The Prince William Historic Preservation
Foundation, a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is raising funds for the Curation and Conservation of American Civil War Artifacts at the Brentsville Jail. We are raising funds to conserve and prepare for exhibition a
significant collection of Civil War artifacts. These artifacts will form
the basis for the interpretation of the Civil War in Brentsville. The original boots that were found on site, military
accouterments, and bullets will need to be identified, conserved and prepared
for the exhibit. Our goal of $3,500 will accomplish this project to include the
conservation, interpretation and display of the materials. This project will ensure that the American Civil War history of
Brentsville is a significant part of the
overall Jail exhibit. The exhibit is scheduled
to open in May of 2015.
The Brentsville Jail is a nationally significant historic
property located in Prince William County, Virginia.
Civil War Story of Brentsville,
Virginia
“Came to Brentsville, examined the
place, found five houses occupied, including the jail. But two men reside in
this town; the court-house has but a part of the roof remaining on; the houses
are generally in ruins.” Thus began a letter of March 8, 1864, written by
Captain Andrew H. McHenry of the 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry.
Brentsville, Virginia has a rich and colorful
Civil War story that has largely been lost to history. The purpose of
this project is to re-discover that history and tell it through the
interpretation of artifacts left behind by both Union and Confederate soldiers.
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Brentsville was the county seat during the Civil War. It was at the Brentsville
courthouse that citizens met to vote on secession and where they came to enlist
in the military. In response to John Brown’s raid on
Harper’s Ferry in 1859, the Prince William Cavalry (Co. A, Virginia Cavalry)
was formed here on the courthouse lawn in January 1860. The Ewell Guards
(Co. A, 49th VA Infantry), were also organized here and drilled on the
courthouse lawn.
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When Union General McClellan began his campaign to take the new Confederate
capital in Richmond, southern troops were forced to evacuate their winter camps
that were set up throughout much of Fairfax and Prince William Counties.
Brentsville, then the seat of local government, was one of the first
communities affected by invading Federal forces. Thousands of troops of both
sides passed through Brentsville. Churches and private homes became hospitals
after battles at Manassas and Bristoe Station. Many of the buildings were
ravaged for bricks to build encampments. The roof of the courthouse was
partially torn off and the adjacent clerk's office was totally destroyed. Most
of the county's records were lost. A Union soldier wrote, “The documentary
accumulations of more than two hundred years had been torn out of their files
and scattered over the floors of the buildings to the depth of several feet.”
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Brentsville sat in the midst of “Mosby’s Confederacy” as Confederate partisans
harassed union troops throughout the war. A soldier in the Tenth Regiment
Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry wrote, “Guerrillas were all about us, as was
evident when a straggling member of the Tenth was fired upon….Oct. 6th, a squad
of men went over to Brentsville, shire town of Prince William County, to get
bricks for the General’s quarters. They secured them, but at the expense
of the buildings themselves.”
Other Ways You Can Help
If you are unable to contribute financially, here are some other ways you
can help support the campaign.
Help us get the word out. Email your friends and/or post the link to the
campaign on your FaceBook, Twitter or Instagram pages. You can also use
the Indiegogo sharing tools to share our fundraising campaign!
Thanks for your help!
