On this day, June 17, 1861, the Battle of Vienna, Virginia, occurred

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Battle of Vienna, Virginia

Coordinates: 38°54′03″N 77°15′23″W



1st Ohio Infantry in action at Vienna, Virginia
June 17, 1861

Date: June 17, 1861
Location: Vienna, Virginia; Fairfax County, Virginia
Result: Confederate Victory

The Battle of Vienna, Virginia was a minor engagement between Union and Confederate forces on June 17, 1861, during the early days of the American Civil War.

The Union was trying to protect the areas of Virginia opposite Washington, D.C., and established a camp at Vienna, at the end of a 15-mile (24.1 km) railroad to Alexandria. As Union Brig. Gen. Robert C. Schenck was transporting the 1st Ohio Infantry to Vienna by train, they were overheard by Confederate scouts led by Colonel Maxcy Gregg, who set up an ambush. They hit the train with two cannon shots, inflicting casualties of eight killed and four wounded, before the Union men escaped into the woods. The engineer had fled with the locomotive, so the Union force had to retreat on foot. The Confederates briefly attempted a pursuit in the dark, but it was called off.

Compared with later operations, the battle involved only small numbers, with the Union fielding 274 infantry, and the Confederates about 750 of infantry, cavalry and artillery. But it was widely reported by an eager press, and it worried the government, whose 90-day regiments were due to be disbanded.

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[EYESORE 9001]

1. I remember finding out as a child the physical location of civil war battlefields

It was disconcerting to see how close some of the battles were to Washington. I set my thinking off in different directions, feeling thankful that confederate military leaders hadn’t planned a ‘surgical strike’ on President Lincoln and other key figures. No doubt their plans would include strategic locations, like Capitol Hill.

Intrusive thoughts compelled me to switch from civil war to a series of biographies about white men who ostensibly ‘tamed’ the west. Thus began a mental revolt against so much I’d learned so far, but that’s a different story.