The source of this material is research conducted by local historian Don Hakenson.
A group of Confederate scouts from the 5th Texas Infantry, “the Texas Rangers”, were on a scout along the northern bank of the Occoquan heading SE towards the Alexandria/Belvoir area. On the night of 28th January 1862, there was heavy snow so they stopped for the night at Mrs. Lee’s house. She owned the farmhouse on the top of the hill where the Lazy Susan Theatre now stands.
The house lay on the Colchester Road that went to the town of Colchester. Now gone, the town had roots back to the 1600s. It predated the town of Occoquan as the port for southern Fairfax. Ox Road terminated there as early as the early 1700s. By the Civil war, the railroad and a better bridge further upstream in what became the town of Occoquan, made Colchester a secondary village that was dwindling to today’s nothing. In 1862, it had less than a half dozen buildings.
That night, the Rangers stopped in one of those few remaining houses for a rest planning to cross back over the Occoquan the next day. But they were not alone.
Tracking them that day were men from the 37th New York Volunteer Infantry with cavalry from the 1st New Jersey. Based out of the village of Accotink (Rt. 1 and Backlick Road near Ft Belvoir), they had followed the Confederates tracks in the storm.
As they approached the house in the middle of the night, the cavalry went to the river to stop potential reinforcements from crossing from the Prince William County side. The infantry approached the house and circled it. The Confederate picket assigned outside to guard was unable to alert the men inside. Between 11 pm and midnight, as the men inside were sleeping, there was a loud knock on the door.
“Who’s there?”
“Come out of there, you Rebels and surrender or we’ll burn the house”. The scouts (around 5-12 in number) threw open the windows, saw the yard full of Union soldiers and opened fire. The 37th Infantry fired back into the house- one bullet passing through the walls and striking a ranger in the stomach. One of the men upstairs yelled, “Hold the house men, Hampton’s coming! (Wade Hamton was a famous Confederate cavalry officer stationed further up the Occoquan River nearer Manassas) ” This unsettled the Union troops and after a few more volley’s they left. Afterwards, once it became apparent it was safe, the outside scout returned to the house and notified the Rangers that the accompanying NJ cavalry had also left.
One Union soldier, a German, still lay in the front yard and called out a beloved’s name until he died around 4:00 am. The Confederate in the house that was shot downstairs died of the wound four days later.
In the early years of the war, this part of Fairfax County saw only a little action. The river crossing here at the head of Belmont Bay remained the scene of smaller infiltrations, but as the Union expanded its hold on Fairfax in later years, the emphasis was in guarding the river fords further up the Occoquan and Bull Run rivers.
Congrats to dbuning for the 33 minute FTF
Many thanks to PirateRat who found this information on the farming implement at the coordinates.
The Fairbanks-Morse Z Engine Model C.: Tractor info here