Ox Hill Battlefield Park

After being defeated at the Battle of Second Manassas (called Second Battle of Bull Run by the Union), the Federal army retreated to positions near Centreville, Virginia. Confederate general Robert E. Lee, in an attempt to surround the Union army and block its retreat towards Washington, D.C., sent 20,000 men under Stonewall Jackson north and then east along the Little River Turnpike (today part of Route 50) to get behind the Union position. Union General John Pope learned of this action, and sent about 6,000 men to intercept. The two sides came into contact during the afternoon of September 1, 1862. The Confederate forces were on Ox Hill, alongside the Little River Turnpike, and the Union forces came from the south. A severe thunderstorm raged as each side attacked and counterattacked, and Union generals Stevens and Kearny were killed during the fighting. During a charge by the 79th New York Highlanders, later called the Cameron Highlanders, against Confederates massed in the woods, Stevens picked up the regiment's fallen colors and shouted, "Highlanders, my Highlanders, follow your general!" Within seconds, a Confederate bullet struck his head and he died instantly. After receiving a message from Gen. David B. Birney that there was a gap in the Union line, Kearny rode through a cornfield to reconnoiter. This brought him face to face with a line of Rebels, who shouted, "That's a Yankee officer! Shoot him!" Kearny ignored an order to halt and musket volley from the 49th Georgia regiment brought him down. By nightfall, neither side had broken through, and both fell back. The Union suffered approximately 1,300 casualties, with the Confederacy losing about 800. The bulk of the Union army was able to retreat further east towards Washington, ending Lee's attempt to fully defeat the Union army and thus protecting the capital from attack, but it came at a cost of many casualties and two important generals lost. Lee instead turned to Maryland, and fought the Battle of Antietam sixteen days later. ==History of the park==

John N. Ballard, a Confederate cavalryman during the Civil War who lost a leg serving under John S. Mosby, ended up owning much of the Ox Hill battlefield in the 1870s after marrying the heiress (Mary Reid Thrift). On July 7, 1915, Ballard and his wife deeded a small plot near the site of Stevens' death for the purpose of "allowing any person or persons the privilege of erecting appropriate monuments or markers commemorating the death of any Confederate or Federal Soldier who fell in the battle fought on the Fruit Vale Farm, this battle was fought on the 1st day of September 1862, being known as the Battle of Ox Hill or Chantilly." The plot was deeded to six trustees; three from New Jersey (Kearny's home) and three from Virginia. Trustees have since been appointed by court order. The monuments to Stevens and Kearny were dedicated on October 2, 1915, by the First New Jersey Brigade Society. In the 1980s, the area of the battlefield began to be commercially developed. The company which acquired rights to the park area wanted to move the monuments to a new location, but following opposition to this plan (including articles in The Washington Post), in 1987 the developer agreed to leave the stones in place and donated surrounding the monuments to Fairfax County. In 1994, the county purchased an additional . The rest of the battlefield is now completely developed. Signs designating the Ox Hill Battlefield Park were placed on the site, but little else was done with the park for many years. In 2004, the Fairfax County Park Authority developed plans to improve the park, including restoration of some elements of the Civil War battlefield, two new monuments to Confederate and Union soldiers, and additional signage. The Fairfax County Park Authority dedicated a newly restored park on September 1, 2008, the 146th anniversary of the Confederate victory. The new park comes with a wheelchair-ready trail, interpretive exhibits, and three hexagonal information kiosks. The visitor may step into a portion of the original cornfield, within two reconstructed split-rail fences that follow the actual fence lines of the fields. The cornfield will be planted with grasses that give the impression of corn, as the County deemed the latter too labor-intensive to maintain. ==Events==

during Memorial Day ceremony in 2007 speaking in 2007 Two or three times a year, groups gather for memorial, commemorative, or historic reenactment special events held at the park. These are typically held on or near significant dates, usually Memorial Day, September 1 (the anniversary of the battle), and Veterans Day. For several years, the 28th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Company B, held a commemoration on a weekend near September 1 which included living history presentations by Civil War re-enactors local historians, demonstrations of infantry and medical activities with military and musket firing, displays of tents and gear, and cooking by the soldiers. ==Features==

Kearny and Stevens memorial The memorial to Generals Kearny and Stevens are two granite monuments, surrounded by an iron rail with granite posts. The plaques read: Note: Stevens was a brigadier general at the time of his death; he was posthumously promoted to major general. Stone markers '''Kearny's Stump''' is a granite marker in the shape of a tree stump, located a few feet away from the memorial. The original tree stump was purported to be the spot where Kearny was killed, though he is now known to have died in a cornfield about away (outside the bounds of the current-day park). The stump was however used as the origin of the survey used to define the memorial plot, so when the original stump rotted away it was replaced with a stone version. There is also a pile of fieldstone rocks and a quartzite boulder on the park grounds, which is believed to mark the location where General Stevens was killed. As of September 2008, Fairfax County Park Authority plans call for a fundraising drive to erect two large granite monuments to honor the contribution of the common soldier because only the two slain Union officers are recognized and no attention is given to the Confederate troops who fought and died there. The Union monument will carry the name of Chantilly and the Confederate one Ox Hill. Signage In 2000, two Virginia Historical Markers were put up at the park entrance. Marker B-13, titled Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly), commemorates the battle while Marker B-29, titled Maryland (Antietam/Sharpsburg) Campaign, commemorates the start of General Lee's Maryland Campaign, which included the Battle of Antietam. Nearby there is one interpretive sign which gives a brief description of the battle. Three hexagonal information kiosks erected in 2008 by Fairfax County Park Authority tell the story of the battle and its significance to the war in Virginia. The hexagonal information kiosks endeavor to match the color theme of the war, the gray (Confederate) sides or columns topped with blue (Union) roofs. ==References==