The Battle of Fairfax Courthouse (1861)

On May 31, 1861, approximately 210 Virginia military militias occupied the town of Fairfax Courthouse, which was about 22 kilometers from Washington . This squad consisted of two cavalry companies (120 men, Prince William cavalry and Rappahannock cavalry companies ) and 90 foot soldiers - this was a company known as Warrenton Rifles under the command of Captain John Marr. These generally untrained troops were assigned to Lt. Col. Richard Ewell , who had just retired from the US Army, where he was captain of the cavalry. Ewell had just arrived in town and met some officers, but had not yet been introduced as a private. No one expected a federal attack, so only two pickets were put up at night. All this small Virginian squad was supposed to cover the direction to Manassas, where the Confederate army was gathering.

On the same day, Brigadier General of the Federal Army David Hunter gave an oral order to Lieutenant Charles Tompkins from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment of the regular army; he ordered the number of Virginia troops in the region and their location to be determined. At about 10:30 p.m. Tompkins led a federal detachment of 50 or 86 men and marched from Camp Union at Falls Church toward Fairfax.

In the early morning hours of June 1, at about 03:00, Private Picket Francis ran to Fairfax with a cry that the enemy was advancing. At this time, the second ordinary picket, Florence, was already captured ^[1] . Some of the rank and file companies of “Prince William cavalry” tried to build a battle line, but when a federal detachment approached the town on the Falls-Ches-Road, the southerners cavalry fled, losing four people prisoners. Captain led his men out onto the field west of the Methodist Church and built them in two battle lines. The retreating cavalrymen fled in their direction and the Marra foot soldiers in the dark mistook them for the enemy, making several shots. One cavalryman was injured. The cavalrymen of the company “Rappahannock cavalry” that day had almost no weapons and had no cartridges at all, therefore they fled when the federals appeared ^[2] .

According to some sources, at the sight of the federal cavalry, Marr asked, “Whose cavalry?”, After which several shots were fired and Marr fell dead. According to other sources, he was looking for a convenient position for his people, moved away from the infantry line and was killed there, and in the end no one knew where he was and what happened to him. His body was subsequently found in the field. In 1893, Charles Tompkins received the Medal of Honor for “shooting the enemy captain” ^[3] .

Federal cavalry galloped west through the town, firing in all directions. They said that they shot at a man leaving the hotel, who turned out to be Lt. Col. Ewell, and wounded him in the shoulder. The exact location of Ewell’s injury is unknown, but Ewell became the first senior Confederate officer wounded in that war (Federal Colonel was killed earlier on May 24, but in a non-combat setting).

Former Virginia Governor William Smith was in Fairfax at the time. He had just quit Congress and was traveling from Washington to Warrenton. Smith once participated in the recruitment of the Warrenton company and knew in the face of many ordinary soldiers. Despite the lack of military experience, Smith took command of the company. Ewell soon joined him. Seeing Smith, the commander of the infantry, he asked: "It seems, sir, you are contesting my authority?" Smith replied: “Yes, sir, until I make sure. that you have a right to them. ” After that, he introduced the infantrymen to Ewell, who was then not yet familiar to the company ^[1] .

Ewell built approximately 40 people between the hotel and the courthouse (or episcopal church) and in this position they repelled the attack of the federals, who tried to break through from the western side of the town. The position, however, was uncomfortable, and Smith led the infantry to a wooden fence. Residents of the town also began to shoot at the feds, which is why Tompkins greatly overestimated the size of the enemy.

After an unsuccessful first attempt at a breakthrough, the feds launched a second attack, but it was also repelled. The feds for the third time tried to break through and after the failures of the third attempt they went around the city in fields and returned to their camp in a longer way ^[1] .

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• Skirmish at Fairfax Court House, June 1, 1861