The Civil War arrived abruptly in Fairfax. Virginia officially seceded from the United States on May 23, 1861. ¹¹  On May 24, 1861, Union forces crossed into Alexandria. ¹²  Just days later, on June 1, Union cavalry from the 2nd U.S Cavalry Regiment rode into Fairfax Courthouse to scout for Confederate defenses in preparation for further Union advances towards Richmond. ¹³  There they clashed with Confederate forces, marking the first land engagement of the Civil War in Fairfax. Ultimately, Confederate forces were able to fend off the Union cavalry. ¹⁴ However, Union forces would make a return to Fairfax just weeks later.

                On July 17, 1861, a skirmish took place in the vicinity of Farr’s Crossroads between Union and Confederate forces as Union troops advanced to Manassas. ¹⁵ Union forces briefly occupied Fairfax until the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21st, where they were forced to retreat out of Northern Virginia. ¹⁶  Union forces would not regain control of Fairfax until March of 1862, when Confederate forces withdrew further south prior to Union General McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.¹⁷  From March of 1862 to the end of the war, Union forces would largely retain control of Fairfax, with various units stationed at Fairfax Courthouse to guard the rail lines and defend Washington. However, Fairfax would remain a contested landscape until the end of the war.

               Raids conducted by Confederate guerrilla forces, such as John Singleton Mosby’s Rangers, were frequent in Fairfax during the latter half of the war, mainly targeting Fairfax Courthouse and Fairfax Station on the O&A Railroad. Mosby’s Rangers would retain a constant presence in Fairfax, as depicted in numerous articles in the Alexandria Gazette throughout 1863 and 1864. Many members of Mosby’s Rangers lived in Fairfax County prior to the war, including both Rezin S. Farr and Richard Farr.¹⁸

                The Civil War’s impact on Fairfax was devastating. Numerous family homes were burned down by Union Forces, who also terrorized the local population.¹⁹ One section from an 1863 Alexandria Gazette article details multiple robberies that New York 5th Cavalry members committed against Fairfax citizens. ²⁰ As a result of Union occupation and the contested nature of Fairfax, many residents were forced to evacuate to other parts of the state or country, including the Farr family. However, not all residents of Fairfax felt terrorized. The war provided the opportunity for some enslaved people of Fairfax to escape, including one of Margaret C. Farr’s slaves named Burr. In a debt collection case from 1876, it is revealed that Burr fled to Union Lines around May 24th, the same day that Union forces crossed into Alexandria.²¹

11. Nan Netherton, Donald Sweig, Janice Artemel, Patricia Hickin, and Patrick Reed, Fairfax County, Virginia: A History(Fairfax, VA: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 1978).

12. Nan Netherton, Donald Sweig, Janice Artemel, Patricia Hickin, and Patrick Reed, Fairfax County, Virginia: A History(Fairfax, VA: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 1978).

13. "First Battle of Fairfax Court House," Spirit of ’61: An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia, February 12, 2021, https://spirit61.info/battles/potomac-front/first-battle-of-fairfax-court-house/.

14. "First Battle of Fairfax Court House," Spirit of ’61: An Encyclopedia of Early Civil War Virginia, February 12, 2021, https://spirit61.info/battles/potomac-front/first-battle-of-fairfax-court-house/.

15. "The Movement of Col. Miles's Column," The Evening Star (Washington, DC), July 18, 1861, https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1861-07-18/ed-1/?sp=2&st=image&r=-0.123,-0.031,1.141,0.579,0.

16. "Battle of Bull's Run, Va., July 21, 1861," National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, accessed August 23, 2026, https://www.si.edu/object/battle-bulls-run-va-july-21-1861%3Anmah_325543.

17."The Peninsula Campaign," American Battlefield Trust, accessed August 22, 2026, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/peninsula-campaign-0.

18. Edward Coleman Trexler Jr., Endowed by the Creator: Families of Fairfax Court House, Virginia (Fairfax, VA: James River Valley Publishing, 2003).

19. Nan Netherton, Donald Sweig, Janice Artemel, Patricia Hickin, and Patrick Reed, Fairfax County, Virginia: A History(Fairfax, VA: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 1978).

20. "From Fairfax Courthouse," Alexandria Gazette, January 5, 1863, Virginia Chronicle, Library of Virginia, https://www.virginiachronicle.com/?a=d&d=AG18630105.1.4&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN---------.

21. Margaret C. Farr v. C. A. Arundle’s Administrator, Law Case Files, Case No. 1876-108, Historic Records Center, Fairfax County Circuit Court, Fairfax, VA.

Lucas Gimm