The Christmas Raid

After the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862, most of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia settled into winter quarters except for Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, which instead went on the move. Wade Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee, and William H.F. "Rooney" Lee made a "forced reconnaissance" behind Union lines to steal supplies, disrupt communications, and harass the Federals.

Stuart attacked Dumfries and Occoquan on December 27, and then rode with his 1,800 men toward Fairfax Station, a Federal supply depot. After dark the next evening, they arrived here at Burke's Station, where Fitzhugh Lee burned the nearby Orange & Alexandria Railroad bridge over Accotink Creek. They also damaged track and transmitted telegraph messages. Stuart famously wired his own audacious message to Federal Quartermaster General Montgomery C. Meigs complaining that the poor quality of the Union mules hampered him in removing all of the supplies he had captured.

When local physician William Holsapple, investigating a light at the station, stumbled on the raiders, Stuart detained him and made him stand on the tracks until the cavalry was out of sight. The Confederates rode to Fairfax Courthouse, where Federal infantry fired "a heavy volley" at them, then moved on to Frying Pan and rested. They reached winter quarters near Fredericksburg on January 1, 1863.

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