Battle of Vienna, Virginia

Battle of Vienna, Virginia
Part of the American Civil War
1st Ohio Infantry in action at Vienna, Virginia June 17, 1861
Date June 17, 1861 Location Vienna, Virginia Fairfax County, Virginia Result Confederate Victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Irvin McDowell Robert C. Schenck	P. G. T. Beauregard Maxcy Gregg
Strength
274	750
Casualties and losses
8 killed 4 wounded	none reported

Coordinates: 38°54′03″N 77°15′23″W / 38.9008351°N 77.2564224°W / 38.9008351; -77.2564224

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 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. It was the first case of troop movement by train in the Civil War.

In the early morning of May 24, 1861, the day after the secession of Virginia from the Union was ratified by popular vote, Union forces occupied Alexandria, Virginia and Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Union troops occupied the area up to distances of about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the river. On June 1, 1861, a small U. S. Regular Army patrol on a scout as far as 8 miles (13 km) from their post at Camp Union in Falls Church, Virginia rode into Fairfax Court House, Virginia and fought a small and brief battle with part of a company of Virginia militia (soon to be Confederate Army infantry) at the Battle of Fairfax Court House (June 1861). The patrol brought back to the Union Army commanders an exaggerated estimate of Confederate strength at Fairfax Court House. Together with an even smaller affair the same night at a Union outpost in Arlington, the Battle of Arlington Mills, the Fairfax Court House engagement made Union commanders hesitate to extend their bridgehead into Virginia.

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Wikipedia