Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park is one of Prince William County's most treasured open spaces, with over 2.7 miles of walking and equestrian trails, abundant wildlife in fields, woods, and ponds, and surviving evidence of earlier occupation in road traces, buildings, and cemeteries. The land saw significant military activity during the Civil War, with soldiers camping here in 1861 and 1862. Federal and Confederate armies fought here at the Battle of Kettle Run on August 27, 1862, when Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's Confederate forces raided Federal supplies at Manassas Junction and Gen. Joseph Hooker's Federal troops attacked Jackson's rear guard, led by Gen. Richard Ewell, along Kettle Run before Ewell's troops withdrew. On August 28-30, Ewell's forces again faced Federal troops during Second Manassas. In October and November 1863, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate army and Maj. Gen. George Meade's Federal forces fought the Bristoe Campaign, including the October 14, 1863 Battle of Bristoe Station, when Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Confederate corps stumbled upon Gen. Gouvenor Warren's Federal troops posted at the Orange & Alexandria railroad. The Federals fiercely defended their position, inflicted heavy Confederate casualties, and captured a battery of Confederate artillery, and Hill's defeat effectively halted Lee's Bristoe offensive. In 2000, Centex Homes purchased this land, developed New Bristow Village two years later, and gave the battlefield parcel to the Civil War Preservation Trust, after which Prince William County acquired the 133-acre site in 2007 as an example of developers, residents, preservationists, and local governments working together to save historic resources.
