The "First Federal Victory South of the Potomac"
And A Schuylkill County Soldier was part of it.
The Battle of Dranesville
Dranesville,
A small Virginia hamlet, is situated in Fairfax county, about twenty miles from Washington, and about fourteen from Leesburg. On a commanding hill at the eastern edge of the village the Leesburg and Washington and the Leesburg and Alexandria Turnpikes form a junction. The confluent roads form a single highway from this point to Leesburg. From the point of junction this road dips into a small valley and crosses a smaller hill, on which stands the village church in a grove of massive oaks. The view westward from the church towards Leesburg commands a rolling, open country of farm and woodland. The turnpike, crossing this tract, may be plainly seen until lost in a piece of woodland in the distance.
This roadway, before the railroad paralleled it some four miles away, was a main line of travel and commerce. Long caravans of "schooner" wagons with white canvas tops, droves of horses, sheep and cattle, stages well loaded with passengers, gave life to the old highway and brought thrift to every wayside village and hamlet. This was the golden age of the "wagon stand" and "tavern." With the march of progress and the coming of the railroad, wagons, stage coaches and taverns were relegated to the limbo of things that were. The jangling music of the wagon bells, the tootings of the stage-drivers horn, the noisy commotion of the wayside inn are only echoes that faintly survive in the memories of very old men. Progress has her victims no less than grim-visaged war.
Dranesville in other days was a recipient of the bounty that flowed from the old-time commerce. With the passing of the turnpike traffic an unbroken quiet settled upon the village until the stillness was rudely broken on a memorable winter afternoon of 1861. The roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry announced to the village and the surrounding country that the tide of war, which had rolled at a distance, was now right at hand.
From the Battle of Dranesville.
One of the first
engagements after the Union defeat at Bull Run was a small engagement by
Federal and Confederate foraging parties, five days before Christmas of 1861,
at the town of Dranesville ,
Va. The confederate command consisted of a
foraging party of infantry and cavalry
of Joseph Johnston's command. With the foraging party was a 150 men of J.E.B.
Stuart's cavalry, and 4 regiments of infantry. The Union forces consisted of 5 Pennsylvania infantry
regiments and a battery of 4 cannons. Both commands moved out simultaneously
and meet in combat near the farm lands of Dranesville ,
Va.
Serving with the
6th Pennsylvania Reserves was a Schuylkill
countian, Lieut. Jacob A. Bonewitz, who wrote a descriptive account of the
fight, which would become a big morale lifting victory for the Union forces.
Langlytown
Camp, Pierpont January 8th, 1862.
Dear --- We had a
little fun on the 20th of December last in Dranesville with the rebels. I shall
not enter into details, as I suppose you have seen the particulars of the fight
in the papers.
We left our camp a
little before daybreak on the morning of the 20th and started for Dranesville
on a foraging expedition. We got as far as Difficult Creek when began throwing
skirmishers out in front of our regiment. As company A, and our company K, are
the two flank companies, we were thrown out on the left of the pike. Company A
near the road, and my company on the left of the former. We started through the
woods on quick time. I was the only officer in our company that day. The Capt.
was in Washington ,
and the other Lieut. was at home on leave of absence. As I said before we
started through the woods on quick time for some three miles, when we came out
into a large clearing. I was about one mile from the regiments on a double
quick. I started my skirmishers on a full run in order to keep in advance of
the regiments, and we kept this up for four miles. Some of my men gave out, and
fell back on the reserve that was coming on. It was pretty severe but we had to
do it. After getting within a half a mile of Dranesville, there were some
twenty shots fired at us, doing no damage, we kept on. I was now in an open
field and just about to enter a pine thicket, when I discovered something wrong
in there. I passed the word along the line of skirmishers to halt, which was
done immediately. I then looked in the woods again, and saw one regiment of
infantry, and one of Cavalry laying there not more than five rods from left
hand man, while a Sergeant was not more than 20 paces from myself. I then
passed the word along the line again, to rally on the road, and on the
Regiment. When the Rebels observed this, they opened fire on us with muskets,
and shot one of the men through the arm, this however did not frighten him much.
He followed us. We got on the road and meet the Regiment. We were then ordered
across the hill to support the left-our Battery .
The balls were now flying like hail from the rebel infantry. When they saw us
try to cross the hill, they opened their large guns on us. The shells and
canister poured upon us. After getting near half way across, two of my men
fell. One was shot through the side, and the other in the leg. They crawled
behind a small bank near the pike, as we had no time to lose going over there.
When I got a little further a piece of shell struck me on the leg tearing off
one of my pantaloon legs, and scratching my leg slightly. We got a little
further, when two more dropped, that had got in my company (strangers) They
died in a few minutes: but we got across and now came our time for operation.
Our Battery opened on them and the Rebels were
soon laying in all kinds of shapes. Some with no heads on; some with no arms,
no legs, and some you could not tell what they were. We soon silenced their battery.
We then made a charge on them through the woods. I must admit they can run
faster than we can by a good deal, but they could not run out of sight of our
balls. The woods were full of them. There was one spot were we could scarcely
get over the dead and wounded rebels. Our loss was 10 killed and 30 or 40
wounded. The Rebel loss was severe. There were 170 rebels buried the day after
the fight and we brought in some 40 of them wounded and 14 prisoners. All in
all, it was a complete victory for Uncle Sam. Our wounded are doing well in the
hospital; are in good spirits, and express themselves anxious to have another
chance at the rebels soon. In our Regiment their were three killed, and
thirteen wounded, of which three belong to our company. The Bucktail Regiment;
our Regiment, and the 9th suffered the most. The 10th and the 12th I believe, did not lose a man,
as they were not in the hottest of the fire.
Yours &c.
Lieut.
J.A.B.
Miners Journal February 15, 1862.
