In spring 1863, a wye was constructed at Devereux Siding to enable trains to turn around after the Union Army abandoned the Orange and Alexandria Railroad south of Bull Run. By June 1863 the entire railroad outside of the defenses of Washington was abandoned until the return of Major General George Meade's Army of the Potomac following their successful Gettysburg Campaign. New York infantry regiments were stationed at the siding in order to protect wood station operations and the railroad from Confederate attack.