The American Civil War - Chronologically

Dec. 20, 1861 Battle of Dranesville Fairfax County, VA Union Brig. Gen. Edward O.C. Ord w/ a brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves vs. Confederate Gen. JEB Stuart w/ a mixed brigade of infantry, 150 cavalry troopers, and a four-gun Georgia Battery * "First Federal Victory South of the Potomac" * Some say this is the first time anywhere (in the Eastern Theatre) that the Union succeeds in driving off Confederates. The sign says, it is the "Federals['] first tactical success against Confederates in Virginia," which I will allow because I read it as implicitly acknowledging Federal successes in West[ern] Virginia, before this small but morale-raising victory.    * Definitely the Last Battle of the First Year of the War- 1861 https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=115854 " In the fall of 1861, Fairfax County found itself between two large armies. Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston and his army occupied the Centreville area. The Federal army, still regrouping after the devast...

Dec. 13, 1861 Battle of Camp Allegheny; or the Battle of Alleghany Mountain (Colonial English spelling) Pocahontas County, WV (Monongahela National Forest)  Milroy vs. Johnson * Highest Civil War battlefield in the East [Confirmed!] " Early in the war, Confederate military planners were forced to assume a strategic defensive strategy in areas where they could not bring superior numbers of forces to bear against their Union foe. They found it critical to control or at least monitor all possible avenues of approach by Union forces into the Confederate interior. These included the overland routes through the Appalachian Mountains of western Virginia. I n December 1861, a Confederate force under Col. Edward Johnson was assigned to occupy the summit of Allegheny Mountain near the town of Bartow to defend the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike , which connected the upper Shenandoah River valley with the Ohio River. Union victories that summer at Rich Mountain and Corrick's Ford had sol...

Dec. 4, 1861 Bog Wallow Ambush  Fairfax County, VA McClellan > Col. George W. Taylor (3rd NJ Volunteer Infantry of 1st NJ Brigade)  vs. Capt. J. Fred Waring (GA Hussars) * Takes places in the aftermath of Balls Bluff, when major offensive actions were supposed to be paused for the winter break * But there was a shoot-out November 6th, and this is the Union's plan for revenge * "This was a small unit action of no strategic importance and resulted in only light casualties. However, it is representative of many such actions in northern VA during the early part of the American Civil War." Ah yes - unattributed commentary.  * Relative Union victory with casualties on both sides. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=72404 "On 4 December 1861, fifty-five men of the 3rd New Jersey Infantry, Col. George W. Taylor commanding, set an ambush nearby in retaliation for attacks on Union pickets. They stretched two telegraph wires across Braddock Road at the eastern end of a “perfect bog...