Ambush at Ankers's Shop
"It was a complete surprise"
Samuel and Henrietta Ankers lived at this site during the Civil War. On the morning of February 22, 1864, just outside their front door, about 160 of Confederate Lt. Col. John Singleton Mosby's horsemen ambushed 150 of Union Capt. J. Sewall Reed's cavalrymen. During the previous two days, Reed and his men - primarily the 16th New York Cavalry and Californians in the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry - had ridden from Vienna west through Middleburg and Rector's Crossroads hunting unsuccessfully for Mosby. Reed was returning eastward along the Dranesville Turnpike (present-day U.S. Route 7) to your right when Mosby sprang his trap.
Mosby's men were hidden in a pine thicket south of the road, below the ridge line of Bridges Hill near Ankers's blacksmith shop. As the advance guard rode by, Mosby blew his whistle, and his men opened fire and then charged into the road. The Federals rallied, but the surprise and ferocity of the attack broke their column. Some fled to the nearby Potomac River.
One Confederate was killed and 5 were wounded. Reed was killed, as were at least 12 other Federals, while 25 were wounded and more than 50 were captured. Some of the dead were buried in the Ankers family cemetery, and some of the wounded were tended to in the house. Later, about 35 of the captured Union soldiers died of illness or disease at the infamous prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia. Mosby and his men continued to harass the Federals until war's end.
"It was a complete surprise, and would have confused the best organized soldiers in the world."
- Pvt. Charles P. Briggs, Co. A, 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry
(Sidebar):
Johnathan Edwards Ankers, son of SAmuel and Henrietta Ankers, was a youth during the war. According to family tradition, he was told to stay away from the windows of his house to avoid being shot during nearby engagements.
Marker is on Harry Byrd Highway (State Highway 7), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
