The Washington times., 1933-06-03

B roads is the FairfaX-Loudoun
county line close to which stands
a new house built of stone col
lected in the fields.
Thirty-one miles out, new sec
ton Of road is being laid connect
ing the highway with a fine con-
crete bridge over the muddy wa
ters of Goose Creek.
There is three-quarter mile
stretch of detour at this point,
which is quickly passed over and
the motorist soon is in Leesburg,
four miles away.
Leesburg is the county seat OF
Loudoun county. The county was
formed in 1857 from Fairfax
county and was named for Lord
Loudoun, titular governor and
head of the British forces in the
colonies from 1885 to 1853.
Old Battlefield
Route 54, called Market Street
in Leesburg, interSects the James
Monroe Highway, Virginia route
No. Is, in the heart of the town.
The Monroe Highway is King
Street through Leesburg.
Two and a half miles from
Leesburg is the Balls Bluff bat
tlefield and National Cemetery.
On that precipitous bluff, high
above the Potomac River, a de-
tachment of Union forces were
thrown back across the river by a
Confederate organization. The
battle occurred October 81, 1861.
In the tiny National Cemetery,
established in 1865, lie the re-
mains of 81 Union soldiers killed
in the fight.
Only one of them has been
identified. He was James Allen,
of Massachusetts,, and his grave is
marked by the thirteenth stone in
the circular burying ground.
There are Is stones in the cem-
etery marking the graves of one
identified and So unknown dead.
Where Men Fell
Outside the walled graveyard,
and apparently where the men
fell, are markers in memory of
Clinton Hatcher, Company F,
Eighth Virginia Regiment, C. S.
A., and Col. Edward D. Baker,
Seventh Pennsylvania Infantry, U.
S. A. If the stones are actually
where the men fell, the fighting
must have been savage as the
stones are less than SO feet apart,
just at the top of the bluff.
Balls Bluff was one of the early
fights for possession of the Lou
doun Valley which the Federal
forces finally won, but never so
thoroughly they were free from
raids by Mosby and other Confed-
crate cavalry leaders.
All through this part of the val
ley are markers proclaiming that
on some dark night back in those
days a detachment of Confederate
cavalry sWooped down on an un-
suspecting Federal wagon train,
making off with food and equip
ment sorely needed in the South.
Splendid Journey
The battle field, a grand picnic
ground if you take your own
water, is reached by turning right
at Market and King Streets and
following Route IS to the marker
at dirt road, turning again to
the right. This road is no boule-
ward, but is short and the grove
of trees at the cemetery make the
journey worth while on a hot and
Sitting day.
Continuing through Leesburg on
Route 81 to the mountains, the
party passes the Thomas Balch
Library, a gift to the city.
AS the road leaves Leesburg it
begins to climb through a series
of low mountains rising out of the
floor of the valley. Fine views of
the surrounding country are to be
had as the road winds in and out
of the hills. Ahead, showing true
to color, are the Blue Ridge Noun
tainS.
The route through here is dotted
with taverns, tea houses and cof-
| fee shops. Each town has several