Historic Blenheim and the IDENTIFIED UNION Civil War Interpretive Center SOLDIER SIGNATURES 3610 Old Lee Highway Blenheim Attic and House Walls Fairfax, Virginia 22030 (703) 591-0560 www.fairfaxva.gov Massachusetts HERENDEEN, George B., Sgt. Major, 22nd Massachusetts Infantry Field & Staff 75th Pennsylvania Infantry STONE, George F., Pvt. Co. D JUDSON, Hiram A., Pvt., Co. B LUST, John, Pvt., Co. H PHILLIPS, Amos, Pvt., Co. B SCHLAICH, John Pvt., Co. I Michigan RICE, Horace N., Pvt., Co. C 1st Michigan Cavalry 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry BOLTON, Marvin, Pvt., Co. G 54th New York Infantry BOWMAN, Thomas J., Pvt., Co. H DOWD, Samuel P., Pvt., Co. F CRAMER, EDWARD, CPL, CO . A BUTTERFIELD, Hamilton, Pvt., Co. B FLOWER, Consider E., Pvt., Co. F DOBENECKER, Ferdinand, Pvt., Co. D CLARK, Daniel W., 2nd Lt., Co. G JOHNSON, Charles H., Pvt., Co. M HARMS, Charles (Carl), Pvt., Co. I CLARK, Henry C., Cpl., Co. F KARN, George, Pvt., Co. G MULLER, Henry, rank unknown, Co. E COLTON, Spencer, Pvt., Co. B PUTNAM, William H., Pvt., Co. C RETTBERG, Bernhardt, Cpl., Co. A FREEMAN, Asa, Sgt., Co. D REYNOLDS, Samuel W., Pvt., Co. F SEEBER, August, Cpl., Co. I GROGER, Charles Watson, Pvt., Co. D SULZER, Ferdinand, Pvt., Co. A HOYT, Samuel, Pvt., Co. G New Jersey TAPPHORN, Theodor G., Pvt., Co. A JOHNSON, George H., Pvt., Co. B 1st New Jersey Infantry THIEDE, Carl, Pvt., Co. D MCCRACKEN, William, Cpl., Co. B MYERS, William C., Pvt., Co. H MOORE, Amos R., Drummer, Co. B 58th New York Infantry MUSE, Addison, Pvt., Co. B New York DORING, August, Bugler, Co. G PETTIGREW, Joseph C. , Pvt., Co. G 4th New York Cavalry SCHLINGERMANN, Charles, Pvt., Co. H PROUDFIT, Robert H., Sgt., Co. D ABEL, Jeremiah, Bugler, Co. C THOMPSON, Henry W., Drummer, Co. C CRONIN, Daniel, Pvt., Co. C 64th New York Infantry HART, William, Capt., Co C MAY, Francis M., Cpl., Co. I 95th Pennsylvania Infantry HOWELL, James H., Pvt., Co. C GOODWIN, Samuel W., Sgt., Co. H KREPS, William H., Cpl., Co. C 65th New York Infantry GREELEY, Joseph M., Pvt., Co. D MCCULLOUGH, Robert, Pvt., Co. C WELTE, Joseph S., Pvt., Co. C HAUSE, John R., Musician, Co. D WHEAT, Benjamin D., Pvt., Co. C MILLS, Walter P.C., Pvt., Co. B 136th New York Infantry WRIGHT, John S., Pvt., Co. E 13th New York Infantry CLOW, Benjamin, Pvt., Co. B MARSHALL, Matthew Mead, Pvt., Co. F COATS, Morris H. Pvt., Co. A West Virginia DIPPY, George, Cpl., Co. B 16th New York Infantry 1st West Virginia Cavalry LUTHER, Bruce, Sgt., Co. B JONES, Abram, Pvt., Co D Durrett, Henry C., Capt., Co. A MCELHENY, John, Pvt., Co. A CONANT, Charles H., Cpl., Co. D PERINE, Thomas, Pvt., Co. B DOWSEY, Richard H., Pvt., Co. D Wisconsin ROBINSON, Milon O., Pvt., Co. F RUGAR, Jacob W., Pvt., Co. C 26th Wisconsin Infantry SHELDON, Arthur, Pvt., Co. K THAYER, Alfred, Pvt., Co. C FERNEKES, Peter, Capt., Co. E SMITH, Charles, Pvt., Co. B FROEHLICH, Julius, Cpl., Co. H 29th New York Infantry WOOLHISER, George W., Pvt., Co. K HOENE, Julius W.F., Pvt., Co. I BECK, John, Pvt., Co. K Pennsylvania KOEGE, John, Cpl., Co I DAILINGER, John L., Pvt., Co. K 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry REIFENSTUHL, Frederick, Pvt., Co. I GUNDERMANN, Ferdinand H., BARGER, Andrew Jackson, Pvt., Co. C ROOK, Peter, Sgt.. Co. C Sgt., Co. G SCHLOSSER, Philip J., 1st Lt., & Adjutant HAINGARTNER, John L., Pvt., Co. K 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry SCHOLZ, W. Joseph, Pvt., Co. A HORSTMAN, Leonhardt, Pvt., Co, G WILLIAM PENN HOSE COMPANY, VAN EWYCK, Henry, Cpl., Co. A KAHLER, Conrad, Sgt., Co. G No. 18 KNAPP, John, Pvt., Co. K 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry U.S. Army 1st Battalion Engineers KUNZE, Julius, Pvt., Co. K BARNED, Numa, Pvt., Co. B FERNAND, Cassius M., Pvt., Co. B KURZ, Wilhelm, Pvt., Co. K GREENAWALT, Henry, Pvt., Co. G GOSS, Warren Lee, Pvt., Co. B MEYER, Adam, Pvt., Co., K HOOK, Lewis F., Pvt., Co. G PFEIL, Herman, Pvt., Co K HURST, William A., Pvt., CO B Units represented, no names: RAEFLE, Theodor, Pvt., Co., K REED, William, 1st Sgt., Co. F SCHAUMBERGER, Carl, Sgt., Co. D SAUREMILK, Henry, Pvt., Co. G 6th U.S. Cavalry, Co H. STRAUBE, Frederich, Pvt., Co. D TAYLOR, Robert, Pvt., Co. G 1st Maryland Light Artillery, Co. B TRETBAR, Clements, Pvt., Co. K WALTER, Lewis, Capt., Co. G 44th New York Infantry 74th Pennsylvania Infantry ANGUS, Walter, Pvt., Co. K BUSCH, Christoph, Pvt., Co. E Center is open Tuesday- BROADWAY, Gilbert T., Pvt., Co. B CARL, Hermann Franz, Pvt. Co. E Saturday, 10am-3pm BRYANT, Henry D., Pvt., Co. D FISCHER, Moses, Pvt., Co. B FISHBECK, Charles A., Drummer, Co. A GRUENNAGEL, Frederick, Sgt., Co. I Tours of House and Site, FISHER, Henry J., Pvt., Co. B REICHLE, Christian, Pvt., Co. E SPIEGEL, Christian, Cpl., Co. I 1pm FREE HISTORIC BLENHEIM WHEN DID THEY SIGN THEIR CIVIL WAR INTERPRETIVE NAMES? CENTER March 1862 The first Union soldiers who left their BLENHEIM SOLDIERS names on the walls arrived with thousands who had left Washington , D.C. On March 10, the ATTIC GUIDE small strategic crossroads of Fairfax Court House became under Union control for the remainder of In late July 1861 Union soldiers entered the war. General George McClellan was Albert and Mary Willcoxon’s home and destroyed commanding the Army of the Potomac and sent windows, banisters, and furnishings. Sometime soldiers to Centreville and Manassas to find the between then and early 1862 the family lived Confederate Amy had evacuated to the west and elsewhere, but close enough for Albert, a south. secessionist, to sell food and supplies from his367 Many of the regiments only stayed in acres of land to the Confederate army. He owned Fairfax Court House for a few days; and most 6 enslaved people, of which little is known. moved from here to McClellan’s unsuccessful Between March 1862 and June 1863, Peninsula Campaign or to the Shenandoah Valley. hundreds of soldiers left what would be their With the position of the Willcoxon home on a enduring marks of charcoal, graphite, or crayon on major road (Fairfax Court House Falls Church the attic and the walls of the first and second Road), and at the highest point NE of the small floors. Since 1998, there have been 121 soldiers’ village, it may have been an easy resting and names positively identified, along with their training spot for soldiers--- waiting to receive regiments, companies, and hometowns. They orders. represent 23 Union regiments from Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, September 1862-January 1863 West Virginia, and Wisconsin. About two-thirds The 11th Army Corps, commanded by of those names are found in the attic. General Franz Sigel, occupied Fairfax Court The Willcoxon home, now known as House until late November. Upon leaving for Blenheim, had been built only a couple of years Frederickburg in December 1862 the 11th Army before the beginning of the Civil War. The plaster Corps was forced to leave many of their sick had not cured fully and therefore was lacking paint behind. Blenheim served as part of the Reserve or wallpaper. In essence, the walls were an empty Hospital system for the corps. Close to1800 men canvas that soon became a “diary on walls.” The were sick in and surrounding Fairfax Court House. attic walls remained unchanged by the four Those whose health improved were sent back to generations of Willcoxon family members who their regiments; others were sent to more lived there post-war. They contain the most permanent hospitals in Alexandria, Washington, distinct and best-preserved soldier names, D.C, or closer to their homes. Still others were drawings, and sayings in the house. discharged, or died of their ailments. The Blenheim attic exhibit in the Civil War More than 750,000 soldiers died during the Interpretive Center is a life-size replica of the attic Civil War. Even with upwards of 200,000 stairwell and the north room. As you walk through battlefield deaths, closer to 480,000 soldiers died the “attic” and learn about some of these soldiers, from disease. Intestinal disorders, such as perhaps you can answer the question: diarrhea, typhoid fever, and dysentery were some of the largest killers. Others died from pneumonia “WHY DID THEY WRITE ON THE and tuberculosis. Contagious diseases such as WALLS?” measles, chickenpox, mumps, and whopping cough were spread among the soldiers who were 1 living in overcrowded and often unsanitary states, and through the ever-increasing information conditions. made available on the World Wide Web. The goal has always been to create a three- dimensional figure from each soldier’s name. In Spring 1863 nd learning about the background, life as a soldier and The 22 Army Corps was responsible for the beyond, we begin to understand the common man. Defenses of Washington and was assigned to sites We gratefully acknowledge the dedication ranging up and down the Potomac River, as well st of Mr. C.K. Gailey and the late Mrs. Patricia A. as the forts that ringed Washington, D.C. The 1 st Gallagher, whose research skills and extensive Michigan Cavalry, 1 West Virginia Cavalry, and th knowledge of the Civil War have made this quest the 18 Pennsylvania Cavalry were units from that possible. Likewise, the independent research corps whose soldiers’ signatures have been efforts of Art and Julia Little have been much verified on the attic walls. Archaeologists have th appreciated. found military artifacts related to the 18 Pennsylvania Cavalry and general cavalry-related City of Fairfax, Office of Historic Resources artifacts on site.