The Last Positions MG2
On 8 Apr. 1865, Gen. Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, retreating from Petersburg toward Pittsylvania County, reached the hills to the northeast. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Federal army, pursuing Lee to the south, blocked him here. At dawn on 9 April, Palm Sunday, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon’s corps, with Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry, assaulted the Union line. Initially successful, the attempted breakout failed when additional Union infantry arrived on the field. That afternoon, Lee rode through the lines here to surrender his army.

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Battle of Appomattox Station - 1865 K159
Near this building stood the station of the South Side Railroad where, on April 8, 1865, three trains unloading supplies for the Army of Northern Virginia were captured by units of Sheridan’s Union Cavalry under Gen. Geo. Custer. Significant for its relationship to the surrender by Gen. Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House, this action also marked the last strategic use of rail of Confederate forces.

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After Appomattox O42
Just to the south a monument marks the spot where the tent of Robert E. Lee stood the night of April 12-13, 1865.

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Lee's Bivouac, Gettysburg Campaign J14
Gen. Robert E. Lee bivouacked near here on 18-19 June 1863, as he began his invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Part of his Army of Northern Virginia marched north toward Winchester, while Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s corps camped here with Lee. On 13 June, a Union force under Col. Andrew T. McReynolds had evacuated Berryville and marched to Winchester to join Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy’s division there. Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell’s corps attacked and defeated Milroy in the Second Battle of Winchester on 13-15 June, thereby clearing the northern Shenandoah Valley in Virginia of Federal forces.

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White Oak Road Engagement 31 March 1865 S81
Union forces belonging to the V corps, under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren, sought to seize the White Oak Road and sever the Confederate line of communication with Maj. Gen. George E. Pickett’s detatchment near Five Forks, four miles west. From here, Gen. Robert E. Lee personally supervised the counterattack to Gravelly Run by Lt. Gen. Richard H. Anderson’s corps. After a brief success, the Confederates were forced back into these entrenchments as Warren’s men gained the important roadway.

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Ravensworth T42
Near here stood Ravensworth, a Fitzhugh and Lee family home. Built about 1796 by William Fitzhugh, the mansion stood on the largest single land grant in Fairfax County, the 21,966 acres acquired by Fitzhugh’s great-grandfather in 1685. During the Civil War the house was not molested by either side. After the war Ravensworth came into the possession of Robert E. Lee’s second son, Maj. Gen. W.H.F. (Rooney) Lee. Ravensworth, a frame Palladian-style mansion, was one of the most imposing residences in Fairfax County until it burned in 1926.

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Maryland (Antietam/Sharpsburg) Campaign B29
Following the Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly) on 1 Sept. 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee pondered his options and strategy. Encouraged by Confederate victories and Federal disorganization, Lee acted quickly to continue the offensive. On 3 Sept., Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia marched north toward Leesburg, from where it could cross into Maryland, flank the Washington fortifications, and draw the Union army out of Virginia. The troops of Maj. Gens. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet moved north on Ox Road past Frying Pan and Herndon Station to Dranesville. The army concentrated around Leesburg and forded the Potomac into Maryland Sept 4-7.

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Second Manassas Campaign Strategic Rappahannock River Crossings C60
A mile northwest stoof Waterloo Bridge, where on 22 Aug. 1862 Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart crossed the Rappahannock River to threaten the rear of Union Maj. Gen. John Pope’s army 14 miles southeast at Catlett Station on the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. Pope’s men guarded several downstream crossings, including Fauquier White Sulphur Springs (3 miles south), Freeman’s Ford, Beverly’s Ford, Rappahannock Bridge, Norman’s Ford, and Kelly’s Ford (16 miles). Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson sweeping north and east around the Federals. The maneuver ended in the Second Battle of Manassas on 29-30 Aug.

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Lee's Narrow Escape FF5
(Six miles southwest of this location), on the morning of 27 Aug. 1862, Gen. Robert E. Lee rested at the head of Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s corps as it marched toward Thoroughfare Gap to join Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson’s corps near Manassas Junction at the Second Battle of Manassas. The 9th New York Cavalry, covering the left flank of Maj. Gen. John Pope’s army on its march from Warrenton to Manassas, nearly overran (overtook) Lee’s position between Ada and Vernon Mills. His staff mounted quickly and formed a line to protect him. The Federals mistook the horsemen of a Confederate cavalry column and turned away.

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Lee's Bivouac, Gettysburg Campaign FF4
Gen. Robert E. Lee established his headquarters here on the evening of 17 June 1863 as the Army of Northern Virginia marched north. Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, who had replaced Stonewall Jackson as corps commander after Jackson’s death on 10 May, had crossed the Potomac River into Maryland after defeating Union Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy on 15 June at Winchester. The way was then clear for Lt. Gen. James Longstreet’s corps to enter the Shenandoah Valley at Snicker’s Gap and Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill’s at Chester Gap. Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry screened the army’s flank near Aldie as Lee prepared to invade Pennsylvania.

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