Oak Hill: Civil War Skirmish

On the night of November 5, 1861, a shootout occurred between three Union scouts and four Confederate cavalrymen at Oak Hill. It was seven months after the start of the Civil War and four months after the Confederate victory in the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas. Confederate forces occupied Fairfax Courthouse (today's City of Fairfax) and Union Army camps were within 10 miles near Alexandria. Located between the lines of the two armies, Oak Hill was in an area where they tested each other and probed with frequent patrols.

In "Oak Hill Kitchen Skirmish" (access the article in the File(s) list) Michael Mitchell reconstructs the brief firefight from several sources. The sources range from official reports and personal letters written within days of the event to correspondence and newspaper and book articles written decades later.

Private Edward S. E. Newbury of the Third Regiment New Jersey Infantry was a principal figure in the event and probably the most reliable source of what occurred. Photographs of Newbury, who later advanced to the rank of Captain, show him in his Union Army uniform and as a much older man after 1900.

Researcher and author Michael Mitchell was born and raised in Annandale and enjoys pursuing his interest in local Civil War history.

In addition to Mike's article "Oak Hill Kitchen Skirmish," included in the list of files are copies of sections from four sources cited therein:

--- News item from Trenton State Gazette newspaper erroneously reporting death of Newbury and T. P. Edwards.

--- Appendix C from Roll of Officers and Members of the Georgia Hussars and of the Cavalry Companies, of which the Hussars are a Continuation, with Historical Sketch Relating Facts Showing the Origin and Necessity of Rangers or Mounted Men in the Colony of Georgia from Date of its Founding (1906). Includes accounts of the Oak Hill skirmish as well as detailed analysis of an ambush that occurred nearby on Braddock Road a month later. (access full document at: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/meta/html/dlg/zlgb/meta_dlg_zlgb_gb5065.html?Welcome)

--- "Gallant Union Scout" from Historical Sketches of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars (1908) by J. Madison Drake (access entire book at http://archive.org/details/historicalsketch00drakiala)

--- "The Spy Who Was Trapped Inside Enemy Lines" newspaper article, New York Herald Co. (1911)

Michael S. Mitchell

"Oak Hill Kitchen Skirmish" article copyrighted material not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Michael Mitchell

Trenton State Gazette erroneous report.jpg copyrighted material; image used with permission from GenealogyBank.com

Edward S.E Newbury_in uniform.jpg image , New Jersey State Archives

Edward S.E Newbury_late in life.jpg image , Mrs. Ray S. Newbury Collection, Civil War Photos. Record Group 98. Military History Institute. Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania (Newberry, 1st Lt. Edward S. E. (Newbury). Photograph. ca. 1900-1920)

Document

Oak Hill: Aerial Views 1966-1969

These two aerial photographs, taken between 1966 and 1969, show Oak Hill as suburban development was encroaching close to its borders. Richard Fitzhugh built Oak Hill circa 1790 on his inherited portion (2524 acres) of the Ravensworth plantation. Washington lawyer Edward Howrey and his wife Jane bought Oak Hill in 1935 and renovated the house for a country home. They sold in 1968 to a development company, builder of the Oak Hill subdivision.

Aerial Photo 1. Queen Elizabeth Blvd runs horizontally in the foreground. Little River Turnpike (LRT) runs horizontally across the top of the photo, and its interchange with the Beltway I-495) is at top right. Northern Virginia Community College's Annandale campus is under construction: the large area of cleared land in the upper center adjacent to LRT.

Aerial Photo 2. Queen Elizabeth Blvd runs horizontally in the foreground, ending near Private Lake in the lower right corner. Braeburn Dr angles into and dead ends at the northwest corner of the cleared Oak Hill land.

By 1970, houses had been built or were under construction on all sides of Oak Hill, which was saved from development on its present reduced tract of less than three acres.

Aerial photos courtesy of Amanda Scheetz

Oak Hill: Exterior View

Oak Hill mansion, built in 1790, is the only remaining home of the three manor houses of the Fitzhugh dynasty built on the Ravensworth plantation. Richard Fitzhugh, great grandson of the original Ravensworth owner, built Oak Hill in the late Georgian style.

The originial house was two stories with a center hall and four rooms - two upstairs and two down. It was remodeled in the Colonial Revival Style in the 1930s. A succession of owners expanded the house upward and outward, adding a third story and additional rooms on all floors.

The photo is of the house as it appeared in March 2006. It was taken from a position near the historic boxwood-lined walkway that has greeted visitors since 1790.

Photo by Gil Donahue

Copyrighted material, not to be reproduced without permission of owner, Gilbert Donahue

Ravensworth Replacement House

On August 1, 1926, the Ravensworth Mansion mysteriously burned down, though the adjacent outbuildings survived. Subsequently, Dr. George Bolling Lee built this smaller farm house on the property. In 1956, the property and buildings were considered as a possible location for the Northern Virginia University - the future George Mason University, which eventually was built near Fairfax City. The property was later sold and developed into the Ravensworth subdivision. The Lee farm house was demolished to make way for the Ravensworth shopping center and industrial area.

The original Ravensworth Mansion was built c. 1797 and became home to William Henry Fitzhugh and his wife Anna Maria. Henry had inherited the Ravensworth property in 1809, while still a minor, upon his father William Fitzhugh's death. Anna Maria's niece, Mary Lee and her husband, Robert E. Lee honeymooned at Ravensworth. During the Civil War, Mary Lee and her children briefly stayed at Ravensworth, but fearing for the safety of her relatives, they moved south to eventually settle in Richmond.

The Fitzhughs, who were childless, had willed the 8,000-acre Ravensworth property to their niece. Mary Lee's death in 1873 preceded Anna Maria's in 1874. Therefore, the estate was divided among the five surviving Lee children. William Henry Fitzhugh Lee inherited the mansion and 500 surrounding acres. By 1922, W. H. F. Lee's property had passed to his son Dr. George Bolling Lee, who used the residence as a summer home and hired overseers to operate the farm.

Washington Star Photograph Collection, Washingtoniana Division, District of Columbia Public Library

Star Collection, reprinted by permission of the DC Public Library; © Washington Post.

Archeological Investigation Report: Guinea Road Cemetery

The Louis Berger Group, Inc., on behalf of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), conducted an archeological investigation of the Guinea Road Cemetery in preparation for road construction at that site.

Located at the intersection of Little River Turnpike (Rt. 236) and Guinea Road, the 19th century cemetery's visible traces had been erased by previous development over the years. However, the cemetery had long been known as an ancestral burial place to descendants of former slaves Horace Gibson and Moses Parker.

Descendant Dennis Howard assisted with the investigation, including providing historical family information. On September 30, 2006, Archaeologist Charles Rinehart of the Louis Berger Group delivered a presentation on their investigations at a Gibson-Parker family reunion.

Subsequent to the information reported here, further archeological investigations were completed from December 2007 to January 2008, when pavement surfaces were removed during road construction. In March 2009, VDOT issued a final report prepared by the Louis Berger Group - "Data Recovery At Guinea Road Cemetery (Site 44FX1664) Route 236 (Little River Turnpike)" - which is available in the Fairfax City Regional Library, Virginia Room.

The investigation of the Guinea Road Cemetery was funded by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The information presented by the Fairfax County A Look Back At Braddock project in this web site is provided courtesy of VDOT and FHWA. Presentation of this information, however, should not be construed as an endorsement, explicitly or implicitly, by VDOT or FHWA of the services of the Louis Berger Group, Inc. or the authors.

Oral History, Part 2: Delbert (Bill) Sheads and Elsie Sisson (1921 - 2008)

In Part 2 of two interview sessions, Bill and Elsie (Sheads) Sisson, brother and sister, reminisce about their family, which came to the Braddock District from Culpepper, Virginia, in 1903. They talk about people and places, schools, lumbering and saw mills, and church life.

Slide Show: Burke Historical Society Slide Presentation

The history of Burke, Virginia is told in 80 captioned images, from the village's start in the 1850's as a railroad depot to the early 1990's. The slide set was originally put together by the Burke Jaycees for the U. S. Bicentennial Celebration. The slides were taken and organized originally during 1974-76. The slide set was given to the Burke Historical Society in 1978. From 1988 to 1990, the slides were updated and more were taken in the early 1990's. The slides subsequently were archived and organized by Tom Giska. The slides were digitally scanned, edited and "recreated" by Gil Donahue in 2005-2006, and some of them were used in Braddock's True Gold: 20th-Century Life in the Heart of Fairfax County, which was published by the County of Fairfax in June 2006.

The slide show has been divided into six numbered parts to keep file sizes low for faster download and viewing. They are best viewed in sequence from part one to six.

Tom Giska was a member and president of the Burke Historical Society. The Society, which was inactive for many years, resumed operations under a new charter and leadership in May 2010.

Courtesy Tom Giska

Ravensworth Mansion

Circa 1920 photographs show the exterior rear and parlor of Ravensworth mansion. William Fitzhugh, great grandson and namesake of the original buyer of the 22,000 acre Ravensworth tract, built the mansion circa 1796. It burned in 1926 in a suspicious fire. The mansion's former site is in the industrial area on Port Royal Road, a short distance southeast of Ravensworth Shopping Center.

Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Historic American Buildings Survey or Historic American Engineering Record: exterior rear view, Reproduction Number HABS VA,30-RAV.V,1-2; parlor, Reproduction Number HABS VA,30-RAV.V,1-4.

Ravensworth Mansion

Circa 1920 photographs show the exterior front and front entrance hall of Ravensworth mansion. William Fitzhugh, great grandson and namesake of the original buyer of the 22,000 acre Ravensworth tract, built the mansion circa 1796. It burned in 1926 in a suspicious fire. The mansion's former site is in the industrial area on Port Royal Road, a short distance southeast of Ravensworth Shopping Center.

Photos courtesy Herb Beard, who obtained them from the U.S. National Park Service circa 1968. Original sources: exterior front view, Leet Bros., Washington, D.C; front entrance hall, not determined.

Jerusalem Baptist Church

The Jerusalem Baptist congregation of Fairfax Station formed on May 17, 1840. Charter members worshiped every third Sunday at the Upper Church (Payne's Church), an original colonial Anglican church, which was located south of the courthouse on Ox Road. During the Civil War, Confederates used the church building as a hospital. Later Union troops dismantled the church and used the bricks to build chimneys for their winter quarters. This white frame church opened on Ox Road in January 1867, and its membership of blacks and whites remained steady through the years. Baptisms were held in local streams or ponds.

Courtesy Lee Hubbard