Evening star., 1921-11-13
THE RAMBLER MAKES ANOTHER TRIP !
TO FAMOUS CHANTILLY BATTLEFIELD

lily when the colony Of Virginia was
young. The ancient Turbervilic man
sion stood near the Little River pike.
about four miles west of OK Hill and
Fender Near the old Turbervilie
house was established a post offic..
called chantilly. 1t is fine country
up there and very large neighbor-
mood is called Chantilly. A stranger
cannot tell when he comes to Chan
tllly or when he leaves it
neither the Turberville tract Of
Chantilly extended as far east as
Pender and included the battlefield of
Ok Hill. the Rambler has no means
or determining at this moment, but :
he considers it likely that OK Hill
was a part Of the Chantilly tract 25S
years ago. At any rate, the battle
which was fought on OK Hill and in
It's Immediate vicinity was called by
the Confederates the battle Of OK Hill.
Whlie the federalS and their his
tnrlans set it down as the battle of
thantilly. 1t was the closing engage
ment of the federals' disa strous sec
ond Bull Run campaign. and in a way
1t was Il prelude to the inva sion of
western Maryland, resulting in the
battle of Sharpsburg or Antietam.
which yielded no substantial return
TO the Army of Northern Virginia for
Its efforts and its losses. At this dis
tance one can see that Antietam was
Confederate defeat, though Lee
fought Mcclellan to a standstill and
retired with good grace. Time was
working against the Army Of North
ern Virginia and to fight and not win
a victory and drive it home was "A
defeat. With time against it and
with resources being heaped up on
! the federal side. it was a Confederate
defeat to fight a drawn battle.
Two Sundays ago the Rambler
wrote:
Turning south al Pender you will note on
the left vf tie old dirt road number Of
,learlngs set with small houses On the righI
is a broad. deep stretch OF woods. A quarter
OF mile, perhaps If may be a few rod
, the woods. and before you are hundreds OF
! acres of farm land, rolling undulating-
that is, filed with gentle rises and ridges and
equally gentle wales With the woods on your
right and Few yards before coming to the
point where the wood tract and the rolling
fields meet is old and weather-beaten gate
that hangs feebly its rusty hinges. 1t
guards u way that was once q road, but which
is now only trace. q memory. a ghost Of
low through the woods. II leads up very
easy slope, and at the southwest edge Of the
you halt. Where you stand In the woods.
close TO their edge and few feet within n
gray ral fence j. little plot Of ground bound
ed by single rail OF galvanized iron pipe sup
ported by ten thick granite posts Within the
plot are two big pieces of granite about two
feet wide, foot and half thick and three feet
! tall. as Rambler carries them in his mind.
; Zach Of these pieces of granite is like the
Other as granite nsrkers can he. They are
Each hears bronze tablet on its north face
The west tablet reads: ''Major General Philip
The tribute of kearny's LIST New Jersey
Brigade and frirnds.' The other tablet reads:
Here fel Major General Isaac Ingalls, Ste
vens with the flag Of the republic in his dying
grasp. September 1. 1s62''
x x x +
panel that is broken down is a
rough white quartz boulder streaked
with black. 1t was picked up in the
ield just outside the woods and you
| can find other pieces OF quartz there
| today. but none SO large. This quartz
! boulder was Set there many years ago
| to indicate the tragic spot where
kearny and Stevens fell within a few
/ feet of each other and nearly at the
! same minute. 1t was put there by a
| Confederate soldier, who owns the
| farm. He is Capt. John Ballard, and
| that historic land was in his wife's
/ family for a good many generations.
i The comrades of Gen. Kearny en-
pressed desire to mark and fnclose
| llt II d5it SPpAf anu NoPS- Dotio- -
gave them the land. In the Ballard
| homestead. about a thousand yards
from the deathplace of kearny and
Stevens, is q little book bound in the
finest binding and printed from en-
| graved plates. Let me read 1t to you.
| 1t follows:
.'Whereas Capt. John y. Ballard.
! late of Company A, 43d Virginia
Cavalry c. S. A. and Lilly Reid Bal
| lard his wife, have cheerfully donated
the ground upon which the late Mai.
Cen Philip kearny was killed at
Chantilly. Va, September 1, 1852, has
! kept marked the spot to this date,
| thus showing a generous respect for
| a brave and gallant foe, as further
! indication of that soldierly spirit to
| the memory of good soldier, have
! decided said tract of land to the repre-
| sentatives of Kearny's First New Jer-
sey Brigade Society without compen-
! Sation: and
Whereas the committee OF the
Society of kearny's First New Jersey
Brigade in the performance Of their
duties came in contact with this Nir-
ginia family who by their acts OF
courtesy and wcrld-known southern
hospitality have endeared themselves
i to said committee, therefore be it
| resolved that our deep sense of
! obligation and appreciation are due
and are hereby rendered to Capt. John
n. Ballard and his estimable wife
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