Leesburg Things to Do

On the outskirts of Leesburg is White's Ferry. It is the only remaining ferry to take cars across the Potomac River into Maryland. It is only $5 for a round trip ticket if you are in a car and cheaper if you are on foot. The ride across takes about 5 minutes. It is amazingly peaceful while you are crossing and on the other side you can park (for a fee) and hike or bike on the C&O canal towpath along the river. You can also swim in the river from the Maryland side. We once even saw a mass baptism taking place in the river as we crossed. This is a historic Ferry.

3 more images

Just outside of the National Cemetery gate stands a white stone marker that notes the place where Edward Baker was shot down. Who shot the colonel and how was the subject of some mystery in the stories that flew about after the battle. Colonel Baker is the only U.S. Senator to ever be killed in action on a battlefield. He is buried with his wife at the National Cemetery in San Francisco.

3 more images

The smallest National Cemetery in the U.S., Ball's Bluff National Cemetery inters the remains of 54 Federal soldiers who died in the fighting here. The remains of only one of the men is known as soldiers did not carry identification with them at the time of the Civil War making it very difficult to know who it was that was actually dead after a battle.

3 more images

There is a side trail coming off the main loop by way of which you can walk down to the Potomac River. You get a good idea of the steep slopes that Federal troops had to deal with as they retreated soon after the death of Colonel Baker. Many died as they tried to swim across the river in full uniform or were shot by Confederates from the cliffs above. Their bodies washed up for several days afterward, downstream in Washington.

You look across from the Virginia bank to an island that the Federals had occupied. This is a side channel of the main river, but was enough of a barrier on that day.

The 1st California Regiment was raised in the Philadelphia area in part by the efforts of Edward Baker. They were named 'Californians' in honor of Baker's longstanding home state. Along with the soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd California, they would be known as the California Brigade and were to be commanded by Colonel Baker after his promotion to brigadier general which was slated to occur in the near future. No Californians actually fought out in the eastern theatres of the civil War. They stayed home taking the place of regularly stationed U.S. Army troops stationed out west - the same thing happened in Oregon and the rest of the West - and the regulars were brought east to join the fight. The California Brigade would later be renamed the Philadelphia Brigade which went on to take part in much larger battles - Antietam, Gettysburg.

The 20th Massachusetts Regiment - better known as the Harvard Regiment - was a regiment that would see many more fights in the years to come - Fredericksburg, Antietam, Gettysburg among others. Ball's Bluff was where the original volunteers of the regiment first came into action or as Civil War veterans would later describe their first actions, this was where 20th Massachusetts 'saw the Elephant". One young officer, Oliver Wendell Holmes, a future Supreme Court justice of considerable renown, suffered the first of three wartime wounds here.

1 more image

From the parking lot, a walk of two miles with only slight elevation loss and gain, takes you through the forests atop Ball's Bluff. Numerous information tablets describe the battle from the participants' point of view. The trail will loop you back to the starting point. The horrors of war seem a long way away as you wander the trail beneath the trees today.

When you drive into town you will see signs clearly directing you to the Visitor Information Center. Here you can pick up a map of Historic Downtown Leesburg. I'm glad we did because we discovered several other things to do that were quite interesting.