Identifying Union and Confederate Supporters
During the summer of 1861, both Union and Confederate forces continued to mobilize. Fairfax County, Virginia, located just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., was home to growing Confederate forces and sympathizers. Union troops who were charged with defending unfamiliar territory, in this case a volunteer regiment from New York, relied on local inhabitants in Fairfax County for information and supplies. As seen on this manuscript map by F. F. Mead, the names of landowners in Fairfax County are followed by either an “S” or “U,” likely referring to the “Secessionist” or “Unionist” sympathies of the landowner.
During the summer of 1861, both Union and Confederate forces continued to mobilize. Fairfax County, Virginia, located just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., was home to growing Confederate forces and sympathizers. Union troops who were charged with defending unfamiliar territory, in this case a volunteer regiment from New York, relied on local inhabitants in Fairfax County for information and supplies. As seen on this manuscript map by F. F. Mead, the names of landowners in Fairfax County are followed by either an “S” or “U,” likely referring to the “Secessionist” or “Unionist” sympathies of the landowner.