Caught in the Crossfire
What happened to these plantations during the Civil War?
- Abingdon: Occupied by Union soldiers from New Jersey, who called it Camp Princeton.
- Analostan Island: Known as Camp Greene, it held “contraband camps” where African-Americans were trained as soldiers for the Union Army.
- Arlington House: Occupied by the Union in 1861 to protect Washington. Used as a cemetery for Union soldiers starting in 1864.
- Ash Grove: Located in a no-man’s-land between Northern and Southern forces, it was owned by the Sherman family, who supported the Union during the Civil War.
- Salona: Occupied by Union soldiers from Vermont, who called it Camp Griffin.
Alison Rice, who researched an 1800s diary when she was a history major at William & Mary, completely geeked out on this story. She swears that a visit to Gunston Hall in Lorton is totally worth the traffic on I-95.