Bristoe Station Battlefield

The railroad as it was in 1863

The blazing sun is scorching us in the wide-open field, and we are already drenched in sweat. We can see trees far away and across the road but not close enough to enjoy the shade. The area is covered in thick weeds and native grasses born by the fertile soil.

Our tour guide is in his eighties, a former Navy submariner, tough, witty, intelligent, with an unusual strong voice that carries well in the open space, and extremely knowledgeable of our country’s Civil War history.  Tom is leading us into and around the footsteps of Confederate and Union soldiers who fought, killed, and wounded each other in these fields on that fateful day of October 14, 1863, in the Battle of Bristoe Station.

One of two cannons in the fields

The fight lasted almost two hours, a little less than our drenching two-and-a-half-hour tour. Visitors like us can never understand the actual battle unless we walk in the combatants’ footsteps and feel the terrain even though it may have changed slightly.

Encampment location

When I say, ‘changed terrain,’ I am referring to home construction sites adjacent to the park property. The builders dug a sewer pipe through the battlefield heritage park grounds, land preserved by the Prince William County historical preservation society, following a protracted battle that is ongoing, in their effort to save a few more acres from being developed into a data center and a storage facility, whose acres contain the earthly remains of at least fifty soldiers. God only knows how many shallow graves they had disturbed in the process of digging the sewer line through. Ghosts of soldiers must run rampant at night in the neighborhood homes built around the historical park.

The land of the battlefield was sold several times, including by the farmer who used to plow it; he wanted his daughter to be allowed to build a home in one corner overlooking the busy highway.

Farmer's former home on top of the hill

A local church sold part of the land for $50 million to a developer before it was donated to the Prince William County historical preservation society on the condition that some homes could be built on part of the bordering acreage.

The mile and a half loop through fields and woodlands takes a little over two hours to complete or perhaps longer if the guide, like Tom, is very knowledgeable and likes to talk.

The railroad as it is today in Bristow Station, Virginia

The railroad, used then by Union soldiers, who hid behind the rail’s embankment, is still active today, and, to Tom’s delight, two Amtrak trains and a freight train crossed the track while we were in its vicinity – a veritable show and tell tour.

National Archives portraits of the two generals

Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), commander of the Confederate States Army, was not feeling particularly well during this battle, still recovering from a previous heart attack, “ordered his Army of Northern Virginia across the Rapidan River near Orange, Virginia in a series of flanking maneuvers to earn a victory over the Union Army.” But Gen. George Mead (1815-1872), who commanded the Army of the Potomac (1863-1865), was able to evade Gen. Lee’s ambush. Gen. Meade’s goal was to make it to Centreville heights before Gen. Lee would be able to intercept him.

“After miles of hard marching and fighting battles at James City, Brandy Station, Jeffersonton and Auburn, the lead elements of Gen. Lee’s army caught up to Gen. Meade at Bristoe Station. On October 14, the stage was set for Gen. Lee’s last chance to attack and gain an advantage over the superior Union Army before it escaped northward to Centreville.” According to Archives, this fight would be Gen. Lee’s last major offensive campaign of the war.

The battle was a definite loss for the Confederates, as they lost three times as many soldiers as the Union.  In “A History of the Guilford Greys,” a quote stands out, “The point from which we started the charge was distinctly marked; at least four and in some cases ten men from each company lying dead or wounded in that line.”

Among the five hundred plus Union soldier casualties, Col. James Mallon of New York stands out as the only Union officer mortally wounded at Bristoe Station, Virginia.

Gen. John Rogers Cooke’s (1833-1891) Confederate Brigade charged toward the railroad, but they were in a foot race with the Union reinforcement which arrived by rail. Reaching the safety of the railroad embankment first, the Union soldiers unleashed a barrage of fire power against Gen. Cooke and his Brigade. The fact that they were positioned on higher ground, without any tree protection, made the Confederates an easier target. A Union soldier remarked that the Confederate soldiers were “mowed down like grain before a reaper.”

The Civil War forced brothers to fight against brothers for the economic interests of a few rich and powerful men. Interestingly, Gen. John R. Cooke’s father was Union Gen. Phillip St. George Cooke. However, Gen. John R. Cooke’s brother-in-law was the Confederate cavalry leader Jeb Stuart. Families and neighbors were split in their allegiance to either the Union or the Confederate side.

The Archive of Bristoe Station battle stated that, “With decimated numbers and no hope to push on, the Confederates had the choice of surrender or retreat. Many chose to make the dangerous dash to safety, while hundreds surrendered along the railroad embankment.”

Along the walk in the fields, Tom led us to a place where the Davis Family Farmstead used to be. Before the Civil War Thomas K. Davis was a Prince William County sheriff and, in 1858, had bought 136 acres on which he built a home, a barn, and outbuildings.

Davis also operated a store in the village of Bristoe Station, today spelled Bristow by decision of U.S. Postal Service. Davis was a supporter of the Union while his neighbors supported the Confederates who, in 1861, established Camp Jones in the area. When the Confederates pulled out of the area in the spring of 1862, they destroyed Davis’s store. When the Union soldiers, under the command of Brig. Gen. Rufus King, arrived soon after, they tore down farmer Davis’s fencing and cut down trees on his property for use in their camps.

Battles raged on his farm in August 1862 and the Davis house was used as a hospital and headquarters for the Federals. The Davis family remained here until the threat of imprisonment by the Confederates in 1863 forced them to flee to Washington. They were thus not present during the Battle of Bristoe Station on October 14, 1863.

A cannon is resting on top of the hill, not far from the brick house of the recent farmer who owned the land it sits on. The house is now the park’s archives but not yet opened to the public. The historical preservation park acquired the land relatively recently. A large tree gave us a bit of shade on the bench we sat on for a few minutes. The bugs and the bees surrounded us as we looked down to the railroad tracks, farther than the 100-400 ft. range necessary for the muskets, rifles, and cannons to be effective.

As the tour ended and we shook our shoes filled with dirt, drenched in sweat from the 94-degree Fahrenheit heat and the scorching sun, I could not help but think of the misery, pain, and blood spilled that day in the same time frame but in a wet and miserable October. In addition to the wounded, more than 2,000 soldiers on both sides have died that day, young lives snuffed out for the interests of a few.

Note: Photos taken by Ileana Johnson; portraits from National Archives