View source for Battle of Dranesville

{{short description|Battle of the American Civil War}}

{{Coord|38|59|43.7|N|77|20|13.9|W|display=title}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Battle of Dranesville
| image       = Battle of Dranesville.png
| image_size  = 300
| caption     = ''Battle of Dranesville''
| partof      = the [[American Civil War]]
| date        = {{Start date|1861|12|20}}
| place       = [[Fairfax County, Virginia]]
| result      = [[United States of America|Union]] victory
| combatant1  = {{flagicon|USA|1861}} [[United States]] ([[Union (American Civil War)|Union]])
| combatant2  = {{flagicon|CSA|1861}} [[Confederate States of America|CSA (Confederacy)]]
| commander1  = [[Edward Ord|Edward O. C. Ord]]
| commander2  = [[J. E. B. Stuart]]
| strength1   = 5,000<ref name=cwsac/>
| strength2   = 4,000<ref name=cwsac/>
| casualties1 = 71
| casualties2 = 230
}}
{{Campaignbox McClellan's Operations in Northern Virginia}}

The '''Battle of Dranesville''' was a small battle during the [[American Civil War]] that took place between [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces under Brigadier General [[J. E. B. Stuart]] and Union forces under Brigadier General [[Edward O. C. Ord]] on December 20, 1861, in [[Fairfax County, Virginia]], as part of [[Major general (United States)|Major General]] [[George B. McClellan]]'s operations in northern Virginia. The two forces on similar winter time patrols encountered and engaged one another in the crossroads village of [[Dranesville, Virginia|Dranesville]]. The battle resulted in a Union victory.

==Background==
[[File:Approximate site of the Battle of Dranesville.jpg|thumb|Approximate site of the battle, seen in 2017]]
Following the [[Battle of Ball's Bluff]] on October 21, major offensive action was halted in the eastern theater, as both armies went into winter quarters.  Small detachments were still occasionally sent out to probe the enemy's position and to obtain forage.  Such was the case early on the morning of December 20 when Stuart, with a mixed brigade of [[infantry]] comprising the regiments of the 6th South Carolina, 1st Kentucky, 10th Alabama, and [[11th Virginia Infantry|11th Virginia]], 150 of his [[cavalry]] troopers and [[Allen S. Cutts]]'s four-gun Georgia battery, set out north from their position near [[Centreville, Virginia|Centreville]] to escort the army's wagons trains on a foraging expedition into [[Loudoun County, Virginia|Loudoun County]].  Meanwhile, Ord, leading the 10,000 strong 3rd Brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves, set out west from [[Langley, Virginia|Langley]] to clear the south bank of the [[Potomac River]] of Confederate pickets and partisans in Fairfax and Loudoun.  At [[Colvin Run Mill]], Ord left half his force to protect his rear and prevent his force from being cut off from their base at Langley.

==Opposing forces==
===Union===
[[File:Eord.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Brigadier General Edward O. C. Ord]]
Commander: Brigadier General [[Edward Ord|Edward O. C. Ord]]<br>
Regiments{{#tag:ref|The 'dual names' of Pennsylvania Reserve Regiments are employed by Samuel P. Bates.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bates|first=Samuel P.|title=History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865, Volume I|year=1869|publisher=B. Singerly, State Printer|location=Harrisburg, PA|asin=B002FK988S|pages=539–544, 692–719, 784–875, 907–1056}}</ref> |group="nb"}}

*[[6th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment|6th Infantry, Pennsylvania Reserves]] (a.k.a. 35th Pennsylvania Volunteers): Lt. Col. William M. Penrose
*[[9th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment|9th Infantry, Pennsylvania Reserves]] (a.k.a. 38th Pennsylvania Volunteers): Col. [[Conrad Feger Jackson]]
*[[10th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment|10th Infantry, Pennsylvania Reserves]] (a.k.a. 39th Pennsylvania Volunteers): Col. John S. McCalmont
*[[12th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment|12th Infantry, Pennsylvania Reserves]] (a.k.a. 41st Pennsylvania Volunteers): Col. John H. Taggart
*[[13th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment|Kane's 1st Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment]] (a.k.a. 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteers): Lt. Col.l [[Thomas L. Kane]]
*[[1st Pennsylvania Cavalry|1st Pennsylvania Reserve Cavalry]] (a.k.a. 44th Pennsylvania Volunteers): Lt. Col. [[Jacob C. Higgins]]
*1st Pennsylvania Reserve Artillery (a.k.a. 43rd Pennsylvania Volunteers): Lt. Col. [[Charles Thomas Campbell|Charles T. Campbell]]
**[[Battery A, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery|Battery A]]: Cpt. Hezekiah Easton
**[[Battery F, 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery|Battery F]]: Cpt. Ezra Matthews

===Confederate===
[[File:J. Gurney & Son - J.E.B. Stuart.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Brigadier General J. E. B. Stuart]]
Commander: Brigadier General [[J. E. B. Stuart]]<br>
Regiments<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Stuart|first=J.E.B.|title=Official Report|url=http://www.civilwarhome.com/stuartdranesvilleor.htm|publisher=Shotgun's Home of the American Civil War|access-date=20 February 2012}}</ref>

*[[11th Virginia Infantry|11th Virginia Volunteers]]: Col. [[Samuel Garland, Jr.]]
*6th South Carolina Volunteers: Lt. Col. Andrew J. Secrest
*[[10th Alabama Infantry|10th Alabama Volunteers]]: Col. [[John Horace Forney]]
*[[1st Kentucky Infantry Regiment (Confederate)|1st Kentucky Volunteers]]: Col. [[Thomas Hart Taylor]]
*1st North Carolina Cavalry (100 man detachment): Maj. [[James B. Gordon]]
*[[2nd Virginia Cavalry]], Company C: Cpt. Andrew L. Pitzer
*Sumter Flying Artillery (Georgia): Capt. [[Allen S. Cutts]]

==Battle==
[[File:Battle of Dranesville map.png|thumb|right|300px|''Sketch of the Affair at Dranesville, Va.''<br>Matz, Otto H., 1895]]
At about noon, Ord arrived at the intersection of the Georgetown Pike and Leesburg Pike in the village of [[Dranesville, Virginia|Dranesville]], where he encountered Stuart's advance cavalry pickets, which were quickly driven off by the Union force.  Ord then began to lead his command west, down the Leesburg Pike.  At around 1 p.m.  Stuart, with the main body of his force approached Dranesville from the south, whereupon he encountered the rear of the Union detachment.

Ord halted his infantry and wheeled it around to meet the Confederate threat, forming a line on the north side of the Leesburg Pike.  He then deployed his artillery on an eminence near the intersection.  Stuart deployed his infantry on the south side of the pike and his artillery {{convert|300|yd|-2}} south of the federal position.  While the Confederate infantry was deploying, the 1st Kentucky mistook the 6th South Carolina for Union troops and opened fire, which was quickly returned by the Carolinians.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Woodward|first=Thomas|title=Address of Maj. Thomas W. Woodward, delivered before the Survivors Association of the Sixth Regiment, South Carolina Volunteers, at Chester S.C., on 9th August, 1883. Fort Sumter to Dranesville.|publisher=The Presbyterian Publishing House|year=1883|location=Columbia, S.C.|pages=25}}</ref> The [[11th Virginia Infantry|11th Virginia]] advanced, supported by the [[10th Alabama Infantry Regiment|10th Alabama]] but were stopped by heavy fire. The colonel of the 10th Alabama, John Forney, was wounded, and the lieutenant colonel, James B. Martin, was killed.<ref name=":0" />

Hearing the sound of gunfire, the [[9th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment]] charged across the turnpike but were quickly driven back.  The artillery then began to duel, but owing to the strength of the Union position, the Confederate guns were quickly knocked out.  Ord  deployed his infantry in a skirmish line and sent it across the Pike at Stuart and the two sides squared off for nearly 2 hours.  At 3 p.m., with his wagons safely away and secure from capture, Stuart ordered a withdrawal.  Ord pursued for a half mile, ensuring his line of retreat was safe, before breaking off the attack and returning to Langley.

The following day Stuart returned with reinforcements, but the battle was already over.

==Results==
Though the battle was small, of no strategic importance and resulted in only light casualties, it marked the first time in the east that a Union force had bested their Confederate enemy, inflicting 230 casualties while suffering only 71, and was able to drive them from the field.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/dranesville|title = Dranesville}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=cwsac>{{cite web |title=Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Updated Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields |url=http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/CWSII/VirginiaBattlefieldProfiles/Deep%20Bottom%20II%20to%20Drewrys%20Bluff.pdf |website=National Park Service |publisher=Civil War Sites Advisory Commission |access-date=1 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403061534/http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/CWSII/VirginiaBattlefieldProfiles/Deep%20Bottom%20II%20to%20Drewrys%20Bluff.pdf |archive-date=3 April 2015 |pages=116}}</ref>
}}
*Salmon, John S. ''The Official Virginia Civil War Battlefield Guide.''Stackpole Books; Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2001.
*Evans, Thomas J and James M. Moyer. ''Mosby's Confederacy:A Guide to the Roads and Sites of Colonel John Singleton Mosby.''  White Mane Publishing Company, Inc.  Shippensburg, Pa.  1991. p.&nbsp;46.

==External links==
* [https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battles-detail.htm?battleCode=VA007 National Park Service battle description]
* [http://npshistory.com/publications/battlefield/cwsac/technical-v2.pdf CWSAC Report]

{{Loudoun County in the American Civil War}}
{{Fairfax County in the American Civil War}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Dranesville}}
[[Category:Battles for McClellan's Operations in Northern Virginia of the American Civil War|Dranesville]]
[[Category:Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War|Dranesville]]
[[Category:Union victories of the American Civil War|Dranesville]]
[[Category:Battles of the American Civil War in Virginia|Dranesville]]
[[Category:Fairfax County, Virginia, in the American Civil War|Dranesville]]
[[Category:Loudoun County, Virginia, in the American Civil War|Dranesville]]
[[Category:1861 in Virginia]]
[[Category:1861 in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:December 1861]]