Warrenton
Home of the “Gray Ghost.”
Although Warrenton was spared the ravages of major battles during the war, control of the town changed hands 67 times and many homes and churches housed soldiers or were used as hospitals. Warrenton was the home of several notable Confederates including Col. John Singleton Mosby, the “gray ghost of the Confederacy.” He is honored by the statue at this site. The Old Jail in use during the war, includes a Mosby exhibit.
Other Points of Interest:
1. The Warren Green Hotel (rebuilt after a fire in 1876) where Gen. George B. McClellan bade farewell to his troops on Nov. 16, 1862, when he was relieved of his command.
2. The “California Building,” built by William “Extra Billy” Smith, twice governor of Virginia and a general in the Civil War, from profits made in the California Gold Rush. Mosby practiced law here after the war.
3. 118 Culpeper St., the home of Capt. John Quincy Marr of the Warrenton Rifles Co., the first Confederate officer killed in the war. He died on June 1, 1861, at Fairfax Court House and is buried in the Warrenton Cemetery.
4. The Warrenton Cemetery, where Mosby is buried near a monument to 600 Confederate unknown soldiers. A map on the caretaker’s cottage identifies the location of all Confederate graves.
5. 67 Waterloo St., the home of Gen. Eppa Hunton, who was captured at Sailor’s Creek and imprisoned at Fort Warren. Following the war he served as a U.S. Congressman and Senator.
6. The Presbyterian Church at 4th and Main Streets shows the outline of bricks used to repair an opening cut to accommodate wagons when Federal troops used the ground floor as a stable and the upstairs sanctuary as a hospital.
7. 173 Main St. was Mosby’s home following the war.
8. The railroad depot, now a rails-to-trails park, was a hub of activity during the war and the site of an attempt on Mosby’s life following the war when he fell into disfavor for befriending Ulysses S. Grant.
9. The Warrenton-Fauquier County Visitors Center, open seven days a week, year-round, has Civil War Trails maps and additional historic material.
Marker is at the intersection of Waterloo Street (Business U.S. 211) and Ashby Street, on the left when traveling west on Waterloo Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
