By December of 1861 the Confederates were headquartered in Centreville, VA, and the Union had extended their line along the south bank of the Potomac River across Chain Bridge to Langley (Camp Pierpont) and Lewinsville (Camp Griffin), as shown in the map below. The area in between became a no man’s land where both sides foraged for supplies.

One area where the Union focused its efforts was the town of Dranesville. Dranesville was about 20 miles west of Washington, D.C. and 15 miles east of Leesburg, where the Leesburg and Georgetown Turnpike joined the Leesburg and Alexandria Turnpike to form a single road to Leesburg (shown below). The town on May 23, 1861, had voted 104-4 in favor of secession. The neighboring town of Lewinsville had rejected the motion 86-37.

On September 16, 1861, a small party from the 34th NY was sent across the Potomac from Seneca Falls, MD, on a scouting mission under the command of Captain Wells Sponable. About a half mile into Virginia on Lowe’s Island the group was ambushed in a cornfield by members of the Dranesville Home Guard. Private Oliver Darling was killed, Robert Gracey was wounded and taken prisoner, and Corporal Cyrus Kellogg was also taken prisoner. As Gracey lied on the ground wounded, a Confederate, McCarthy Lowe, shot him again in the chest. Thomas Coleman claimed credit for killing Oliver Darling and bragged that he had stolen a personal letter from the dead man. William Day and Stephen Farr stripped the clothes off Darling and gave pieces of his uniform away as souvenirs. In the map above one can see the locations of the homes of some of these individuals in the map of Dranesville.

Gracey survived his wounds and was taken to Dranesville and held at Coleman’s store and then William Day’s home. Gracey subsequently escaped but did not know the names of the Confederates involved or who was behind the attacks. In the middle of November three of James Coleman’s slaves (Caroline Jackson, Isaac Madison and Joseph Ordwick) escaped from Dranesville and arrived at Camp Griffin, the headquarters of Brigadier General William “Baldy” Smith’s division, on November 26, 1861. There they spoke with Brigadier General Winfield Scott Hancock giving him the names of 11 members of the Dranesville Home Guards that took part in the ambush.

Shown below on the left is an image of the 5th VT at Camp Griffin from the Library of Congress. Note the rock formation in the center of the picture on the left. The present day location of the rock formation is shown in the picture on the right, partially hidden by ivy at the corner of Kurtz and Maugh Roads in McLean.

The Salona house near the Salona marker (38.9416362, -77.1703955) served as Smith’s headquarters. The house is not visible from where the marker is on Dolly Madison Road but you can see the side of the home from Kurtz Street.

Benvenue (6800 Churchill Road) was used as a field hospital. The marker is in the driveway just before the gate.

The information was relayed to Washington and the order went out to General George McCall’s division of PA reserves at Camp Pierpont to organize a raid to Dranesville to apprehend the 11 individuals. McCall was assigned the task because his men were more familiar with the Dranesville area.

Camp Pierpont was located in Langley near the intersection of Sugarlands Rolling Road (Georgetown Pike) and Little Falls Road (Chain Bridge Road).

McCall’s Headquarters was located at Langley Ordinary. The building still stands.

The nearby Mackall House served as a hospital. The house is now the Country Day School at 6418 Georgetown Pike.

Other historical buildings of importance in Langley within walking distance of those shown above are the Quaker Meeting House (6410 Georgetown Pike), the Toll House (6324 Georgetown Pike) and the Gunnell Chapel (next to the Toll House).

Colonel George Bayard and about 800 men left for Dranesville that evening at 9:00 PM and arrived there at 5:00 AM. There they found and arrested 6 of the 11 men. On the way back they were ambushed by a small group of Rebels under Captain William Farley. Two Union soldiers were killed as was Thomas Coleman one of the Dranesville Home Guards. The captives were imprisoned at the Old Capitol Building.

On December 3rd Brigadier General John Reynold’s 1st Brigade was sent towards Dranesville on a foraging expedition. McCall was ordered to try and capture the remainder of the Home Guards and he sent Brigadier General George Meade’s 2nd brigade to John Gunnell’s farm near Dranesville on December 6th. Meade captured John and George Coleman who were sent back to Washington. Meade also returned with 53 wagon loads of corn and wheat, 38 hogs, 11 horses and additional property.

On December 19th Brigadier General Edward Ord and his 3rd Brigade of PA Reserves were ordered on a third foraging expedition of the month to Dranesville. Little did he know that he would be on a collision course with a similar Confederate foraging column commanded by Brigadier General Jeb Stuart. The two would meet the following day at the Battle of Dranesville.

Sources

Dranesville: A Northern Virginia Town in the Crossfire of a Forgotten Battle, December 20, 1861 by Ryan T. Quint

Ron Baumgarten’s blog – All Not so Quiet Along the Potomac