McClellan Relieved From Command

Marker No. FF-8
Fauquier County, VA

Marker Text: At Rectortown, four miles north, General George B. McClellan received the order relieving him from command of the Army of the Potomac, November 7, 1862. As Burnside, his successor, was present, McClellan immediately turned over the command to him.

Location: On Virginia Route 55 (East Main Street – John Marshall Highway) in Marshall at the intersection with Virginia Route 710 (Rectortown Road) in the lawn next to a drive-in bank. Erected by the Virginia Conservation Commission in 1942.

Photo taken looking west on Route 55 in Marshall, VA. Click any photo to enlarge.

  I have not posted for a couple months due to other responsibilities and projects needing my attention. Being in the middle of the 150^th Anniversary of many U.S. Civil War events and battles, I naturally have hundreds of historical marker related to the Civil War. With other projects I have been doing and the number of markers I could have posted, I discovered I was not enjoying myself and I photograph markers and post them here because I enjoyed it. So I needed a break.

  Today's post marker tells the story of Union General George B. McClellan being relieved of his command over the Army of the Potomac. On Oct. 26, 1862, almost six weeks after Confederate General Lee had retreated from Antietam, General McClellan ordered the Army of the Potomac to cross into Northern Virginia, a process that took nine days. Abraham Lincoln was not pleased with General McClellan following the Battle of Antietam when he failed to pursue General Lee's Confederate Army as it returned to Virginia. McClellan had yet to do anything to dispel Lincoln’s sense that he was unwilling to take the fight to the enemy.

Boyhood Home of Colonel John Mosby

Marker No. R-50
Nelson County, VA

Marker Text: Confederate Col. John Singleton Mosby was born in Powhatan County on 6 Dec. 1833. Nearby stood the early childhood home in which Mosby lived from soon after his birth until his family moved to Charlottesville by 1841. Before the Civil War, Mosby was a lawyer in Bristol, Va. During the war, Mosby and his Partisan Rangers (43d Battalion, Virginia Cavalry) used guerilla tactics to raid Union outposts, communications, and supply lines in Northern Virginia. On 21 Apr. 1865, Mosby disbanded his rangers in Salem (present-day Marshall, Fauquier Co.), after learning of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's surrender. After the war, Mosby practiced law and was U.S. consul to Hong Kong (1879-1885). He died on 30 May 1916.

Location: On Route 6 and 29, 3 miles north of Woods Mill at intersection of Mosby Lane (State Route 779) in the northbound lane. Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 2000.

  Today is the 178^th Birthday for John Singleton Mosby who was born in Powahatan County, Virginia on December 6, 1833. Shortly after his birth his family moved here in Nelson County, VA near this marker where he spent his childhood. The location of his boyhood home is about 23 miles southwest of Charlottesville, VA. According to reports, John S. Mosby was a sickly child to the point that he was relieved of most chores and other household duties as a child. As a youth, his small size and general weakness led other boys to bully him. As a result, he began to learn how to use his smaller size and speed against larger and more formidable individuals. From what I could learn the house where he lived no longer stands, but the remains of the house’s foundation might still exist, but are located on private property.

Colonel John Singleton Mosby

Frederick County, VA

Marker No. B-16

Marker Text:  This road, along which many of his skirmishes took place, is named for Colonel John Singleton Mosby, commander of the 43rd Battalion of Confederate Partisan Rangers. Their activities in this area helped keep the Confederate cause alive in Northern Virginia toward the end of the Civil War.

Location:  On U.S. Routes 50 & 17 (Millwood Pike or John Mosby Highway) north of Route 723 (Carpers Valley Road), east of Winchester. Erected by the Department of Conservation and Historic Resources in 1987.

  If you live in or visit northern Virginia, you can not escape seeing the names of some of the more popular southern individuals from the American Civil War, Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Jubal Early, J.E.B. Stuart, and John S. Mosby are some of the main characters. Today's marker tells the traveler that this highway they are driving is named for John Singleton Mosby. When you travel U.S. Route 50 between Winchester and Fairfax County, VA you are taking a journey through some of the same country side that John Mosby and his 43^rd Battalion of Confederate Partisan Rangers operated during the Civil War.

  This marker is the western Virginia companion marker on Route 50 with another identical marker located in eastern Virginia on U.S. Route 50 in Chantilly, VA in Fairfax County and is marker B-12.