28 March
2015
BRCWRT SPRING 2015 TOUR
Wolf Run Shoals
Sign up here:
Fairfax
County (Union) & Prince William County
(Confederate) sites w/cookout
December 1862 - April 1865
TOUR MARCHING ORDERS
Date: 28 March 2015
Cost: $5 tour fee. Checks should
made out to BRCWRT & can be mailed to Mark Knowles,
BRCWRT Treasurer, 169 Applegate Drive, Sterling, VA
20164. Alternatively, Mark will accept check or cash
at the February & March meetings.
Assembly Location/Time: 8:45 AM Parking lot near McDonald's Restaurant (adjacent to Wendy's) at University Mall located in southeast quadrant of intersection of Ox Rd. (Route 123) and Braddock Rd. (Route 620). This Mall is located just south of Fairfax City and George Mason University. Look for orange tape on car antennas. (Map)
Graphics of Tour sites: Wolf
Run Shoals Graphics (64.8MB)
Wolf Run Shoals Graphics (reduced - 21.9MB)
Tour Duration: Expect to be
finished by 4:00 PM
Lunch: Chili pots at Kim Brace
house (see below)
Exertion: Light to moderate. Individuals with cardio-vascular or respiratory problems should not participate.
Inclement Weather: We will send out a weather cancellation notice via e-mail the morning of the tour.
Liability: Tour participants are responsible for their own safety and must assume risks and liability for the tour. BRCWRT and its tour leaders shall not be liable for any injuries, loss or damage to persons or property, direct or consequential, arising out of the tours or activities. Tour participants must be able to keep to a two mph pace. Even though not difficult, these trails are not advisable for people with special needs.Chief Tour Guides: Brian McEnany <bmcenany@cox.net>; John De Pue <jfdepue@comcast.net>; Kim Brace <kbrace@aol.com>; Jim Lewis antietam1862@verizon.net
Itinerary:
On the Fairfax County side of Bull Run, Brian McEnany & Jim Lewis will highlight:
- Location of corduroy road that was uncovered in April 2014 at University Mall (Braddock & Ox Rds.)
- Overview of events that occurred from 1785 thru the Civil War @ Wolf Run Shoals
- The old trace of Wolf Run Shoals Rd. (Rte. 610) down to the Occoquan and show where it forded the river.
- Remnants of the Ford Mill
miller’s house and its root cellar, as well as the old
road down to the river.
- Crimean oven, earthworks, battery, and tent sites re: the Vermonters
- Point of Interest: Buckley-Fairfax Cemetery where Mosby Ranger Wellington Fairfax is buried, a family civil war cemetery, and Quailwood, the house where Mary Willcoxon lived.
- Leaving Wolf Run Shoals, we'll travel the back roads of Henderson Rd and Yates Ford Rd to cross over Bull Run into Prince William County. Yates Ford was one of several ways to cross the river between counties.
- We'll turn left onto Davis Ford Rd and cross over the Occoquan River, before turning right into River Forest. Here we'll have lunch at Kim Brace's house. Due to the weather uncertainty, we'll have several large pots of chili ready for everyone. We'll have a change to review a history of maps of the area during the lunch break.
- Following lunch and necessity breaks, we'll get back onto Davis Ford Rd and travel 2.3 miles to the site of Bacon Race Church, which served as a hospital, as well as the area of Hampton's headquarters. Here we'll meet Bill Olson, who will give a history of the church and cemetery where several Mosby Rangers are buried.
- We'll then head north on Bacon Race Church Rd to the site of Sally Davis' Ford and walk to the rifle pits that are still observable.
- We'll then end the tour at Bill Olson's house, which is at the end of Wolf Run Shoals on the Prince William County side and where travelers who crossed the shoals came back onto land. There we can look off Bill's porch and see the location of the mill and the Union camp across the river where we were in the morning. If the weather is nice we may be able to take Bill's pontoon boat onto the river and anchor above where the mill was located.