Remembering Herndon's History: From Manassas to Antietam

Map shows troop movement through Herndon after the Battle of Chantilly. From the Fairfax Co. Park Authority.

Confederate Generals Jackson and Longstreet moved their corps through the Herndon and Dranesville area.

Herndon resident Kitty Kitchen Hanna was a witness to Civil War events. Photo courtesy Herndon Historical Society.

By Barbara Glakas

During the Civil War, the village of Herndon experienced one military raid which took place near the railroad Depot in 1863. However, that brief raid was not the villagers’ only war experience. Given the position of Herndon in Northern Virginia the residents were not oblivious to the sights and sounds of war and the troop movements swirling all around them.

Some residents, depending on their individual political leanings, occasionally felt compelled to quickly escape the village in order to avoid the approaching troops, depending on whether those troops were Union or Confederate.

One such couple was Nat Hanna and his wife, Kitty Kitchen Hanna. They were a married couple of different state origins – Kitty a lifelong Virginian who was a southern sympathizer, and Nat a native New Yorker who supported President Lincoln. Kitty and Nat were also loyal to each other.

The Confederates were victorious in the First Battle of Manassas -- also known as the Battle of Bull Run -- the first major land battle of the Union and Confederate armies in Virginia. The battle took place in July of 1861 in Manassas. Both sides experienced significant casualties and injuries. The victory gave the South a surge of confidence.

In Mary Castleman’s book, Reminiscences of an Oldest Inhabitant, Kitty told the story of how her husband, Nat, who had signed up for the Home Guards, received orders to join the Militia at Manassas, with three days of rations. Nat and one of her brothers went to “Vienny” that same night to take the railroad into to Union lines. Kitty’s other brother, John, however, wanted to join the Southerners. Kitty said:

“After supper the [Southern] men all went away by the lane leadin’ across fields – Cedar Lane, they called it, ‘count of that clump of cedars still standin’ in Urick’s field. I was left with Mother and the boy. “

William Urick’s farm was located in the vicinity of Herndon’s Chandon subdivision. Kitty continued:

“The nex’ Sunday, we heard firin’ at Manassas – little guns an’ big guns above the res’. James White, my cousin, come to spen’ the day; he was a terrible Secessioner, an’ all day long he kept saying to hisself…’Oh Lord, I’m feared the ammunition’ll give out!’ Jim told me about the big cannon that kep’ boomin’, how it was the Southerns firing’.”

Kitty said she knew “the Southerns has whipped,” explaining, “I know ‘cause the big gun’s comin’ nearer this way, an’ it must be the Southerns has won.” And so it turned out to be.

The Second Battle of Manassas (or Bull Run) occurred in August of 1862. A follow up battle took place on September 1 near the present day location of Fair Oaks Mall as the Union army was in retreat to the city of Washington. The battle is commonly referred to as the Battle of Chantilly or Ox Hill. It was the only major battle fought in Fairfax County. Again, the Confederates were victorious, handing the North another blow to their morale.

Encouraged by his victory, General Robert E. Lee decided to continue his offensive and quickly move his Confederate Army northward toward Leesburg, where he would cross the Potomac River and move into Maryland and on to Sharpsburg. On September 3, Lee and his Generals – Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet -- exited Chantilly and moved the Army of Northern Virginia through the present day Reston, Herndon and Sterling to reach Dranesville. They then headed northwest to Leesburg.

Those who lived in the village of Herndon could hear the sounds from the second battle at Manassas. Kitty, Nat and their young son, had been living in the Herndon Depot, operating a supply store, making a prosperous living. Kitty recalled that the months of April through July were quiet but all that changed later in the summer.

One day when Nat was away from the store, business picked up considerably. Kitty said,

“I was sellin’ all day long, standin’ on my feet till I was ready to drop, ‘cause customers would come crowdin’ an’ crowdin’ till I began to suspect somethin’ was up… I’d listen to guns firin’ over yonder, an’ I said to mother, who’d come by to visit me – ‘I’ve been hearing guns boomin’ near two days, Mother. The Southerns must be comin’back this way.’

“Lookin’ up the railway, I saw about a dozen bluecoats comin.’ They rode without a word … an’ lef’ us wonderin’ what’s nex’. We found out later they was deserters from the Union Army, headin’ for the river toward Seneca.”

A friend named McDaniel stopped by the store and whispered to Kitty, “Kitty, Southerners has come back to Manassas, their old battlegroun.” Kitty knew that was true, based on the gun fire she could hear and the sudden buying of supplies.

Nat heard about the nearby action and came riding home fast. Kitty said, “Long ‘bout dark, I heard such a clatter of hoof’s comin’ downhill, I knew it was Nat drivin’ at breakneck speed.” Kitty did not want to leave her home again, but Nat insisted that they “skedaddle” and join his folks who were also leaving the area again.

McDaniel bought out the Hannas who then left the store. They started off in the dark, working their way through the pines out toward the Bicksler’s property (now near Dranesville Road and Park Avenue). They made their way to Sugarland Run and then joined Nat’s parents at a house near Dranesville Tavern. They ate and then pushed on until they came to a fort where pickets were out and troops were mustering. The troops would not let them pass that evening so they camped outside the city.

The next day they reached Georgetown. While there Kitty recalled,

“’Twas the night of Manassas, an’ we could hear the cannon boomin’ an’ boomin’, an’ nex day the ambulances kep’ comin’ with the wounded.”

Kitty sat quietly in the wagon, listening intently to the sounds of the guns. Her father-in-law asked her which way the battle was going, to which she replied, “The Southerns has whipped again – we won’t go home very soon.”

Nat left while Kitty found her brother’s home, where she stayed for some time. One night while in Georgetown Kitty recalled seeing a passing army.

“I heard trampin’ an’ runnin’ an‘ saw an army passin’. It was the Northerns goin’ to Antietam where that awful battle raged. They’d gathered forces an’ took a week for them to pass – wagons, ammunition, soldiers an’ all. There wasn’t room on the sidewalk for common people!”

Nat later returned safe and sound. After the roads were clear, the Hannas were free to return home to Herndon. Soon after, the marching armies clashed again on September 17 in Sharpsburg, Maryland, in the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest one-day battle in the Civil War.

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About this column: “Remembering Herndon’s History” is a regular Herndon Patch feature offering stories and anecdotes about Herndon’s past. The articles are written by members of the Herndon Historical Society. Barbara Glakas is a member. A complete list of “Remembering Herndon’s History” columns is available on the Historical Society website at herndonhistoricalsociety.org.

The Herndon Historical Society operates a small museum that focuses on local history. It is housed in the Herndon Depot in downtown Herndon on Lynn Street and is open every Sunday from noon until 3:00. Visit the Society’s website at herndonhistoricalsociety.org, and the Historical Society’s Facebook page at facebook.com/HerndonHistory for more information.

Note: The Historical Society is seeking volunteers to help keep the museum open each Sunday. If you have an interest in local history and would like to help, contact HerndonHistoricalSociety@gmail.com.