The Battle of LewinsvilleHistorian Emory Thomas in Bold Dragoon: The Life of J.E.B. Stuart indexes this action at p. 350 as "Lewinsville, Battle of, 86."Poland, 2006, p. 98 gives the date as September 12. That is either a typo or the date of some of the after-battle reports. was an engagement fought between a Confederate States Army force of 400 to 500 men and the United States Army units numbering about 1,800 men near Lewinsville, Virginia in Fairfax County, Virginia, on September 11, 1861.Official Records, 1881, Vol. 5, pp. 167-184. The Union reconnaissance in force led to the engagement, part of the operations of Major General General McClellan in the last half of 1861 in northern Virginia. After taking control of the Washington defenses after the First Battle of Bull Run, McClellan strengthened the ring of forts and outposts defending the immediate vicinity of Washington, D.C. He also planned to cautiously extend the area of northern Virginia under Union control.Todd, 1886, p. 76. Scouting, surveying and mapping missions were among the early actions implementing this plan. Minor battles occurred, which were notable for their effects on military and political actions and leadership appointments in the nascent war.
In the September 11 action, the Rebel force under the command of Colonel J. E. B. Stuart, with Major James B. Terrill commanding the infantry and Captain Thomas L Rosser commanding the artillery, engaged the Union regiments under the overall command of Colonel Isaac Stevens, with Captain Charles Griffin commanding the artillery, while they were withdrawing from their reconnaissance and surveying mission. The Confederate attack hastened the withdrawal of the U.S. troops and inflicted several casualties. Stuart officially reported that the Confederates sustained no casualties. Union forces included companies of the 19th Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, one of the original regiments of the Iron Brigade of the Army of the Potomac and the 79th New York Infantry Regiment ("Highlanders"). The complete Union order of battle is in the following footnote.The Union Order of Battle was 19th Indiana Infantry Regiment (5 companies); 65th New York Infantry Regiment, 79th New York Infantry Regiment, 3rd New York Independent Light Artillery; 2nd Vermont Infantry Regiment (2 companies) and 3rd Vermont Infantry Regiment; 5th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment (3 companies); 5th Cavalry Regiment (United States) (Co. "H"); and Battery "D" 5th Artillery Regiment (United States) Dyer, 1908, p. 895. The Confederate order of battle is in the following footnote.The Confederate Order of Battle: a section of artillery (under Captain Thomas Rosser according to Stuart in Official Records, 1881, Vol. 5, p. 199) and two cavalry companies, Thomas, 1986, p. 86, including 1st Virginia Cavalry Regiment (1 of the companies according to Sifakis; both companies according to Jones, 1944, p. 52); 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment (1 battalion according to Sifakis; 305 men according to Stuart in his report, Official Records, 1881, Vol. 5, p. 183); Sifakis, 2006, pp. 101-102, 185-186. The steadfast performance of the men of the 79th New York Infantry Regiment resulted in the return of their regimental colors which had been taken from them because of a mutiny over the term of their service and other organizational issues a month earlier.Sears, 1988, p. 98; Official Records, 1881, Vol. 5, p. 168.
The action featured Stuart's tactic of using close up artillery along with cavalry, a tactic not initially favored by General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding Confederate forces in northern Virginia and one of his two immediate subordinates, General P. G. T. Beauregard.They were concerned about Stuart placing guns too close to enemy lines and exposing them to capture. Wert, 2006, p. 64. His other immediate subordinate and Stuart's commanding officer, then Brigadier General James Longstreet, commended Stuart's actions and praised him for his success. Johnston and Beauregard joined Longstreet in generally praising Stuart and recommending his promotion to the grade of brigadier general. Stuart was promoted two weeks later. Although involving larger forces and Stuart's ambitious use of artillery, as well as noteworthy incidents and more apparent later effects on operations and the advancement of commanders, the September 11 action at Lewinsville was similar in the level of combat as in several other small battles, skirmishes, raids and reconnaissances of the two armies in northern Virginia in the fall of 1861. These other battles included other skirmishes near Lewinsville on September 10 and September 25 following another reconnaissance in force.
The September 11 action resulted in favorable reports concerning three Union officers, two of whom became general officers and one of whom, Lieutenant Orlando Poe, became chief engineer for Major General William T. Sherman in 1864. Isaac Stevens was appointed a Union Army brigadier general three days after Stuart's promotion. In addition to Stuart, two other Confederate officers also became general officers. A private, John S. Mosby, later colonel of the 43rd Virginia Cavalry Battalion ("Mosby's Rangers"), came to Stuart's attention at this engagement. Although the Union force suffered some casualties and withdrew from the field and the Confederates officially reported no casualties (although Mosby in a letter to his wife mentions 1 killed, 1 wounded), the engagement may be considered inconclusive or a draw. The Union force achieved its objective of scouting and mapping the area around Lewinsville before withdrawing. The withdrawal was part of the mission plan, which also included the instruction not to bring on a general engagement.Stevens, 1900, p. 329.
Background
After the Confederate victory at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, Union soldiers retreated into the forts and camps around Washington, D.C. as well as into Washington and Alexandria, Virginia. Within a week, Confederates followed and occupied locations in much of Fairfax County, Virginia, including Fairfax Court House, Falls Church, Bailey's Cross Roads, Ball's Cross Roads, Munson's Hill, Mason's Hill, Upton's Hill and the heights outside Annandale.Mauro, 2006, p. 32.The Confederates withdrew from Munson's Hill and Upton's Hill, the outposts in Arlington with a view of the Capitol building in Washington, in late September 1861. Sears, 1998, p. 116. Rafuse, 2005, p. 136 wrote that the withdrawals "evidently" were in response to the September 25 Union reconnaissance toward Lewinsville and a successful Union foraging expedition south of Munson's Hill by soldiers under the command of Brigadier General William B. Franklin during the last week of September. The forces outside Annandale, only three miles from Alexandria and six miles from Washington, were under the command of Brigadier General James Longstreet.Mauro, 2006, p. 29.
On July 27, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Major General George B. McClellan as commander of the Military Division of the Potomac, the main Union force responsible for the defense of Washington. Due to some success in early operations in western Virginia, which in 1863 became West Virginia, McClellan had been promoted to major general in the Regular Army (United States) on May 14, 1861.Sears, 1988, p. 72. On August 20, McClellan named the Union force the Army of the Potomac.Rafuse, 2005, p. 133.
After being called to Washington in July and through most of August, McClellan spent his time reorganizing and training the army and planning and supervising the enhancement and construction of fortifications and outposts in northern Virginia for the defense of Washington, D.C.Sears, 1998, pp. 116, 120. On August 14, when the 79th New York Infantry Regiment, as well as part of the 2nd Maine Infantry Regiment, mutinied over term of service, pay and other organizational issues, McClellan sent an artillery battery, two companies of cavalry and several companies of Regular Army infantry to suppress the mutiny.Rafuse, 2005, p. 130-131. He removed the regimental flag from the 79th New York until they would prove by good behavior that they deserved it back.Rafuse, 2005, p. 130.Sears, 1988, p. 98. During the last week of August, unauthorized but successful Union reconnaissances and minor skirmishes occurred near Munson's Hill.Rafuse, 2005, p. 132. The good performances by Union troops encouraged McClellan to plan and to oversee preparations for the reconnaissance by Brigadier General William F. Smith's brigade, including the 79th New York Infantry Regiment, toward Lewinsville on September 11.
Battle
Commanders - Battle of LewinsvilleWikimedia Commons, public domain.
On September 11, 1861, a Union reconnaissance in force of about 1,800 soldiers moved at about 7:30 a.m. from their base camp in Virginia just across the Chain Bridge over the Potomac River to Lewinsville, Virginia, about four to five miles distance, arriving about 10:00 a.m.Stevens, 1900, pp. 327-329.Thomas, 1986, p. 84.Official Records, 1881, Vol. 5, pp. 169, 184. The U.S. force was under the command of Colonel Isaac Stevens, with the artillery under the command of Captain Charles Griffin. The purpose of the mission was to protect the surveying and mapping of the area by Lieutenant Orlando Poe of the U.S. Topographical Engineers and a Mr. West of the U.S. Coast Survey.Probably P.C.F. West mentioned in THE COAST SURVEY IN THE CIVIL WAR 1861-1865 at the NOAA Central Library web site: Retrieved June 25, 2023. for a possible Union Army move to a new position farther from the immediate vicinity of Washington D.C. The Union force moved forward cautiously with skirmishers on both flanks out to about a mile from the line of march.
About noon, Confederate Colonel J.E.B. Stuart in charge of outposts near Munson's Hill, seven miles southeast of Lewinsville, was informed by pickets of Union activity in force at Lewinsville that forced the pickets to fall back.Poland, 2006, pp. 99, 101. Stuart quickly moved with a force of fewer than 500 men to oppose the Union advance.Poland, 2006, p. 99. The Confederate force included 305 infantrymen under the command of Major James B. Terrill, a section of artillery led by Captain Thomas L. Rosser, and two cavalry companies of the First Virginia Cavalry Regiment.
Stuart's force came within sight of the Union force at about 3:00 p.m., at which time the Union skirmishers had just been called in and the Union force was preparing to return to their camp.Stevens, 1900, p. 330. Stuart initially went forward through the woods with three scouts to view the Union force. One of the scouts, Private John S. Mosby, the future "Gray Ghost", saw a "gaily dressed" Union colonel on a splendid horse and took aim at him with a carbine. Stuart stopped Mosby from firing, saying that the colonel might be a Confederate. Mosby wrote that he never regretted so much in his life "the glorious opportunity that I missed of winging their colonel."Jones, 1944, pp. 52-53. Stuart sent about 100 men as skirmishers to approach the Union position through woods near the town to screen their advance. The Confederates were soon driven back by return fire from the skirmishers of Lieutenant S.R. Elliot's company of the 79th New York Infantry Regiment, who covered the withdrawal from the surprise rifle fire of Stuart's hidden skirmishers.Todd, 1886, pp. 76-78.
Upon returning to his men, Stuart ordered the Confederate artillery to fire on the Union infantry. Stuart reported that this sent the Union force from a quarter of a mile away to a rallying point a mile and one-half up the road. The Union force was already beginning to withdraw from their advanced position after Orlando Poe had finished mapping the area when the attack began but the Union force responded to the Confederates with artillery fire as they continued to withdraw.