NVRPA, Civil War Trust, Close In On Purchase of Jackson House, October 19, 2012
![Photo 1](https://www.nvrpa.org/uploads/Images/content/ballsbluff/photo1.gif)
“We are so
thrilled to be in partnership with the Civil War Trust in preserving a number of
significant Civil War properties,” said NVRPA Executive Director Paul Gilbert.
“Today, we are working on the acquisition of the Jackson House and the expansion
of the Ball’s Bluff Battlefield. Recently, we celebrated another joint
NVRPA/Civil War Trust project in preserving Mt. Defiance, a key site in the
Battle of Middleburg.”
In addition to
increasing the area of the Ball’s Bluff Battlefield property, the house also has
a significant place in the battle’s history. James Morgan, author of “A Little
Short of Boats: The Fights at Ball's Bluff and Edward's Ferry” notes that the
house was a key landmark during the conflict. Adjacent to the
current battlefield park, the house was a key landmark around which the morning
phases of the battle of Ball’s Bluff were fought,” Morgan said. “Union troops
centered their initial line of battle around it. The widowed Mrs. Margaret
Jackson, her seven children, and part of a neighboring family are known to have
taken shelter in the basement as Union and Confederate troops fought around and
through the house on the morning of October 21, 1861. A Union soldier later
wrote of hearing the cries of the women and children below.”
According to Brian
Knapp, Chairman of the NVRPA Board, the Jackson house would most likely exist as
a simple rental property. However, NVRPA has much larger plans for the property
down the road. “In the long term,
we plan to turn the Jackson house into a visitor center for Ball’s Bluff, and
the public in Northern Virginia and elsewhere will be able to learn more about
this battle and how the Civil War shaped and influenced our region,” Knapp said.
“ We look forward to working with our many partners in the region – especially
the Friends of Ball’s Bluff Battlefield - to make this vision a
reality.”
![Photo 3](https://www.nvrpa.org/uploads/Images/content/ballsbluff/photo3.gif)
Ball’s Bluff
Battlefield is located at the end of Ball’s Bluff Road in Leesburg. The park is
open during daylight hours year round. The park was also one of the primary subjects in the recent
documentary “Region Divided: Civil War in the Northern Virginia Regional Park,”
created by NVRPA and Fairfax County Government Access Television, and narrated
by Roger Mudd. The Balch Library in Leesburg will hold a public screening of the
film on Sunday, October 21, 2012, from 2-4 p.m.
Text and Image Source: Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority
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