Download The Reenactment of Mosby`s Raid on Herndon on St. Patrick`s Day

The Reenactment of Mosby’s Raid on Herndon on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1863
Held at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm – Sunday March 17, 2013
Announcer: Good Morning/Good Afternoon
Let’s imagine what Herndon used to look like during the Civil War. The small train station with
a new Post Office inside recently named for Commander William Lewis Herndon, stood here
along the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire railroad. The tracks were in disrepair as the
railroad had been abandoned in this area at the very beginning of the war in 1861. Those tracks
ran along today’s W&OD trail.
There were a few buildings for local business located around the depot where we stand today.
Narrow dirt roads were used by the local farmers to bring their milk here to be taken by the train
and sold in the city of Washington.
The few hundred farmers in the area lived in fear of the patrols of soldiers from both sides of the
war that moved through the area looking for enemy soldiers as well as for food for themselves.
The area was controlled by the Confederate Army until March of 1862 when they moved south.
After that, the area around the train station was used an outpost for the Union forces guarding the
outskirts of the City of Washington.
On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day in 1863, the local population was terrified as Confederate
Captain John Singleton Mosby made a raid on the Union picket post at the train depot but mostly
at a saw mill at the near the Ice House Café at the intersection of Elden and Center Streets. The
post consisted of 25 men of the First Vermont Cavalry under Lieutenant Alexander Watson.
Watson joined three other Union officers, Major Wells, Captain Schofield, and Lieutenant
Cheney, of the First Vermont Cavalry who had ridden to the Herndon Station from Dranesville
early in the day to investigate charges that the Union soldiers had been stealing from the local
citizens.
Action: Major Wells, Captain Schofield, and Lt. Cheney ride into town and stop
and talk to the local civilians (outside the Depot). They are joined by Lt. Watson.
The civilians complain about Union soldiers coming into their houses for food, and
stealing cows, horses, hogs, hens, furniture, corn, oats, hay, fences, and potatoes, etc.
Major Wells listens and says he’s here to look into it. Then he says “Lt. Watson tells
me we can have lunch at Nat Hanna’s. Let’s go eat.”
Announcer: After their investigation, the four Union officers went to the house of Nathaniel
Hanna, a loyal northerner, who had invited Lt. Watson for lunch. Nathaniel was away at the
time, so the lunch was served by his wife, Kitty Kitchen Hanna, a loyal southerner.
Action: The four Union soldiers ride over to Kitty Kitchen Hanna’s house (The
Town Hall). The horses will be held in the grass outside the steps of the Town Hall.
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Kitty Kitchen Hanna will be seen coming out of the entrance talking with the Union
soldiers for a few minutes. Then they go inside.
Announcer: At noon on that day, Mosby approached the station with his men from out of the
woods and came upon the cavalry pickets who were stationed around the saw mill. The Union
soldiers saw Mosby coming, but, having been on picket duty for the 48 hours, thought Mosby’s
men were a relief party.
Mosby’s men were wearing blue overcoats covering their gray uniforms. The Union soldiers did
not realize that the riders were Confederate raiders until Mosby made a charge, quickly captured
most of them, with the rest electing to surrender. Such was the surprise attack, they did not have
a chance to fire their guns.
Action: There will be a dozen Union soldiers outside of the “Saw Mill” and a dozen
outside the Depot. They will be talking and grumbling about being on picket duty
so long and wanting to go back to Dranesville.
Mosby and his men will ride up Lynn Street and stop at Lynn and Station Streets.
A Union soldier at the Depot seeing them yells out, “There’s our relief party boys!
The rest of the men will holler “Huzzah”, “About Time,” and “Time to go back to
Dranesville.” They will walk across the street to Saw Mill/Nachman’s.
Mosby and his men will pull out their guns, shooting at the Union soldiers and ride
quickly up to the Saw Mill/Nachman’s. Mosby shouts “Capture them men!”
Mosby’s men fire while charging. One Union soldier, Blinn Atchinson, is wounded
in the hip. After the brief gunplay, the Union soldiers surrender without firing a
shot and Mosby’s men take them prisoner.
Mosby dismounts with his pistol and walks up to the Saw Mill and yells, “Who is in
charge here?” A Union officer presents himself. Mosby holds his pistol up to the
officer’s face and yells, “I demand you and your men surrender!” The Union officer
yells “No sir. I will never surrender!”
Pointing his pistol at the “Saw Mill”/Nachmans Mosby says, “I don’t need to attack
your men in this saw mill, I just have to light it on fire!” Mosby turns to his men
and says “Light some fires boys.” Before they do, the Union officer yells “OK, I
surrender.” He turns back to the door and yells “Everybody out!” With that the
rest of the Union soldiers come out and surrender. Mosby’s men take them into
custody.
Mosby remounts his horse and rides into the cobblestone area at the end of the
depot.
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Announcer: As Mosby’s men were leaving the sawmill, they noticed the four horses tied in
front of the nearby Hanna house, which was located at today’s Main Street Bank across Elden
Street, where the four officers of the First Vermont Cavalry were still having lunch.
Action: Looking towards the “Hanna House/Town Hall” Mosby stops and says to
his men, “Those are the Yankee horses men. The Yankees must be inside. Come on
with me.” Mosby and his men ride over to the “Hanna House/Town Hall.” His men
dismount at the door. Mosby’s men take the four horses away and the Union
soldier holding them away.
Mosby looks inside a window and comes back to his men. He says, “There are four
Yankee officers eating lunch inside.”
Announcer: Two of the officers, Cheney and Watson, rushed out only to be captured. Wells and
Schofield tried to hide in the attic. One of Mosby’s rangers went in the house and fired a shot
through the ceiling calling for their surrender causing Major Wells to fall through the ceiling
directly into the hands of his captors.
Action: At this moment Kitty runs out of the house and looks around and screams
“The Southerns!” She looks back at the door and yells “Gentlemen, go outside, or
I’ll be murdered in my own house!” She runs away screaming.
Mosby and his men deploy outside the door of the “Kitchen House/Town Hall.”
Two Union officers, Cheney and Watson, rush out firing their guns. Mosby’s men
fire back. Realizing they are outnumbered, the two Union officers hastily surrender
and Mosby’s men take them into custody.
There is a moment of silence with Mosby still outside the door. He calls two of his
men over and says “There must be two more inside. Go in and bring them out.”
The two men go in the door, and come out a minute later and report to Mosby, “The
food is still on the table but we can’t find anyone inside.” Mosby says, “They must
have gone up in the attic. Fire a shot up there and let’s see if that brings them
down!”
The two men go back in and we hear a shot. Mosby’s men walk out with two
Yankee prisoners. One reports to Mosby, “Captain Mosby, I fired a shot like you
said and this one, a Captain Wells, (covered in white dust), fell straight down
through ceiling from the attic. He was easy to catch. We captured this other one as
well.”
Mosby looks at the Yankee soldiers and says, “Welcome to Richmond boys.” He
turns the Yankees over to his men and says to one of his men, “Looks like a nice
lunch in there boys. Go in and take it all.” One of Mosby’s men goes back in and
comes back out with a tablecloth full of food. He says, “Your right Captain, Yankee
prisoners and good food too!”
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All of Mosby’s men leave with their prisoners and the lunch. They ride back to the
“Saw Mill”/Nachmans,” and stop to pick up the rest of his men and the prisoners.
Mosby says, “Come on boys, we best ride south. There may be reinforcements
coming from Dranesville. Besides, we have a good lunch to eat!” His men let out a
holler and they all ride back down Lynn Street back to Station Street with all the
prisoners.
Announcer: Additional men from the Vermont Cavalry in Dranesville did gave chase to Mosby
and his men to the Horsepen Run southwest of the station where Mosby’s men opened fire and
the Union soldiers retreated.
Mosby reported his very successful raid on Herndon Station capturing 25 soldiers and 26 horses
without a loss. He also reported the lunch disappeared with him as well!
Within a couple of weeks after this raid on St. Patrick’s Day however, Mosby’s again men rode
into Herndon, stopping at Kitty Kitchen Hanna’s house once again. Kitty later recounted what
happened next:
Kitty: “The leader rode into our yard an’ lef’ his horse standin,’ an’ knocked at the front door.
‘Madam,’ he says, ‘I come to apologize to you for my men shootin’ at your house a week or so
back.’ ‘So they did,” I replied, but said no more.
‘Can you let me have a newspaper to read, Madam?’ he said. “No, sir, I can’t.’ Mosby was too
polite to insist, an’ he turned an’ walked away. I never saw him after, but in his book he called
me a ‘Union woman’; he little knew how my heart was torn to pieces. I wished harm to nobody,
an’ cared for many a soldier, Northern an’ Southern alike. I grew nervous seein’ scouts at all
hours, an’ soldiers rushin’ by with bayonets pointed at my home.
But I let that pass, an’ bygones be bygones.”
Announcer: Thank you all for attending. Please stay where you are. Captain Mosby, Major
Wells, Kitty Kitchen Hanna and all of our reenactors will return to answer your questions.
Please take the time to talk to them, our living historians, and visit our civil war book vendors.
The Train Depot will be open until 1:00 pm. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Action: The reenactors return to answer questions between the Depot and
Nachmans.
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