From Aldie to Winchester: Touring Route 50

From Aldie to Winchester: Touring Route 50

By Joe Pickett

Author Bio: Joseph Pickett is a full-time and freelance writer and editor in Winchester Va. and rides Route 50 (oh so slowly) to Fairfax every day. His email is pickettj1970@yahoo.com , Web site is josephpickett.com. His work has been published previously in The Washington Times and at Countrylife.net.

Route 50 in the Historic Valley

West bound on Route 50 from Washington, D.C. to Winchester, Va., the rising sun warms the Shenandoah Valley, where little has changed since the days when the War Between the States tore this vital region, and a nation, asunder. Bathed in the glow are tiny barns nestled on quilts of green fields, blooming honeysuckle meadows dotted with cattle grazing on the rolling piedmont, and beckoning in the distance, faint outlines of the Blue Ridge Mountains peeking through the morning mist.

Each day the sun's rays grace the graves of thousands of fallen Union and Confederate soldiers who gave their lives in the many battles that raged in this critical region. From every point on the compass in these parts, the sun lights upon a nugget of this nation's Civil War past, just awaiting discovery.

It was in this 200 mile-long fertile valley, both an avenue of invasion to the head of the federal government and a granary for the Confederacy, that Major General 'Stonewall' Jackson led the brilliant Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. Here his 'foot cavalry' marched 350 miles and defeated Union forces twice their strength in five battles. Driving through tiny and tidy towns on Route 50 (Little River Turnpike in Civil War times), one can imagine the hoarse screams, smoke, and thunder of the fierce cavalry battles that raged here in the summer of 1863. The Confederates were taking the battle north to the enemy, scant weeks before the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia collided at the crossroads of Routes 15, 97, and 30 in a sleepy southern PA town called Gettysburg.

As the modern traveler heads further west and is met with increasingly dense Washington, D.C. area traffic, there is plenty of time to savor the rich Civil War history that is passing by, slowly, in the window. Some Civil War points of interest along Route 50 include these:

Historic Spots - The Aldie Mill

Built in 1807-1809 for Charles Fenton Mercer, a prominent 19th century Virginia statesman, the newly restored Aldie Mill was used to grind corn and wheat with millstones turned by nearby Little River. During the Civil War, the mill was a focal point of Confederate history. Col. John Singleton Mosby, The Grey Ghost, and his 17 Partisan Rangers routed a force of several hundred Union cavalry at the mill in 1863.

Mosby's report to Gen. J.E.B. Stuart about the incident reads, "Yesterday a Yankee cavalry force of about 400 men came up to Middleburg. As soon as I heard of it I hastily collected together 17 of my men and started in pursuit, having in the meantime ascertained that they had gone back. At Aldie I overtook their rear squadron, of 59 men, which I charged and routed, capturing 2 captains and 17 men, together with their arms; also 23 horses and accouterments."

Mosby went on to become one of the most legendary and dashing heroes of the Confederate cause. He became famous for his daring exploits in Northern Virginia, raiding Union outposts and supply lines, gathering intelligence and eluding Union pursuers.

Interestingly, after the Civil War, Mosby befriended General Ulysses S. Grant, his old adversary, and they even dined together on a few occasions after Grant became president. When Grant died in 1881, Mosby reports in his memoirs, "I felt I had lost my best friend."

In 1995, much of the area near Route 50 in Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley was designated The John Singleton Mosby Heritage Area to increase awareness of the historic, cultural and natural qualities of this historic area of the state.