the Centreville Military Railroad linked Manassas Junction with the front line at Centreville
Source: Library of Congress, Route from Manassas to Centreville, August 28th to 31st (by Robert Knox Sneden)
the Centreville Military Railroad linked Manassas Junction with the front line at Centreville
Source: Library of Congress, Route from Manassas to Centreville, August 28th to 31st (by Robert Knox Sneden)
After the First Manassas battle in July, 1861, Union forces created fortifications in Fairfax and Alexandria (now Arlington) counties to block an attack on Washington, DC. Confederate General Joseph Johnston placed cavalry units on the hills in eastern Faifax County, but no attack was made before winter made the roads too muddy for large units to fight. General Johnston chose to build a defensive line along Bull Run, with a winter encampment for 30,000 troops at Centreville.
the Centreville Military Railroad linked Manassas Junction with the front line at Centreville
Source: Library of Congress, Route from Manassas to Centreville, August 28th to 31st (by Robert Knox Sneden)
centrevillesneden.png
That made Centreville one of the largest population centers in Virginia. To supply the troops, the road from Manassas and Centreville was "paved" with logs, creating a corduroy road which could support the heavy traffic. The bring even more food for the troops, hay for the horses, and other material to the winter camp, the Confederates buit the first military railroad. It was used until General Johnston abandoned the Bull Run line in early March, 1862 and moved the forces to defend Richmond during General George McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.1
"Fairfax County Civil War Sites Inventory," Fairfax County Park Authority, August 2002, pp.18-23, https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/naturalcultural/civil%20war%20inventory.pdf (last checked June 2, 2020)
the military railroad brought supplies from Manassas Junction to Centreville
Source: Library of Congress, Map of 1st and 2nd Bull Run battles. Official map from the Topographical Bureau, Washington, D.C.
the trestle across Bull Run was located just upstream of a small ravine, still visible on the southern bank (on left in photo)
the Centreville Military Railroad joined the Orange and Alexandria (O&A) Railroad west of the modern depot in downtown Manassas
Map Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online