In June he began his recruiting effort in the northern Loudoun Valley, in the heart of unionist Loudoun. From his efforts the Loudoun Rangers were formed. On August 26th Means had moved his company to Waterford and set up his headquarters at the Baptist Meeting House. In the pre-dawn hours of the 27th Elijiah White, leading a 50 man company, evaded Means' pickets outside of Waterford and moved on the church. White sent a small company of men onto the road near the church to draw the Rangers from the church while his main force sat concealed in a cornfield across the street from the church. Upon rushing from the church to meet White's decoy force the Rangers were met with a sharp volley from the cornfield, killing one man and wounding Lt. Luther Slater who was acting commander of the unit, as Means had retired to his private residence. The Rangers ran back into the church, and a two hour siege ensued. The Rangers eventually surrendered and were immediately paroled. The Rangers reported two dead, nine wounded and two captured, while the 35th reported only two dead. It is of note that following the surrender of the Rangers a member of White's company attempted to kill a member of the Rangers, who it was discovered was his brother. Thus was the nature of Loudoun's partisan war that would escalate dramatically over the course of the war.
[edit] The Road to Antietam
Two days after the Second Battle of Manassas, on the 2nd of September, the 2nd Virginia Cavalry under Col. Thomas Munford entered Leesburg in advance of the rest of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, to clear the area of any Union resistance so that the Army could safely cross into Maryland. Just north of town they met units of Cole's Maryland Cavalry and the Loudoun Rangers who had been left by Geary to hold the area when he joined the rest of the Army of the Potomac during the Northern Virginia Campaign. A pitched cavalry battle ensued, which became known as the Battle of Mile Hill. The 2nd Virginia was successful in driving away the Union resistance, and two days later the main body of the Army under Jackson entered town. Longstreet's divisions followed the next day. While in town Lee made his headquarters at the Harrison house on North King St. The army left town on the 6th and crossed the Potomac at Cheek's Ford the following day.
Three days later, on the 9th of September, part of the Confederate Artillery under General R.L. Walker re-entered the county at Point of Rocks and headed to Loudoun Heights by way of Lovettsville and Hillsboro as part of Lee's plan to take Harpers Ferry to protect his flank. From Loudoun Heights the Artillery successfully besieged the town and helped in its capture. Earthworks form the siege can still be found at Loudoun Heights near the Appalachian Trail.
[edit] The Bombardment of Leesburg
At about the time The Battle of Antietam was being fought Lt. Col Hugh Judson Kilpatrick, commanding ten companies of calvary, left Washington to reoccupy Leesburg and clear any Confederates in the area. Upon arriving in Leesburg Kilpatrick found the town held by Co A of the 6th Virginia Calvary, 40 or so infantrymen under the command Cpt. Gibson and Col. White and thirty of his Comanches. The infanrtymen being largely convalescence and stagglers not fit to make the trek into Maryland and their force being greatly outnumbered, Cpt. Gibson beagn to retreat from town. Col. White, however, was not wanting to give up his hometown without a fight persuaded Cpt Gibson to resist the Federals as long as possible. A skirmish broke out between the Fedeal Advance Guard and the ragtag Confederate force. In retribution for the Confederate's stbborn resistance Kilkpatrick ordered the artillary brought up and commenced firing on the town. The degree of damage to the town is a matter of some dispute, with Confederates describing significant damage to buildings while Kilkpartick reported only that he fired a few shots over the town. Once the artillary barrage was halted Kilpatrick sent in the 10th New York Calvary who met up with the Confederate's on the western edge of town. Col. White attempted to lead his Comanches in a charge but was severely wounded in the process, whereupon the force retreated to Hamiliton and Kilpatrick took control of Leesburg.
[edit] JEB Stuart's second ride around McClellan
Following the bloody fight at Sharpsburg, J.E.B. Stuart set out from Williamsport, Maryland north towards Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and then southeast to encircle McClellan's Army for the second time in less than a year in order to reconnoiter their strength and movements. On the 10th of October he crossed back into Virginia at White's Ford, bringing with him some 1,200 horses he and his men had captured. He rested for a day after the crossing northeast of Leesburg before moving south to Leesburg to pick up the Winchester Turnpike and west into the Shenandoah Valley by way of Snicker's Gap.
[edit] The Battle of Unison
On October 27th the Army of the Potomac crossed the river and marched south through the Loudoun Valley towards Fauquier County. A second column crossed at Harpers Ferry and marched south through Between the Hills before crossing the Blue Ridge at Snickers Gap. While in Loudoun, McClellan set up headquarters in Wheatland , Purcellville and Unison to supervise troop movement and seizure of crops and livestock to feed his troops. While the Federals m moved through the county Col. White and the Comanches struck at the supply trains and managed to capture 1,000 prisoners and 200 wagons.
On October 30th J.E.B. Staurt, with Fitzhugh Lee's brigade and Maj. John Palham's artillary, reentered the county via Snickersville Gap with orders to monitor the enemy and slow his prgress so that the Army of Northern Virginia could reposition itself south of the Rappahannock River. That night they biovacked at Bloomfield before proceeding the Sincker's Gap Turnpike the following day to confront Federal forces rumored to be in the vicinity of Mountville . At Mountville Stewart suprised a group of 100 or so Federals, killing and capturing the majority of the force. They pursued the remaining Federals who had retreated towards Aldie, where a larger Union force was emassed. The pursuit was halted at the outskirts of the village by Union artillary positioned on the heights above town. Staurt brought up Palham's artillary who were able to drive the Federals from Aldie. Staurt, however, declined to give chase after recieving an erroneous report that more Federals were approaching from his rear. Upon discovering that he was not actually flanked his forces retired back to Bloomfield.
The following day on November 1st Staurt's pickets were attacked by a body of Federal Infantry approaching up the Snickers Gap Turnpike at Philomont. Staurt moved his force up to Unison to block the road to Upperville where D.H. Hill was encamped. The Federals did not press the attack that day, however. The folowing morning at 8a.m. Federal infantry, cavalry and artillary arrived in Unison and began to assualt Staurt's postion. Using dismounted cavalry hiding behind the numerous stone wall in the village and Palham's artillary commanding the heights around town, Staurt held out against the much larger force most of the day, but in the afternoon was driven from town and was forced to leave some his seriously wounded behind. As night fell Staurt retired to Upperville and prepared to face a renewed Federal attack in the morning. After reconnaiassance discovered that the main body of the Army of the Potomac was advancing on their position it was decided that Staurt should recross the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap to protect Jackson's movements in the valley, which he did the following morning.
[edit] 1863
[edit] The Gettysburg Campaign
Following the Battle of Chancellorsville the Army of Northern Virginia again marched north to cross the Potomac. While Lee's main body this time stayed west of the Blue Ridge to screen his movements, he sent the divisions of John Bell Hood and George Pickett east of the mountains through Loudoun to guard the mountain passes and protect his right flank. In addition to Hood and Pickett, J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry was kept east of the mountains to prevent the Union cavalry from pinning down the location of the Confederate Army. While moving through Loudoun County, Stuart was engaged in a series of battles along the Ashby's Gap Turnpike (present-day US 50) as Union cavalry commander Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton attempted to break through Stuart's screen and locate the Confederate army.
As the cavalry fight raged along the Ashby's Gap Turnpike, Joseph Hooker began his pursuit of Lee and entered Loudoun County on the 17th of June and headed to Edward's Ferry where pontoon bridges had been assembled. Over the next 11 days the entire Army of the Potomac came through the county and crossed the Potomac at Edwards Ferry. In addition to securing Edwards Ferry, the Union army covered all major crossings of the river up to Harpers Ferry. As a result as J.E.B Staurt prepared to leave the county and join up with Ewell in Pennslyvania he was forced to circumnavigate the Union Army and cross down river where the river is deeper and wider at Rowsner's Ford at the extreme eastern end of the county. With much difficulty Stuart and his 3 brigades crossed the river on June 27th, several days behind schedule, leaving Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia blind as they embarked on their second northern invasion.
Col. White and the 35th Battalion made the march with Confederate Army under the command of Gen. Jubal Early into Pennsylvania. The 35th was ordered to screen Early's advance to the Susquehanna River and in this capacity moved into Gettysburg on June 26th driving off units of the Pennslyvania militia, thus beginning that great battle. For better or worse it was Loudoun's own who fired the opening salvos in the battle that would once and for all turn the tide of the war against the Confederates.
Following the Battle of Gettysburg, General Meade who had replaced Hooker during the campaign, crossed with the Army of the Potomac, back into Loudoun and marched through the county following the same route of McClellan a year prior following Antietam.
[edit] 1864
[edit] Early's Washington Campaign
Following the Battle of Monocacy and Jubal Early's aborted attempt to attack Washington D.C., he and the 2nd Corps crossed White's Ford on June 13th and stayed in Leesburg for two days. With Maj.Gen H.G. Means's 6th Corps and Maj. Gen. W.H. Emory's 19th Corps in hot in pursuit, Early set out for Snickers Gap and the Shenendoah Valley the morning of the 16th. That afternoon Mean's Corp crossed White's Ford and Emory's corp crossed at Edward's Ferry. Meanwhile Maj. Gen. George Crook arrived in Hillsboro and took control of Union troops in the area. Mean's artillary shelled Early's reargaurd in Leesburg, while calvalry partols from all three commands clashed with Early's cavalry. A small division of Union cavalry under Brig. Gen. A.N. Duffie alluded Early's screen and struck his supply wagons near present day Purcellville, at Heaton's Crossroads. He inititially captured 200 wagons and 150 prisoners, but Confederate infantry counter attacked and retook 120 of the wagons and 96 of the prisoners. The combined Union commands were unable to bring up their infantry and Early escaped over Snickers Gap into the Shenendoah Valley.
[edit] The Burning Raid
Though Loudoun had witnessed 4 significant battles, countless skirmishes, partisan bloodshed and provided forage to both armies on multiple occasions as they traversed the county, the worst destruction of the war would be visited upon the county in the final year of the conflict, ironically as the theatres of war moved far from border county into the heart of Virginia. That summer as Sheridan laid waste to the Shenendoah Valley, the only real opposition to his conquest was the constant attacks on his supply lines in the lower Valley by Col Mosby's command. Knowing of that Loudoun served as Mosby's base of operations and that much of his command was native to the county, on November 27th Sheridan commanded Maj. Gen. Wesly Merritt and the 1st Cavalry Division to "..consume and destroy all forage and subsistence, burn all barns and mills, and their contents and drive of all livestock in the region . . ." The following day Merritt entered Loudoun at Ashby's Gap and proceeded to march up the Loudoun Valley desamating all private property of any value. On December 2nd, satisfied that they had faithfully executed Sheridan's orders they left the county via Snickersville Gap. In his report Merritt conservatively estimated that 5000-6000 head of cattle, 3000-4000 head of sheep and 500-700 horses had been driven off and 1000 hogs slaughtered. In addition 230 barns, 8 mills, 1 distillary, 10,000 tons of hay and 25,000 bushels of grain were reported burned.
[edit] 1865
[edit] The George's Schoolhouse Raid
At the end of 1864 the beginning of very cold winter was setting in. Col. White and the 35th Battalion were in winter quarters with the Confederate Army in the Shenendoah watching their rations dwindle. Col. White facing the dissertion and starvation of his ranks managed to obtain permission to take the 35th back to home to Loudoun so that he might try and obtain forage and resume Partisan activities in the county. The Federals too were settling into winter quarters, though with far greater rations and prospects for the spring campaign season. Around Christmas of 1864, Col. Thomas C. Devins' calvary brigade from the Harpers Ferry garrison, who regulary partolled Loudoun, made camp outside the unionist village of Lovettsville in the vicinity of George's Schoolhouse just east of the Short Hill.
Upon returning to the county on January 3rd, 1865, White and his men witnessed the devestation of the Burning Raid and the toll of Federal incusrion in the county. A little more than a week later,on the 12, members of the 35th, attending a party in Hillsboro were surprised by the Loudoun Rangers, leaving 1 dead and 2 captured. Col. White became convinced not to spend the winter in the midst of teh enemy without taking action. The Federals were wholly unable to disrupt communication between the partisan groups operating in the county and White was able to bring together a raiding party of 80 or so men composed of members of the 35th, Mosby's Rangers and Mobberly's independent command. On the night of the 17th, the raiding party being lead by Mobberly himself made their way up the Between the Hills region from Hillsboro to Nearsville where the crossed the Short Hill on a footpath known only to locals such as Mobberly. Upon reaching the eastern side of the mountain the group snuck up on the pickets of Devins camp and captured the unit before they could sound an alarm. As they approached the reserve post on the Haprers Ferry-Lovettsville Road, they did not have such fortune and the post could not be taken without gunfire. Believing their cover blown (though it had not been) the party charged the Union camp only to discover it had recently been reinforced with and addtional 200 men bringing the total to 400. Under the cover of dark and blanket of fresh snow, the raiding party was able to suprise and capture 150 men and horses of the recently arrived reinforcements. The union officer Capt. Bell was able to assemble his undressed men and bega to advance on the raiding party with pistols and carbines drawn. Unable to defend an assault by some 250 union troops and hold 150 prisoners and horses, the raiding party broke off the attack abandoning there prisoners save 50 horses and a dozen men. The then made a quick retreat back to Woodgrove and disbanded with the Federals unable to give meaningful chase in their unprepared condition. The Commanches would not operate again in the county, at the end of the winter they were mustered into regular service and absorbed into the Laurel Brigade of which White would assume command. They would surrender with Lee at Appomattox. John Mobberly, now acting independently of the 35th would continue his parisan activities in the county.
[edit] References
- Turner, Fitzhugh (ed.), Loudoun County and the Civil War. Loudoun County Civil War Centennial Commission; Leesburg, Va. 1961.
- Williams, Harrison, Legends of Loudoun. Garrett and Massie, Inc.; Richmond, Va. 1938.
- Crouch, Richard E., Rough-Riding Scout: The Storu of John W. Mobberly, Loudoun's Own Civil War Guerilla Hero. Elden Additions: Arlington, Va., 1994.
- Divine, John, "'The Comanches' In Action: 35th Battalion of Virginia Calvary, C.S.A." The Bulletin of the Historical Society of Loudoun County, Virginia, 1957-1976. Goose Creek Productions: Leesburg, Va., 1997.
