A Small, Forgotten Battle

Few people have probably heard of the two-hour December 20, 1861 engagement at Dranesville, in Fairfax County, Virginia, near the Potomac River, about 15 miles from Washington, largely because little has been written about it before this book. But, as Quint, an award-winning U. S. History teacher in Kentucky, who created and helps manage the “Western Theater in the Civil War” website put it, “While the battles of 1st Bull Run and Wilson's Creek were much larger than Dranesville . . . the soldiers of the Pennsylvania Reserves would never forget their success that they celebrated at reunions and for the rest of their lives.” (p. ix)

This is the first book ever written on this small battle. Dranesville, which housed some Unionists, lay in a sort of “no-mans-land” region of northern Virginia. It was often visited by foragers from both sides, which led to the clash there on December 20th.

The battle is well told. Union Brig. Gen. E.O.C. Ord (c. 4,500 troops, mostly Pennsylvania Reserves, with one cavalry and five infantry regiments, plus a battery), defeated the Confederacy’s Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart (c. 2,000 soldiers, in four infantry regiments, some cavalry and a battery). The casualties were “light,” Ord lost 10 dead and about 64 injured, Confederate casualties were about three times that. Now this only takes up two chapters. Which is fine, because Quint fits the action in the larger framework of the war.

The first eight chapters give us a look at the small rural agricultural community of Dranesville, and how it was affected by the war, the raising of troops, including the Pennsylvania Reserves, and military raids and clashes in the region, through to the eve of the battle on December 20^th.

We see how civilians affected these events in various ways, the Unionists guiding Union troops and providing intelligence, the Confederates often bushwacking Union troops.

Quint carries the story of Dranesville through the aftermath of the battle, he gives us a look at the fate of the Confederates captured by Ord’s troops, following them into Union prison camps.

Quint draws several conclusions about Dranesville. Though small, the battle helped Union morale, shaken by the reverses at First Manassas and Ball’s Bluff. The battle saw the beginning of the rise of the Pennsylvania Reserves as an outstanding combat unit, and Federal officers gained valuable experience that would served them later in the war; Ord would later command corps and then the Army of the James. On the Confederate side, the battle was the first in which Stuart commanded infantry, and Quint argues that he showed inferior leadership and poor management skills during the fighting. This caused many fellow officers, such as D.H. Hill, and newspapers, to call for his resignation, though he would soon overcame this blot on his reputation to become one of the best cavalrymen of the war.

Recommended.

Note: Dranesville is also available in audio and e-editions.

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