List of American Civil War battles in Northern Virginia
Encyclopedia
With less than 150 miles separating the two capital cities of Washington, D.C.
and Richmond, Virginia
, Northern Virginia
found itself in the center of much of the conflict of the American Civil War
. The area was the site of many battles and bloodshed. The Army of Northern Virginia
was the primary army for the Confederate States of America
in the east. Owing to the regions proximity to Washington D.C and the Potomac River, the armies of both sides frequently occupied and traversed Northern Virginia. As a result, several battles were fought in the area:
Clarke County:
Fairfax County:
Fauquier County:
Frederick County:
Loudoun County:
Prince William County:
Stafford County:
Warren County:
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
found itself in the center of much of the conflict of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. The area was the site of many battles and bloodshed. The Army of Northern Virginia
Army of Northern Virginia
The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...
was the primary army for the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
in the east. Owing to the regions proximity to Washington D.C and the Potomac River, the armies of both sides frequently occupied and traversed Northern Virginia. As a result, several battles were fought in the area:
- Battle of Cool SpringBattle of Cool SpringThe Battle of Cool Spring, also known as Castleman's Ferry, Island Ford, Parker's Ford, and Snicker's Ferry, was a battle in the American Civil War fought July 17–18, 1864, in Clarke County, Virginia, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864...
- Battle of BerryvilleBattle of BerryvilleThe Battle of Berryville was fought September 3 and September 4, 1864, in Clarke County, Virginia. It took place toward the end of the American Civil War....
Fairfax County:
- Battle of ChantillyBattle of ChantillyThe Battle of Chantilly took place on September 1, 1862, in Fairfax County, Virginia, as the concluding battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Thomas J...
- Battle of DranesvilleBattle of DranesvilleThe Battle of Dranesville was a small battle during the American Civil War that took place between Confederate forces under General J.E.B. Stuart and Union forces under General Edward O.C. Ord on December 20, 1861, in Fairfax County, Virginia, as part of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's operations...
- Battle of Ox Hill
Fauquier County:
- Battle of Thoroughfare GapBattle of Thoroughfare GapThe Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, also known as Chapman's Mill, took place on August 28, 1862, in Fauquier County and Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. James Longstreet successfully drove back Union...
Frederick County:
- Battle of Kernstown IBattle of Kernstown IThe First Battle of Kernstown was fought on March 23, 1862, in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia, the opening battle of Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War....
- First Battle of WinchesterFirst Battle of WinchesterThe First Battle of Winchester, fought on May 25, 1862, in and around Frederick County, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, was a major victory in Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. Jackson enveloped the...
- Second Battle of Winchester
- Battle of Kernstown IIBattle of Kernstown II-References:* Patchan, Scott C. Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8032-3754-4.-External links:* for July 24, 1864, of Major Alexander Hart of the 5th Louisiana Regiment.*...
- Battle of Rutherford's FarmBattle of Rutherford's FarmThe Battle of Rutherford's Farm, also known as Carter's Farm and Stephenson's Depot, was a small engagement between Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur and Union forces under Brig. Gen. William W. Averell on July 20, 1864, in Frederick County, Virginia, during the American...
- Third Battle of WinchesterBattle of OpequonThe Battle of Opequon, more commonly known as the Third Battle of Winchester, was fought in Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864, during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War....
- Battle of Belle GroveBattle of Cedar CreekThe Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended...
Loudoun County:
- Battle of Ball's BluffBattle of Ball's BluffThe Battle of Ball's Bluff, also known as the Battle of Harrison’s Island or the Battle of Leesburg, was fought on October 21, 1861, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of Union Maj. Gen. George B...
- Battle of Harpers FerryBattle of Harpers FerryThe Battle of Harpers Ferry was fought September 12–15, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. As Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate army invaded Maryland, a portion of his army under Maj. Gen. Thomas J...
- Battle of AldieBattle of AldieThe Battle of Aldie took place on June 17, 1863, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry screened Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate infantry as it marched north in the Shenandoah Valley behind the sheltering Blue...
- Battle of MiddleburgBattle of MiddleburgThe Battle of Middleburg took place from June 17 to June 19, 1863, in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War....
- Battle of UppervilleBattle of UppervilleThe Battle of Upperville took place in Loudoun County, Virginia on June 21, 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.-Background:The Union cavalry made a determined effort to pierce Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry screen...
- The Fight at WaterfordThe Fight at WaterfordThe Fight at Waterford was a small skirmish during the American Civil War that took place in Waterford, Virginia on August 27, 1862 between the local partisan cavalry units of White's Rebels, fighting for the Confederates, and the Loudoun Rangers fighting for the Union...
- Battle of Mile HillBattle of Mile HillThe Battle of Mile Hill was a cavalry skirmish during the American Civil War, that took place just north of Leesburg, Virginia, on September 2, 1862. It preceded the occupation of the town by the Army of Northern Virginia just prior to its crossing of the Potomac River starting the Maryland...
- Battle of UnisonBattle of UnisonThe Battle of Unison or Battle of Union refers to a series of American Civil War cavalry skirmishes in Loudoun County, Virginia, between October 31 – November 2, 1862, between the Confederate forces of J.E.B. Stuart and various units of the Union Army of the Potomac...
- Fight at AldieFight at AldieThe Fight at Aldie was a small cavalry skirmish between Confederate forces under Major John S. Mosby and Union forces under Major Joseph Gilmore and Captain Franklin T. Huntoon in Aldie, Virginia, on March 2, 1863, as part of Mosby's Operations in Northern Virginia during the American Civil War...
- Skirmish at Miskel FarmSkirmish at Miskel FarmThe Skirmish at Miskel Farm, also known as the Fight at Miskel Farm or Gunfight at Miskel Farm, was a skirmish during the American Civil War. It took place April 1, 1863, near Broad Run in Loudoun County, Virginia, between Mosby's Rangers and the 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry as part of Mosby's...
- Action at Mount Zion ChurchAction at Mount Zion ChurchThe Action at Mount Zion Church was a cavalry skirmish during the American Civil War that took place on July 6, 1864, between Union forces under Major William H. Forbes and Confederate forces under Colonel John S. Mosby near Aldie in Loudoun County, Virginia, as part of Mosby's Operations in...
- Battle of Loudoun HeightsBattle of Loudoun HeightsThe Battle of Loudoun Heights was a small cavalry skirmish during the American Civil War between John Mosby's Rangers and Major Henry A. Cole's 1st Potomac Home Brigade Maryland Cavalry on January 9, 1864, in Loudoun County, Virginia. Cole's Cavalry successfully defended a night raid against their...
- Heaton's CrossroadsHeaton's CrossroadsHeaton's Crossroads, also known as the Purcellville Wagon Raid, was an American Civil War skirmish that took place between Federal cavalry under Brig. Gen. Alfred N. Duffié and Confederate infantry under Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge on July 16, 1864, near present day Purcellville, Virginia in...
Prince William County:
- First Battle of ManassasFirst Battle of Bull RunFirst Battle of Bull Run, also known as First Manassas , was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, near the City of Manassas...
- Second Battle of ManassasSecond Battle of Bull RunThe Second Battle of Bull Run or Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of an offensive campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen...
- Battle of Manassas Station Ops.Battle of Manassas Station Ops.The Manassas Station Operations included the operations known as Bristoe Station, Kettle Run, Bull Run Bridge, or Union Mills. It took place August 25–27, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War.On the evening of August 26,...
Stafford County:
- Battle of Aquia CreekBattle of Aquia CreekThe Battle of Aquia Creek was an exchange of cannon fire between Union Navy gunboats and Confederate shore batteries in Stafford County, Virginia which took place from May 29, 1861 to June 1, 1861 during the early days of the American Civil War...
Warren County:
- Battle of Front RoyalBattle of Front RoyalThe Battle of Front Royal, also known as Guard Hill or Cedarville, was fought May 23, 1862, in Warren County, Virginia, as part of Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War...