After taking control of the Washington defenses after the debacle of First Manassas, George McClellan strengthened the ring of forts and outposts defending the capital. He also planned to extend the area of northern Virginia under Union control. Scouting, surveying and mapping missions were essential to implement this plan. Minor battles occurred, which were notable for their effects on military and political actions and future leadership appointments in the war.

The Civil War Trails marker shown below in Lewinsville Park has been removed.

It has been replaced with the marker below. The text in both is the same and describes the battle.

Text from the marker- On September 11, 1861, Lieutenant Orlando Poe led a party of U.S. Army Topographical Engineers to map the area around Lewinsville for military use. Colonel Isaac Stevens and 1,800 men protected the engineers. Stevens’s command included the 79th New York (Highlanders) Infantry, detachments from four other regiments, 90 cavalrymen, and Capt. Charles Griffin’s Battery, 5th U.S. Artillery. Ordered not to bring on a general engagement, the expedition marched from Camp Advance on Chain Bridge Road to Lewinsville, arriving at 10 A.M. Skirmishers and artillerymen guarded the surveyors while Confederate cavalry pickets observed from a safe distance (shown in the map below).

About four hours later, having completed their mission, the Federals were forming columns to withdraw when about 400 Confederates under Colonel J.E.B. Stuart attacked from two sides with Major James B. Terrill’s 13th Virginia Volunteers, a company of the 1st Virginia Cavalry, and two guns of the Washington Artillery. Confederate Captain Thomas L. Rosser’s artillery, posted 600 yards southwest of John Gilbert’s farmhouse, rained shot and shell on the retiring Federals, while Griffin’s guns responded from the road and from opposite Mackall’s Hill. Alarmed by the cannonading, Union General William F. Smith, division commander, hurried to the field with a battery, but the fight was essentially over. Stevens and the Highlanders formed the rear guard as the Union returned to Camp Advance. Three Union soldiers were killed, several were wounded, and four were taken prisoner. The Confederates claimed no casualties. This small engagement became known as the “Battle of Lewinsville.”

The Gilbert House shown in the pictures below is on the other side of the park.

John Singleton Mosby had volunteered for a militia company the Washington Mounted Guard, as a private, in the fall of 1861. His unit was subsequently assigned to the 1st VA Cavalry and was present at the Battle of Lewinsville. In a letter to his wife (see the post at the link for the text in Ron Baumgarten’s blog) he describes an incident during the battle that occurred while on reconnaissance with two other men and Colonel Stuart.

Through the woods he spied a Union colonel in a group of Yankees about a 100 yards away. As he raised his rifle to shoot, Colonel Stuart stopped him so that he would not reveal their concealed position. The Colonel was Isaac Stevens who would lead a distinguished career in the Union army until he was killed on September 1, 1862, at the Battle of Chantilly. Stevens was promoted to Major General after his death. Mosby went on to form a group of partisan rangers and became known as “The Gray Ghost”. The area they operated in (North Central Virginia) became known as Mosby’s Confederacy. After the war he became a supporter of President Grant and served as consul to Hong Kong.

The Aftermath

Confederate Colonel J.E.B. Stuart, received special praise for his role in the battle from his commanding officer General Longstreet, who recommended him for promotion to brigadier general. He was promoted two weeks later on September 25, 1861. Confederate commanders in the battle, James B. Terrill (May 31, 1864 after his death at Totopotomoy Creek) and Thomas L. Rosser (Brigadier General- September 28, 1863) also became Confederate generals later in the war. Union commanders, Isaac Stevens (Brigadier General- September 28, 1861) and Charles Griffin (Brigadier General- June 12, 1862) eventually became generals. Orlando Poe became chief engineer for Major General William Sherman in December 1863.