Why the Forts?

On May 8, 1861, General Robert E. Lee, then commanding Virginia forces, ordered General Phillip Cocke to bring units from across central and northern Virginia to Tudor Hall at Manassas Junction to build camps and begin training. The intersection there of the Orange and Alexandria and Manassas Gap Railroads made it possible to move soldiers into the area to defend Virginia from Union advances out of Washington, D.C., and to move supplies to and from northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. On May 22, the Virginia forces became part of the Confederate Army, and General M.L. Bonham of South Carolina took command. Regiments from Virginia and South Carolina began fortifying the hills around the railroad junction, and soon thousands of men from across the South came into Prince William and Fairfax Counties with Manassas Junction as their command center. The area became known as Camp Pickens, honoring South Carolina Governor Francis Pickens. The forts built there were vital for controlling the railroad junction and gave inexperienced soldiers an advantage in the coming battle.

Manassas, Virginia · United States