Battle of Chantilly
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The Battle of Chantilly or Ox Hill took place on September 1, 1862, in Virginia as the concluding battle of the Northern Virginia Campaign of the American Civil War.
After the Second Battle of Bull Run, General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson hoped to cut off the Union retreat. Making a wide flanking march, his divisions met two Union divisions under the command of Generals Philip Kearny and Isaac Stevens at Ox Hill, near the plantation of Chantilly.
The fighting, which occurred during a fierce thunderstorm, was inconclusive at best, for the Union repulsed the Confederate attacks. However, both Stevens and Kearny were killed in the fighting. Major General John Pope, recognizing the attack as an indication of continued danger to his army, continued his retreat to the fortifications around Washington, D.C.. Lee began the Maryland Campaign, including the Battle of Antietam, after Pope retreated out of Virginia. The Army of the Potomac, under Major General George B. McClellan, absorbed the forces of Pope's Army of Virginia, which was disbanded as a separate army.
The site of the battle, once rural farmland, is now surrounded by suburban development in Fairfax County. The intersection of the modern thoroughfares of Route 50 (also known as Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway) and Virginia State Highway 123 (also known as Ox Road) intersect near the location of the battle. A 4.8 acre (19,000 m²) memorial park, the Ox Hill Battlefield Park lies adjacent to the Fairfax Town Center shopping area, and includes the site of the battle. The park is under the jurisdiction of the Fairfax County Park Authority; in January, 2005, the Authority approved a General Management Plan and Conceptual Development Plan (http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gmp/oxhillgmp.pdf) that sets forth a detailed history and future management framework for the site.
References
- CWSAC Battle Summaries, National Park Service (http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/bycampgn.htm)