The Fight at Waterford

The Fight at Waterford
Part of The American Civil War
Date August 27, 1862 Location Waterford Loudoun County, Virginia Result Confederate Victory
Belligerents
United States of America	Confederate States of America
Commanders and leaders
Samuel C. Means Luther Slater	Elijah V. White
Units involved
Loudoun Rangers	35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry
Strength
53	51
Casualties and losses
15 (2 killed, 11 wounded, 2 captured)	2 (2 killed)
Location of the fight in Virginia

The Fight at Waterford was a small skirmish during the American Civil War that took place in Waterford, Virginia on August 27, 1862 between the local partisan cavalry units of White's Rebels, fighting for the Confederates, and the Loudoun Rangers fighting for the Union. The Rebels surprised and routed the newly formed Loudoun Rangers in their camp at Waterford, capturing nearly the whole unit before subsequently paroling them, thus resulting in a Confederate victory. The action was the first significant partisan fighting in Loudoun County.

On August 26, Captain Samuel C. Means moved his newly formed command, the independent Loudoun Rangers, to the unionist village of Waterford in Loudoun County, Virginia in preparation to conduct operations against the county's Confederate controlled territory. Means stationed 24 men on picket duty: 4 men on each of the 6 roads leading into the town. He then placed the rest of his command in the local Baptist church before retiring to his residence in the village, placing Lieutenant Luther Slater in nominal command of the unit.

Meanwhile, on the 25th, Captain Elijah V. White and his company of cavalry, some 100 strong, was granted permission by Gen. Richard S. Ewell to return to their native county to find forage and harass Federals operating in the county. The following day they reached the southern portion of the county whereupon they learned of the formation of the Loudoun Rangers a month prior and their presence at Waterford. That evening, with about half of his command, White tramped off the main roads through fields and forests to Waterford, evading the Ranger's pickets.

In the pre-dawn hours of the 27th, guided by local Confederate sympathizers, White's Rebels approached the Baptists church under cover of darkness to find the 28 Rangers there camped on the porch. Cpt. White decided to split his command in two and sent 30 men, mounted, onto the road as a decoy to draw the Rangers into the open, while the other 20, on foot, waited in the field across the street with orders to fire only after the Rangers took the bait. The anxious Rebels, however, failed to wait and opened fire on the Rangers early causing them to scramble into the refuge of the church, though not before suffering one killed one and two injured, including Lt. Slater who relinquished command to Charles A. Webster. White then sent his decoy force into town to capture Means and the Rangers pickets, while he, with the rest of the command laid siege to the church. In town, the Rebels found that Means and the pickets had fled, but were able to capture two sentries at Means house and a cache of weapons and supplies.