Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Events in N. Va. drew 'angel' to battlefield Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 19:23:58 EST Message-ID: \SE B;LIFE;THE CIVIL WAR \HD Events in N. Va. drew 'angel' to battlefield \BY Whitney Wyckoff \CR SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES It wasn't the site of a major battle, or even a minor skirmish, but Fairfax Station saw a lot of blood during the Civil War. That's because the area's railroad station and nearby Catholic church served as emergency medical treatment centers for Union soldiers wounded in Second Manassas and the battle of Chantilly. "Angel of the Battlefield" Clara Barton, who later founded the American Red Cross, volunteered with two other women to tend more than 3,000 soldiers who had been laid on hay at the depot, at St. Mary's Church and on the hill in between. The railroad station itself, however, played a role in the earliest days of the war. Two Confederate cavalry units stationed at the depot were summoned by Col. Richard Ewell on June 8, 1861, to muster against federal forces in a skirmish at Fairfax Court House. When the rebel units rode out, the depot was taken over by Union troops. By the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, the 1st New York was stationed at the depot. Although the regiment was supposed to be present at Bull Run, the order never reached the New Yorkers, and they remained at Fairfax Station during the fight. The station became a major supply and communication base for Union troops by 1862, heavily fortified to protect the materiel stored there by way of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. After the Battle of Second Manassas and Chantilly, Aug. 29 and 30, 1862, many of Gen. John Pope's wounded were evacuated to Fairfax Station. From St. Mary's Church to the station, about 500 yards, the wounded lay on hay hastily scattered over ground churned to mud by a heavy rainstrom. They were treated and comforted by Barton, a 41-year-old government clerk with no official connection to the military, who arrived with bandages, brandy, jellies and crackers she had collected from friends. "The patriot blood of my fathers was warm in my veins," Barton later explained to those who asked why she and two other women, Almira Fales and Ada Morrell, took a train from Alexandria to Fairfax Station to help care for the federal casualties. Her spirit was dampened by what she saw there. "The atmosphere . . . is enough to sadden any human heart," she wrote her sister-in-law. "Poor fevered, cut-up wretches, it agonizes me to think of it." Ghastly piles of amputated legs and arms surrounded the men, many of whom died before they could be treated. These limbs were buried in St. Mary's churchyard. Yet Barton bravely went about tending wounds, making compresses, speaking encouraging words and listening to the last words of the dying. She carried pocket diaries to re cord soldiers' names, last requests and home addresses. Among the entries were soldiers Barton had known from her days as a teacher in Massachusetts. "Oh, what a place to meet an old-time friend," she would write. On Sept. 1, 1862, Gen. Philip Kearney, commander of the 1st Division of the Union III Corps, was killed at Chantilly. His body was sent to Fairfax Station by Gen. Robert E. Lee. A eulogy to the hero of the Mexican War, where he had served with Lee, was delivered at St. Mary's before the body was sent on to Washington. Lee also sent the body of Gen. Isaac Stevens, commander of Gen. Pope's 1st Division, who had been killed while charging with the 79th New York at Chantilly. As Union forces withdrew, Barton helped evacuate the wounded, loading them on railroad cars to be sent to hospitals in Washington. Col. Herman Haupt, director of Union railroads during the war, later told President Lincoln, "To bring off the wounded at Fairfax Station when they supposed 20,000 Rebs were in their front and flanks was one of the boldest performances I have ever heard of." As the Confederates closed in on Fairfax Station, Union troops burned it. However, the depot was rebuilt by November 1862 and again served as a Union outpost. Confederate raiders under Col. John Singleton Mosby targeted Fairfax Station, with orders to disrupt federal communications, and in one assault killed 33 Union troopers and captured 39 horses. After the raid, Mosby was referred to as "the Gray Ghost" and Fairfax, Fauquier and Loudoun counties became known as "Mosby's Confedracy." After the war, in 1894, Fairfax Station became part of the Southern Railway system, which operated the depot until 1973. In 1975, efforts were made to save the historic station from demolition. It was dismantled by a group of volunteers and reconstructed as a museum nearby. Whitney Wyckoff is a local newspaper reporter. Her grandmother, Lena Wyckoff, founded the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum. ****BOX UPCOMING EVENTS District, Nov. 10: The District of Columbia and Capitol Hill Civil War Round Tables present Wiley Sword, who will speak on "The Battles of Nashville and Franklin." The $15 admission charge includes dinner preceded by a cash bar at 6 p.m. at the Fort McNair Officers Club, Fourth and P streets SW. Call 202/224-4906 or 202/298-5088. Nov. 11: The National Geographic Society sponsors "Free People of the Civil War Era" with James O. Horton, who will describe the role of black leaders in the abolitionist movement, participation of free blacks in the underground railroad and black soldiers in the Union Army. At 8 p.m. in the auditorium, 1600 M St. NW. Tickets, $8 members, $10 nonmembers. Call 202/857-7133. Virginia, Nov. 21 and 22: The 12th annual Capital of the Confederacy Civil War Show will be held at the Virginia State Fairgrounds. Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call 804/273-2358. Through February: The Manassas Museum, at 9101 Prince William St., presents the "Return of Stonewall," with displays of his pocket watch, funeral flag and a lock of his hair. Call 703/368-1873. Maryland, Nov. 15: Fort Washington presents the Capital Guardian in a demonstration of musket firing and drills from noon to 4 p.m. Fort Washington is reached by Exit 3A of the Capital Beltway or the Indian Head Highway exit of Interstate 295. Go south on Indian Head Highway four miles and turn right at Fort Washington Road. Further information, Don Steiner, 301/763-4600. Nov. 14 and 15: Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg presents walking tours of the cemetery at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. both days. Call 301/432-5124. Through March 30: "Occupied Baltimore: Civil War Prints from the Robert G. Merrick Collection" is sponsored by the Maryland Historical Society, 201 W. Monument St., Baltimore. Call 410/685-3750. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM