|
Herndon Station - Route 657 (Elden
St.)
Enlarge
Route 657 (Elden St.) On Tuesday, March 17th, 1863, Mosby's men attacked
the reserve picket post of the First Vermont Cavalry based at Herndon
Station, (also called "Hendrick's Station in some accounts) on the
Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad. By this time, the AL&H had
been under Federal army control for nearly two years, making it a natural
target for partisan ranger activity. However, by this time, the railroad
was nonfunctional west of Vienna as rebels had torn up the tracks in
various places. The depot at Herndon had been converted to a store, and
the town was a union picket post merely because of its geographical
positioning. The 40 Rangers took the Vermonters totally by surprise, as
they arrived at roughly the same time that the Yankee relief detachment
was expected, and were coming from the direction of Dranesville, where the
main cavalry camp was located. The net result was the capture of 4
officers, 21 men, 26 horses and associated equipment. (and four hot
lunches -- read on!) Casualties were light, with one of the Vermonters --
Sgt. Jonathan Blin Atchison of Co. A wounded. One Ranger, John deButts,
was also wounded but only slightly. Before leaving, the Rangers ate the
four lunches that had been left, uneaten on the table. Mosby historian
John Scott, in his 1867 book cited elsewhere states that "as soon as the
officers had delivered up their arms, the men attacked the dinner on the
table and soon dispatched it" |
|
Hannah House
Enlarge
The former house of Union sympathizer Nat
Hannah. At the time of Mosby’s attack, his wife was entertaining four
Union Army officers. As the Rangers were leaving town, Mosby noticed four
well-equipped horses tied in front of the house. He sent “Big Yankee” Ames
and several men into the house but the officers had taken refuge in the
attic. Ames fired a pistol shot through the ceiling calling for their
immediate surrender and they promptly did so. In the rush to climb down,
one officer, Major (later General) William Wells, fell through the plaster
ceiling. General Wells became a friend of Colonel Mosby after the war |
