Preparatory to the Battle of Yorktown around 1781, General Washington ordered a troop road cut through this area so American and French forces could move by way of the ford on the Occoquan River at Wolf Run Shoals. The road was used again for military purposes during the Civil War. Bacon Race Church, around 1845, served as a supply depot for Wade Hampton’s Confederate Brigade, and several Confederate regiments camped in the vicinity during the winter of 1861 - 1862 to support blockade operations along the Potomac River.