[applause] ryan well, thank you. How is everyone doing . Everyone excited to be here . Not a great answer if you said no five minutes into the program. Awesome to have you. I was excited when the program was announced and the idea of the theme, forgotten battles of the civil war. The question became what to do next, and at the time that i worked at the fredericksburg military park, the thing about fredericksburg, they were massive battles. Huge. I like to study the smaller engagements. The problem with that, the smaller they are, the harder they are to study. So, dranesville. I was hoping to create a book out of it. I was especially excited to talk about it tonight. Poll the audience, has anyone heard of dranesville before . Whoo ryan ok. Do you know where it is . Less hands, but still a good number. It helps if you turn it on. First things first, dranesville is 15 miles east of leesburg and 20 miles west of washington, d. C. Engagement we will be talking about happens in december of 1861. The first year of these civil war is not over yet. We will be talking about engagements which the confederate and union army. They are both trying to figure out what their deal is and we will find that this is a battle that happens as two forces with ostensibly the same purpose, a foraging expedition, run into each other. One led by jeb stuart and one led by edward ord. And they are exploring the area and they are finding there are a lot of people in the area that do not like them very much. News to me when i found that out. Dranesville is a union victory. It was a victory in december 1861 that comes on the heels of defeat at first bulls run, leesburg, and also at Wilsons Creek in missouri. This defeats, albeit small, is enough to boost the flagging union morale. Its very needed, at least in the fall of 1861. July 22, 1861 is the day after the union was defeated at the battle of bull run or manasses. The idea there is they are going to keep an eye on union forces. They are closing perilously close to the union capital. They are coming into contact with union forces outside of the capitol. We need a person to gain control of the situation and that person, of course, is mcclellan. Mcclellan is recalled from western virginia remember he was fighting robert e lee he comes east. When mcclellan arrives in washington, they immediately start to reorganize the chaotic union forces around the capitol. He runs into his wife by some he writes to his wife, by some strange operation of magic i seem to have become the power of the land. Say what you will about mcclellan, and i am sure you will given the opportunity [laughter] ryan he is the man the union needs at that moment. He is the man that is going to fix the union army. Both armies are called the army of the potomac in 1861. So i will say confederate and union armies. Just know they are both the army of the potomac. Mcclellan will start reorganizing these forces are soldiers waiting for orders. Our next slide is one of those Union Soldiers. This is charles bail of the 9th pennsylvania reserve. He will fight at dranesville. He and his comrades in the pennsylvania reserves had been formed, the state of pennsylvania had raised too many soldiers. The War Department said, you have too many people. The war will be over in 30 days or 90 days, wherever it is. But the governor of pennsylvania has the great idea of turning them into a reserve corps. Thats a good thing because after the defeat at bull run, what do they need . More people. You get these pictures off boxcars and cattle cars bringing all of these soldiers from harrisburg down to washington. So the defenses of washington are getting buffed up a little bit. Again, he will fight at the battle of dranesville. You will see by late summer, early fall, the basic dispositions. You will see the union army has created essentially a buffer around the capitol. And the Confederate Army has created a series of outposts at places Like Falls Church and crossroads. These places are within eyesight of the capital. Confederate flags can be seen flying just outside the capital, which will make Abraham Lincoln very uneasy, this idea that they are that close. What is preventing them from attacking . What i want to focus on, too, are these two people. Familiar faces to us all. On the left is Brigadier General james longstreet. On the right, colonel j. E. B. Stuart. These two men are in charge of those outposts. Stuart is in charge of the mounted cavalry, the first virginia cavalry, the second virginia cavalry, and they are working in conjunction. They work wonderfully together. Longstreet and stuart really complement each other. You will see stuart with longstreets guiding force, stuart gets a little bit more aggressive and a little more aggressive and the little more aggressive, pushing his mounted soldiers closer to washington every day. For claritys sake, you will notice up here is arlington. Everyone know where arlington is . Stuarts Cavalry Force is outside baileys crossroads. The confederate outpost occupies essentially a trio of goals, and and minerssons, hill. Munson, the tallest of the three, is the most prominent of those confederate flags and theres almost daily skirmishing through late summer and early fall of 1861 as federal forces try to push out of washington and stuarts men pushed back. The reason i am talking about this is it is gaining stuart credibility. He proved himself at first bull run and first manasses. These engagements are proving that credibility. With credibility and accolades comes more responsibility, and we will see how stuart does or does not live up to those expectations. As we move to the next slide this is a print that appears in harpers weekly of munson hill. You will see a very prominent confederate flag. That can be seen from washington. Mcclellan is being pressured by Abraham Lincoln. Mcclellan is being pressed by the war secretary get rid of those outposts. That is what he is trying to do. To give you an idea, one of the union accounts says, the men can see one another plainly without a looking glass. Sharpshooting and potshots go back and forth. A famous artillery officer is in sends of ballooning, he balloons into the air. Stuarts first big test is on august 28, when union forces push out of baileys crossroads. The union army says, this is not working. We have to look elsewhere. The union army changes their eyesight. Instead of heading straight into fairfax county, they will move around. A place called chainbridge, they set up a union camp that is today called ethan allen. Recognizable. Today. It becomes a stepping off point. If this is not working, go around. What there i will turn toward again, its not much of anything today. It has been eaten up by the city of washington, but this is a small, small village where all of these converge and these, of course, are roads. Every place a road converges, the union army believes they can get a foothold out of washington. Get more comfortable. And finally push these forces back. Lewinsville will turn out to be a test run for the battle of dranesville. Here we are in specifically the opening days of september 1861. Lewinsville is only six miles from cambridge. The garrison across the river. It is a hop, skip, and a jump. They can move out and begin to push those Confederate Forces back. Keep that in mind. That is the idea. The village itself is hardly impressive. Again, a woodcut that appears in harpers weekly, you see what they say. Miserable broken down town, very virginian in aspect. [laughter] ryan there is a signpost, hardly a town in wisconsin. Again, it does not matter how many houses there are. It is all those roads. That is the big point. Get out of washington. So, it falls to these three men to do that. On the left, William Smith. Nicknamed baldy. On the right, isaac stevens, and in the middle is captain Charles Griffin of the u. S. Artillery. These are all pretty familiar names if you study the civil war. Here they are now. Its interesting to remember this is early in the war. When do you ever hear Charles Griffin referred to as a captain . He is down the river yelling at george meade. Here he is a captain of the u. S. Artillery. Its smiths division to push out. And he will give orders to lead that expedition. He has 1800 men. What he has been told specifically not to do is start a big battle because mcclellan is confident the army is building up strength but mcclellan and big battles do not really jive, do they . Mcclellan says, go out, gather reconnaissance, gather forces, do not start a big battle. Thats his instruction. Smith will give stevens instructions following that. The injunction not to enter an general engagement under any circumstances. Stevens is to march six miles, gather intelligence, maybe some forage, go back to ethan allen without a big fight. Thats exactly what hes going to do. Hes going to leave in the morning of september 11, 1861, and kind of jumping from ethan allen, he arrives in lewinsville the morning. And what he will do is organize the forces of defense. To break it down a little bit, skirmishers in a semicircle guarding all of those roads we have been talking about. The rest of the infantry gather along all of the road networks. When the fight does start, the y can mobilize and fight them. Four guns will guard every intersection with one gun in reserve, and finally, lieutenant of the engineers orlando poe. This is shermans chief engineer. Hes a lieutenant in 1861. Poes objective is to do exactly that, gather intelligence. Mapmake. When the soldiers came to lewinsville, there were a handful of confederate pickets that quickly raced down to the town of falls church. They see them go and think nothing of it. They are just a handful of soldiers. What can they do . But what the soldiers are doing are racing down to j. E. B. Stuarts headquarters in falls church. Because if stevens is supposed to go out and come back, stuart is the opposite. Stuart is the Confederate Response Team that can mobilize and meet any threat along those outposts. Stuart hears word of this union foraging expedition, and he will gather an ad hoc force. Stevens has around 1800 men at lewinsville. Stuart manages to get 500 soldiers together. On the far right, major william carroll, 13th virginian infantry. In the middle, captain thomas rosser. He will have two cannons. So with 500 men, stuarts objective is to stop stevens from whatever he is doing. But remember, stevens is not supposed to get into a general engagement, and that will be important in just a second. To go back to our map, we have the arrival of the 13th virginian. Stuart splits them into two pieces. A wing here and a wing there. Under the cover of the artillery bombardment, the 13th virginia closes in. The skirmishers are pushed. They fall back. Thats exactly what they do. Themishers fall back and lines open fire. Griffins cannons respond. Buttoo many casualties, shells are flying. Mcclellan can hear it from washington. He telegrams cambridge and says, what the heck is going on . No engagements. Why am i hearing the whole world opening up over there . The skirmishing continues. They continued their attack. Stevens gathers his men up and keep that in the back of his mind, no general engagements. As the fighting continues an hour, hour and a half. Stevens returns to fort ethan allen. Stevens has accomplished his objective. He gathered intelligence, gathered forage, back to the fort. Jeb stuart, 500 men, in his opinion what has he just done . He kicked their asses, right . 500 men, outnumbered three to one, and he pushed them back. You have differing opinions on what happened at lewinsville. Longstreet advocates for stuarts promotion to Brigadier General, and that is what stuart is going to get. Perceivedoted for his accomplishments at lewinsville. George mcclellan sees the exact opposite. Our men came back in perfect order. We shall have no more bull run affairs. Both sides see lewinsville as a success. Thats exactly what you should look at it as. Theres about 15 union casualties. Thats a handful, single digits, of confederate casualties. In the great scheme of things, not a big deal, but it was a trial run for what becomes dranesville, because in stuarts mind, he took an outnumbered force to beat a union foraging party. He forces them back. That is exactly what happens in december 1861 with different consequences. As we move forward in time, the union army in late september 1861 goes back to lewinsville. Division,lished the the William Smith division. The second division, they come down from langley. That is of course where the cia is today. What is left of the camp . Nothing. Its under asphalt. There are two divisions, and that scares the beejeebus out of union high command. Under Joseph Johnsons command, they fall back to centreville. Mcclellan has accomplished step one. Give washington, d. C. , some breathing room. With that comes the ability for more union foraging parties to go to outlying areas, gather more intelligence, get more foraging parties. That gets us back to the town of dranesville. This is a map done by bradley godfrey. This map atlas is his. Here is the map. They are moving west toward leesburg to get more food. Remember at the beginning, i mentioned these civilians in dranesville were not too happy to have them in the area. Its a story where i cannot go into too many details, but the union army would go to dranesville three times, and on those three journeys, they are arrest three dozen people, send them back to prison to washington, d. C. Rumors are circulating that some of the dranesville citizens have heads of decapitated Union Soldiers on their signposts. Its false, but that will get the attention of washington officials. Decapitated heads on signposts. They are also noticing theres a andof fertile territory lots of hay and grain. Its essentially a no mans land. Who ever gets there first gets the stuff. Mcclellans reserves are sent to dranesville to gather supplies. That will create a snowball effect. On october 19 and 20, Charles Stone is planning his expedition to leesburg, what becomes the battle of balls bluff. Stone thinks mccall is ther to help him. He doesnt. Kind of the what if question is, what if he had continued down the road to leesburg . The battle of balls bluff maybe would have happened dramatically different or pretty much been a union victory. But he doesnt. Stone is defeated. Big defeat. But for the union army, its also a success. More intelligence on the road. So, you have this time continuum. So, we go to the town itself. Because the union army has come here so many times, they are starting to mention in these reports, instead of the brick house, it is the thorton house. They are getting so familiar with the area, they know who owns the houses, who lives there. This is territory they know. We usually talk about the Confederate Army having the advantage of knowing the area. In fall of 1861, who knows the area better . Union forces or Confederate Forces . Who has been to the town three times in a month and a half . That has a huge impact. Becomes theare battlefield. This area is intimately familiar with these Union Soldiers. Not so much the confederates. We have building suspense going on. These two men, these are familiar faces, yeah . Left, john fulton reynolds. Right, George Gordon meade. They become pretty important people in 1863. On each of the expeditions out to dranesville, one of them leads it. Reynolds goes out and commands an expedition. Meade is none too pleased with what he is doing. For example, this house belongs john gannel, a very prominent secessionist in the area. Very fiery secessionist, and his farm becomes ground zero for stealing forage. Meade does not think it should be the union armys business to take peoples stuff. He writes to his wife, it made me sad to do such injury and i really was ashamed of our cause. It is important to remember these armies are still young. They have a lot to learn. This war will get more vicious. Pennsylvania reserves has three brigades. Who leads the third one . This guy. Edward ord. His brother is named placibus. He joins in november 1861. He jumps from captain to Brigadier General. Thats because of a very good friend of his in the War Department. Ord goes from being captain of artillery in california to being a Brigadier General in the volunteers. He has strings to pull. He graduated from west point. He was william shermans roommate, as a matter of fact. This man knows his business. He knows what hes doing. He will be given instruction to head to dranesville for the third and what will be the final time. Reynolds first, meade second, ord third. He gets orders on december 19, 1861. The object of this expedition is twofold. One, secure the civilians we were talking about. Secondly, gather forage. Ord has his marching orders. Head to town on december 20. Make sure the townspeople are not being troublemakers. Gather food. Come back to langley. He gathers his force up. These are Union Regiments in pennsylvania reserves. He has about 5500 men. This is early in the war. Since when are six regiments all of infantry almost 5500 soldiers . When do you hear that question . He is marching out of langley with these forces first thing on the morning december 20, 1861. Well, if stuart got word of the union strikeforce at lewinsville, did he get word of the union strikeforce at dranesville . The answer is of course. He writes that stuart came to the camp, explained the situation, stuart says he is going to dranesville to stop the supposed union expedition. He rides to general Joseph Johnsons headquarters to get permission. To give you an idea, he rides through the night. Its 7 00 p. M. , pitch black. Its december. By the time he gets back from headquarters its 4 00 a. M. , but stuart has his approval to go. He has his approval from joseph johnston. Stuart gathers up soldiers of his own and now hes ready to go. I mentioned that stuart has somewhere between 1600 and 2500 men. In his own report he said he had 1600 soldiers under his command. Lets cut to the chase. Stuart gets his butt kicked. If you get your butt kicked, and you want to explain it, do you want to say you had more or less people . Thats it. I think hes closer to 2500 soldiers, but he say