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THE BATTLE OF SANGSTER STATION,
DECEMBER 17, 1863 By Lynne Garvey-Hodge, Author and Historian
So significant was the Battle of Sangster Station that in 1903 the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors received a letter petitioning the erection of a monument to the soldiers killed and wounded in the battle – from the Union Captain serving during this time and place. The “Tears and Love” monument was erected in 1904 near the County Poorhouse, which was located not far from the path of the O&A Railroad outside the newly incorporated Town of Clifton (1902). The Poorhouse had stood there at the time of the Battle of Sangster Station. Unfortunately, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the issue of Civil Rights heated up in the country, the monument was vandalized and subsequently taken down.
The "Tears and Love" Monument (All four sides of the monument are now placed permanently in the Fairfax Railroad Museum). The poem "The Blue and The Gray" by Francis Miles Finch (1827-1907) is quoted on the last plaque to the right.
This battle was significant, as 65 Union soldiers faced approximately 700-800 Confederate cavalry. In defending Sangster Station Union Captain John McAnally, of Company I of the 155th New York suffered four wounded and nine captured, and eight of the captured died as prisoners of war. The monument indicated that the Confederates lost two soldiers from Brigade Commander Brigadier General Thomas Rosser’s “Laurel” Brigade, Company B of the 7th, 11th, 12th Virginia Cavalry. The Union's resistance was broken during a fierce fight which ensued at 6:00pm in incredibly inclement weather – blinding and freezing rain, thunder and lightning. Soldiers from Company I reported that they buried four Confederate cavalry men the following day. The soldiers were buried at the scene of the engagement, and a member of Company I, Mike Casey, officiated at the funeral service. Confederate General Rosser later claimed to have captured the colors of the 164th New York and a bugle (actually, he found the colors in a box and a bugle left at the Poorhouse) at the Sangster Station battle. However, no one of the 164th New York was present at the Sangster Station engagement on December 17, 1863. Rosser was barely able to escape out to the Shenandoah Valley with his troops after the battle was ended.
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JULY 2019
John Singleton Mosby and his men. While Mosby was not directly involved in the Battle of Sangster Station, he knew this area of the Orange & Alexandria Railroad line well. Several of his men retired to the Clifton area after the Civil War and attended Clifton Baptist Church. The photo includes from left to right: Rangers Dickson, Watkins, Mosby, Thomas, Smith, Carlisle, Carter and an unknown Ranger. (photo courtesy of Don Hakenson and David Goetz)
The "Tears and Love" Monument c. 1958 before it was vandalized and removed.
