Hunter’s Mill Road

Yesterday a major storm system rolled through the DC metro area around 3 PM. Trees went down and power lines fell. The afternoon commuter traffic was governed by anarchy rules. (And incidentally, many of the links for HMDB are still off this morning, due to power issues I suspect.)

Part of my drive home uses Hunter’s Mill Road, running from Vienna, VA through Reston, VA, and movement was at a crawl. After the first ten minutes in traffic, my mind wondered off to Civil War related topics, then I found a great way to pass the time instead of staring at break lights. I’d see how many Civil War related sites I recalled along Hunter’s Mill Road!  Hunter’s Mill saw a great deal of wartime activity.  The Army of Northern Virginia used the road while marching north from the Battle of Chantilly in September 1862.  Portions of the Army of the Potomac marched along the road on their way to a place called Gettysburg.  And Col. John S. Mosby used the route often during other stages of the war.

Right off the bat, after the turn off Chain Bridge Road (Route 123), a tree stands half in the road:

Local lore states Mosby hid in the tree, and fell upon passing Union soldiers.   The area around the tree and the intersection with Chain Bridge Road was the site of a March 1865 ambush, by Mosby, of the 16th New York Cavalry.   So there may be some validity to the tale.

“Mrs. Brooke’s House” or more correctly Lanham House, stands about two miles northwest of the tree.  The house was an assembly point for the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry after a February 1862 raid on Confederate positions.

Continuing northwest, Hunter’s Mill passes Lawyers Road and then dips down to Difficult Run Creek.  The crossing point was a common rest stop for wartime marches and patrols.  A skirmish between the 1st Virginia Cavalry and the 14th New York Zouaves occurred here in December 1861.

As the road rises back up from the run, it crosses the old Washington & Old Dominion Railroad, now a rails-to-trails park.  Five skirmishes occurred at Hunter’s Station  during the war.  And the site is frequently mentioned in movement reports.  Mosby executed the Unionist Reverend John D. Read at the station in October 1864, for spying.

Certainly a lot of activity, and I’m only scratching the surface.