The Battle of Ox Hill

The Battle of Ox Hill (HMA5R)

Location: Fairfax, VA 22033
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 51.863', W 77° 22.193'

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Inscription
(Kiosk Panel): Wounds Suffered at Ox Hill (Chantilly)
September 1, 1862

Union Soldiers

4th Maine, 2nd Brigade (Birney), Kearny's Division:
Pvt. Lorenzo E. Dickey, Co. A, Age 21: At Chantilly, received gunshot would in right thigh. Taken to a field hospital "in the vicinity of the battleground" where the leg was amputated at the upper third, four days after the battle. Arrived at Douglas Hospital, D.C. Sept. 8. On Oct. 16, twenty ounces of blood lost in hemorrhage of femoral artery. By Jan. 1, 1863, the wound had healed. Discharged from St. Elizabeth's Hospital June 16, 1863. Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, Vol. XI, 1870s

28th Massachusetts, 3rd Brigade (Morrison), Stevens' Division:
Pvt. James McEnvoy, Co. F, Age 32: Wounded by a shell fragment at Chantilly, which struck a glancing blow to the right side of his head, tearing away a 3 ½ by 1 ½ -inch piece of scalp and fracturing the skull. He left the battlefield without assistance and was admitted to Emory Hospital in Washington Sept. 2. On Sept. 8, he became partially paralyzed on the left side. On Sept. 14, a piece of bone was removed, exposing the brain. By Oct. 8 the wound was healing, though the soldier was unable to use his left hand. Discharged Nov. 11, 1862. Medical and Surgical History Vol. VII, 1870s

100th Pennsylvania, 2nd Brigade (Lecky), Stevens' Division:
Pvt. L.F. Spragg, Co. H: Wounded in right arm Sept. 1. Bullet entered two inches below head of humerous on outside, passed downward and inward, fracturing the bone. To Douglas Hospital, D.C. Sept. 8. On Sept. 20, hemorrhaging occurred and arm was amputated. Loss of blood, weak condition and ? "nervous prostration" caused his death. Medical and Surgical History, Vol. X, 1870s

Confederate Soldiers

13th South Carolina, Gregg's Brigade, A.P. Hill's Division:
At Ox Hill, Lieutenant [West C.] Leopard?was brought back to me with both of his legs torn off below the knees by a shell, and another man with part of his arm torn off, but neither Dr. Kenedy, Dr. Kilgore nor our medical wagon was with us, and I had nothing to give them but morphine. They both died during the night? We filled the carriage house, barn and stable with our wounded, but I could not do but little for them." Dr. Spencer Glasgow Welch, Surgeon, 13th S.C. Volunteers Letter to his wife, Sept. 3, 1862, published 1911

37th North Carolina,Branch's Brigade, A.P. Hill's Division:
Captain Walter W. Lenior, Co. A: At Ox Hill, a musket ball passed through his right leg breaking both bones. Soon afterward, another musket ball hit the same leg, above the first wound, and ranged so that it entered the ground. He later found that the end of his big toe was taken off—probably by the same ball. That night he was carried a quarter-mile to a house and laid upon a porch crowded with other wounded. The next morning, he was carried by stretchers three-quarters of a mile and laid on the ground in an old field with other wounded. On the morning of the 3rd he was given chloroform and his leg was amputated by Dr. J.F. Shaffner, Surgeon, 33rd N.C. Diary of Walter W. Lenoir (1861-1863), published in Echoes of Happy Valley, Thomas Felix Henderson, 1962

(Kiosk Panel): The Wounded Left Behind

During the Ox Hill battle, the Confederates established temporary hospitals at locations along the Little River Turnpike. Afterward, they moved most of their wounded 2.5 miles west to a field hospital at the Chantilly House and plantation.

The Union forces collected their wounded at the Millan House, just south of here, which served as the Federal hospital. There, surgeons worked until late at night doing amputations. Around 3 a.m., the Union army withdrew toward Jermantown and Fairfax Court House. The most seriously wounded were left behind and became prisoners by dawn. Sgt. Daniel Fletcher of the 40th New York Volunteers had a bullet extracted from his knee. He recorded his week-long ordeal thus:

"A rebel colonel came into the building where we were and took all our names, to be exchanged. He said he could do nothing for us, the commissary stores not having arrived. Two surgeons were left to take charge of us, but we did not have our wounds dressed till the fourth day after the fight. There were about 150 wounded men in the buildings where we were; five or six died of their wounds every twenty-four hours. [Corporal] Flynn and other well men buried them.

When we had been prisoners a few days, our rations gave out. Flynn dug the garden over two or three times, and cooked for us all the potatoes, beets, turnips or other eatables he could find. The last few days we had very little to eat except coffee. The agents of the Sanitary Commission were the first to find us; and then we had bread in abundance."

Their release finally arranged, transportation arrived: There were some thirty ambulances in the train, each drawn by two horses. There were two wounded men in each lying on beds. We started from [Ox Hill] about four o'clock in the afternoon, and arrived in Washington about dawn the next day."
Details
HM NumberHMA5R
Tags
Year Placed2008
Placed ByFairfax County Park Authority
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, October 6th, 2014 at 2:23am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 294383 N 4304396
Decimal Degrees38.86438333, -77.36988333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 51.863', W 77° 22.193'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 51' 51.78" N, 77° 22' 11.58" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)571, 703
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 4140 West Ox Rd, Fairfax VA 22033, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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