A new historic marker was unveiled May 5 at the intersection of Braddock Road and Dunleigh Drive in Burke to commemorate a Civil War skirmish known as the “Bog Wallow Ambush.” The marker is just outside Annandale, between Rolling Road and Guinea Road.
The unveiling was conducted by descendants of the Union scout who planned the ambush of Confederate cavalry and was severely wounded during the attack. Following the ceremony, participants were invited for refreshments at the historic Oak Hill house on Wakefield Chapel Road in Annandale, which was the home of David Fitzhugh at the time of the skirmish and played a significant role in the Bog Wallow incident.
Here’s the text of the Bog Wallow Ambush historic marker:
“On 4 December 1861, fifty-five men of the 3rd New Jersey Infantry, Col. George W. Taylorcommanding, set an ambush nearby in retaliation for attacks on Union pickets. They stretched two telegraph wires across Braddock Road at the eastern end of a “perfect bog hole” to dismount riders. Near midnight, twenty-four Georgia Hussars cavalrymen, led by Capt. J. Fred. Waring, entered the trap from the west. A “sheet of fire” erupted from the tree line along the swamp's edge. The Confederates returned fire and escaped with four men wounded and one captured. Union losses were one killed, two wounded and one captured.”