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the church to demand surrender, and again
Webster refused, this time threatening to kill Mrs. Virts if she entered the church again. Fighting again resumed for another hour and half until 7 a.m. before surrender was demanded for again. With the Rangers out of ammunition, Webster agreed, so long as the prisoners would be immediately paroled. The Rebels too were short on ammunition and White agreed, taking the Rangers horses and weapons and paroling the 19 Rangers captured, the four unaccounted for Rangers had previously escaped by fleeing into the basement and exiting through a window in the back. The two sentries captured outside the church were not paroled and were sent to Richmond as P.O.W.s. During the surrender a member of the Rebels, William Snoots, rushed into the church and attempted to kill his brother, Charles Snoots, who was serving with the Rangers, but was disarmed before accomplishing his task.
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draw the
Rangers into the open, while the other 20, on foot, waited in the field across the street with orders to fire only after the Rangers took the bait. The anxious Rebels, however, failed to wait and opened fire on the Rangers early causing them to scramble into the refuge of the church, though not before suffering one killed one and two injured, including Lt. Slater who relinquished command to Charles A. Webster. White then sent his decoy force into town to capture Means and the Rangers pickets, while he, with the rest of the command laid siege to the church. In town, the Rebels found that Means and the pickets had fled, but were able to capture two sentries at Means house and a cache of weapons and supplies.
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The short fight cost the
Rangers 2 killed, and 11 wounded in addition to the 56 horses, and 100 revolvers and carbines taken by the Rebels. It also marked the Ranger's first test of combat and immediately shed light on the lack of drilling and proper command. Means for his part had fled the village
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30 minutes into the fight, White sent local resident Mrs. Virts, whose home was adjacent to the Rebels position, across from the church, under a flag of truce to demand the
Rangers surrender to which Webster flatly refused. Fighting continued for another hour before White again sent Mrs. Virts into
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to return to their native county to find forage and harass
Federals operating in the county. The following day they reached the southern portion of the county whereupon they learned of the formation of the Loudoun Rangers a month prior and their presence at Waterford. That evening, with about half
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if captured. The Rebels who suffered 2 killed, showed lack of discipline in the fight as well but displayed the cunning and initiative against their enemy that would come to characterize the unit throughout the war and earn them the nickname "Comanches". The fight marked the first of many partisan
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In the pre-dawn hours of the 27th, guided by local
Confederate sympathizers, White's Rebels approached the Baptists church under cover of darkness to find the 28 Rangers there camped on the porch. Cpt. White decided to split his command in two and sent 30 men, mounted, onto the road as a decoy to
280:. The Rebels surprised and routed the newly formed Loudoun Rangers in their camp at Waterford, capturing nearly the whole unit before subsequently paroling them, thus resulting in a Confederate victory. The action was the first significant partisan fighting in Loudoun County.
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in preparation to conduct operations against the county's
Confederate controlled territory. Means stationed 24 men on picket duty: 4 men on each of the 6 roads leading into the town. He then placed the rest of his command in the local
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with his pickets leaving his command bereft of leadership in their first fight. Means was wanted by the state of
Virginia for treason and subject to
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church before retiring to his residence in the village, placing
Lieutenant Luther Slater in nominal command of the unit.
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of his command, White tramped off the main roads through fields and forests to
Waterford, evading the Ranger's pickets.
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moved his newly formed command, the independent Loudoun Rangers, to the unionist village of Waterford in
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From Frontier to Suburbia: Loudoun County, Virginia, One of America's Fastest Growing Counties.
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and his company of cavalry, some 100 strong, was granted permission by Gen.
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encounters of Loudouners of divided sentiment on the war.
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Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War
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717:Confederate victories of the American Civil War
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666:Ball's Bluff Battlefield and National Cemetery
732:Battles of the American Civil War in Virginia
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367:Loudoun County and the American Civil War.
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707:Loudoun County in the American Civil War
418:Loudoun County in the American Civil War
376:H.E. Howard, Inc. Lynchburg, Va. 1985.
365:Devine, John. "The Fight at Waterford"
671:Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
383:Heritage Books, Westminster, Md. 2005.
369:Willow Bend Books, Leesburg, Va. 1998.
257:on August 27, 1862 between the local
194:15 (2 killed, 11 wounded, 2 captured)
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582:43rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry
577:35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry
170:35th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry
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227:Location of the fight in Virginia
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374:35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry.
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304:Meanwhile, on the 25th, Captain
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16:Battle of the American Civil War
722:1862 in the American Civil War
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134:Confederate States of America
522:Action at Mount Zion Church
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558:George's Schoolhouse Raid
527:Battle of Loudoun Heights
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358:American Civil War portal
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294:Loudoun County, Virginia
122:United States of America
507:Skirmish at Miskel Farm
492:Affair at Glenmore Farm
442:Battle of Harpers Ferry
379:Poland, Charles P. Jr.
432:Battle of Ball's Bluff
288:On August 26, Captain
140:Commanders and leaders
592:8th Virginia Infantry
437:Battle of Dranesville
189:Casualties and losses
587:7th Virginia Cavalry
457:Battle of Upperville
452:Battle of Middleburg
249:that took place in
224:class=notpageimage|
532:Heaton's Crossroads
487:Battle of Mile Hill
268:, fighting for the
100:Confederate Victory
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737:August 1862 events
482:Fight at Waterford
247:American Civil War
239:Fight at Waterford
29:American Civil War
22:Fight at Waterford
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623:Robert H. Chilton
337:summary execution
276:fighting for the
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512:Blackleys Grove
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81:39.18°N 77.61°W
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42:August 27, 1862
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619:Confederate
573:Confederate
553:Burning Raid
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317:The Skirmish
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270:Confederates
241:was a small
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109:Belligerents
27:Part of the
628:John Janney
245:during the
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701:Categories
681:Fort Evans
475:Skirmishes
344:References
284:Background
272:, and the
264:units of
251:Waterford
52:Waterford
259:partisan
255:Virginia
243:skirmish
176:Strength
60:Virginia
47:Location
425:Battles
330:Results
299:Baptist
262:cavalry
72:77°37′W
69:39°11′N
644:Union
613:People
598:Union
97:Result
659:Sites
567:Units
546:Raids
278:Union
237:The
39:Date
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253:,
184:51
181:53
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410:e
403:t
396:v
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