Here for the first time, shared through the eyes of those who lived it, is the story of Dranesville and the early war in Northern Virginia.

After the guns of Manassas fell silent, the opposing armies grappled for position wondering what would come next. Popular history has us believe it was “All quiet along the Potomac.” Reality was altogether different.

The fall and early winter of 1861 was a hotbed of activity that culminated in the December combat at Dranesville. The Union victory, although small when measured against what was to come, was sorely needed after the string of defeats at Bull Run, Wilson’s Creek, and Ball’s Bluff; it also helped shape many of the players in the bloody years to come.

Ryan Quint’s Dranesville: A Northern Virginia Town in the Crossfire of a Forgotten Battle, December 20, 1861, is the first full history of that narrow but critically important slice of the war. No one knew what was coming, but soon civilians (sympathetic to both sides) were thrown into a spreading civil war of their own as neighbor turned on neighbor. In time, this style of warfare, on the home front and on the battlefield, reached the town of Dranesville in Fairfax County.

This mostly forgotten story uses overlooked or underused sources to sweep readers along from the White House and Charleston’s Secession Hall to midnight ambushes and the climactic Dranesville action. A host of characters and commanders that would become household names cut their teeth during these months, including Generals J. E. B. Stuart and Edward Ord. The men of the Pennsylvania Reserves saw their baptism of fire at Dranesville, setting the Keystone State soldiers on a path to becoming one of the best combat units of the entire war. Though eclipsed by larger and bloodier battles, Dranesville remained a defining moment for many of its participants—soldiers and civilians alike—for the rest of their lives.

Here for the first time, shared through the eyes of those who lived it, is the story of Dranesville and the early war in Northern Virginia.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• List of Maps
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
  • Acknowledgements
  • Prologue: “You Have Killed Him” The Murder of Henry St. Clair
  • Chapter One: “The Union Is Dissolved” South Carolina’s Secession and Fort Sumter
  • Chapter Two: “You Have Chosen to Inaugurate Civil War” Virginia Secedes
  • Chapter Three: “What Will Pennsylvania Do?” The Keystone State Responds
  • Chapter Four: “Kill All the Damned Yankee Sons of Bitches in the County” The Dranesville Home Guard
  • Chapter Five: “We Had a Little Fight” The Battle of Lewinsville
  • Chapter Six: “Putting Five Bullets Into Him, Killing Him on the Spot” The Ambush at Lowe’s Island
  • Chapter Seven: “Shake the Enemy Out of Leesburg” The Pennsylvania Reserves’ Reconnaissance to Dranesville
  • Chapter Eight: “Some of Them Spattered With Blood” George Bayard’s Dranesville Raid
  • Chapter Nine: “Move in Command of Your Brigade at 6 a.m. To-Morrow” Planning for Battle
  • Chapter Ten: “There They Come” The Battle of Dranesville Begins
  • Chapter Eleven: “Men & Horses Fell Around Me Like Ten-Pins” Fighting Continues
  • Chapter Twelve: “The Camps Are Filled With Trophies” The Battle’s Aftermath
  • Chapter Thirteen: “Be Careful to Whom You Talk and What You Say” Dranesville’s Men Stand Trial
  • Chapter Fourteen: “A Proud Lot of Boys We Were” Conclusion
• Appendix One: Fates After Dranesville
• Appendix Two: Dranesville Order of Battle
• Appendix Three: Names of Casualties at the Battle of Dranesville
• Bibliography
• About the Author