100

Union-drawn manuscript map of the area southwest of Alexandria very early in the war.

Virginia, circa September 1861
Manuscript map, 18 x 19 inches, black, red, blue, yellow and green ink on tracing vellum; folds, minor dampstaining along two folds, minor foxing; undated and unsigned.

  • Notes: This Union manuscript map shows the state of the Virginia countryside shortly after the shocking July 1861 defeat at the Battle of Bull Run, emphasizing the increasingly fortified and contested territory east of the battle site and southwest of Alexandria.  

    The northern boundary of this map is just north of the railroad from Fairfax, VA to the northwest to Alexandria at the northeast. The area of Virginia between the railroad and the Occoquan and Potomac Rivers to the south is shown in detail. Among the sites noted are a ring of forts around Alexandria: Fort Ellsworth, Fort Worth (construction began 1 September), and Fort Lyon (laid out in September and named after an officer who died on 10 August).

    Several Union regiments are shown camped southwest of Alexandria. The 5th, 2nd and 3rd Michigan regiments are across the road from them; the 5th Michigan arrived to the defenses of Washington on 13 September. The 31st New York is stationed on Gravel Road (King's Highway) three miles southeast of Alexandria; that regiment moved north to Munson's Hill on September 28.  

    Rebel outposts are noted along Ox Road north from Colchester, while a remote group of Union outposts are noted several miles southwest of Alexandria in what is now Franconia, not far north of Telegraph Road. Confederate rifle pits are noted overlooking the Occoquan River just south of Occoquan. Along the rail line between Burke and Springfield, we see "rails torn up" and "bridge burned," while just east of Springfield is a "rebel breastwork." The most notable historic site on the map is Mount Vernon, seen near the right center along the west bank of the Potomac. 
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