The Centreville Confederate Military Railroad
These are the remains of the Centreville Confederate Military Railroad built in the fall and early winter of 1861 for the purpose of transporting supplies to the field armies of Generals Pierre G. T. Beauregard and Joseph Johnston. The railroad ran approximately six miles, from Manassas Junction, crossing Bull Run, to a point on the Centreville Plateau.
The unusually cold and rainy autumn of 1861 turned roads into impassable quagmires of mud. In order to supply the 40,000 troops who went into winter quarters in Centreville in October, General Johnston decided to build the six mile railroad spur to connect with the railroad lines at Manassas Junction. By the first week of January 1862 a map of the period shows the railroad complete between the Junction and its Centreville terminus.
The Centreville Military Railroad, as it became known, was the first railroad in the world built by the military for expressly military purposes. It was used to keep men and animals supplied and allowed the Confederate army to hold the strong position on the Centreville Heights until it withdrew from the area in March 1862.
The Centreville Confederate Military Railroad is a Fairfax County Historic Site.
Marker is on Compton Road (Virginia Route 658), on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
