The Warrenton Junction Raid (May 3, 1863) was a surprise attack by Confederate guerrilla warriors on a Union cavalry detachment during the American Civil War. The raid took place near a railroad junction in Virginia's Fauquier County, less than 10 miles (16 km) from the town of Warrenton. Confederate Major (eventually Colonel) John S. Mosby led the attack against about 100 men from the Union's 1st (West) Virginia Cavalry. At first, the raid was very successful, as many of the Union soldiers surrendered to the rebels. The remaining portion of the surprised force was surrounded in a house, and two of their leaders were wounded. The house was set on fire, and the Union soldiers surrendered. As Mosby's men rounded up prisoners and horses, a detachment of the 5th New York Cavalry surprised the rebels and rescued most of the captured Union soldiers. After a short fight, more men from the 5th New York, and the 1st Vermont Cavalry, joined in the pursuit of Mosby's fleeing rebels.
Casualties for the detachment of the 1st (West) Virginia Cavalry, the unit surprised by Mosby, totaled 16 men. Although Mosby was forced to release most of his prisoners while escaping from the 5th New York Cavalry, he still managed to keep at least two West Virginians in captivity. Mosby lost 1 killed and at least 30 taken prisoner—many of whom were wounded. The 5th New York Cavalry had three men wounded.
The two sides involved in this minor fight became very skilled in warfare—but were still learning those skills at that time. The Union's 1st Virginia Cavalry, renamed 1st West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment two months later, became one of West Virginia's most effective regiments and had 14 Medal of Honor recipients. It fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, had an important role in eliminating the Confederate Army of the Valley, and was present at General Robert E. Lee's surrender of his Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederacy's Mosby's Rangers suffered their first defeat, but became masters of guerrilla warfare and were a constant concern for Union armies in eastern Virginia.
By May 1863, the American Civil War was in its third year. The war began when southern states, including Virginia, seceded from the United States and formed a new nation called the Confederate States of America. The federal government of the United States did not accept the secession and fought to end the rebellion. The people of the state of Virginia were especially divided, as many in the western portion of the state preferred to remain as part of the United States instead of joining the Confederacy.
Fauquier County, Virginia, is located slightly less than 50 miles (80 km) west of Washington, DC, and slightly less than 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Richmond, Virginia, which was the capital of the Confederate States of America. The county's population in 1860 was 21,763, and about half of its people were slaves. Because of the county's location and the presence of a railroad, troops for both sides in the American Civil War were often nearby. Some of the battles that occurred in the county were: the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, the First Battle of Rappahannock Station, the Second Battle of Rappahannock Station, the First Battle of Auburn, and the Second Battle of Auburn.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was the deadliest conflict in American history, killing an estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers and an unknown number of civilians. The Confederate States of America, formed by eleven seceding Southern states, faced the Union in four years of warfare across 23 states and territories. Major engagements included First and Second Bull Run, Antietam (the bloodiest single day in American history, September 17, 1862), Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), Vicksburg (surrendered July 4, 1863), and Sherman's March through Georgia and the Carolinas (1864–1865). President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, transforming the war's stated purpose to include the abolition of slavery and enabling the enlistment of approximately 180,000 Black men in the United States Colored Troops. Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. The war resolved the question of secession and ended American slavery, though Reconstruction would face sustained resistance in its attempt to secure civil rights for formerly enslaved people.
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