urt House. On the
morning of June 1, 1861, a body of Union cavalry rode through the
town, and in the confused exchange of fire which followed, a Captain
of the Rifles, John Quincy Marr, became the first officer casualty of
the war.[86]

A month later, the tide of Union forces under McDowell swept past the
courthouse on the way to its rendezvous at Bull Run, and back again to
the safety of the fortified positions along the Potomac. In the wake
of their victory at Bull Run, troops of the Confederacy established an
outpost at Fairfax Court House to watch for signs that the Union Army
might resume the offensive by moving against the Confederate
earthworks near Centreville.

This outpost did not see any fighting for the time being, but it
provided the site for what later was regarded as one of the decisive
moments of the war. In September 1861, General Beauregard had
established his headquarters at Fairfax Court House, and urgently
pressed the newly-formed government of Confederate President Jefferson
Davis for reinforcements with which to sweep into Pennsylvania and
Maryland and, hopefully, to carry the Federal capital itself. A
meeting was arranged at Beauregard's headquarters in which Davis,
Generals Beauregard and J. J. Johnston, and certain of their trusted
staff officers considered this plan. Their decision was to adopt a
defensive posture and protect the borders of Virginia rather than take
the offensive and invade the North. As events turned out, this
decision had consequences of the greatest effect, for it was not until
Lee marched out of the Valley on the road to Gettysburg in 1863 that
there was another opportunity for the Confederacy to carry the war to
the soil of the northern states.[87]

In the spring of 1862, the Confederate army retired from Fairfax Court
House, and soon after that its line of fortifications at
Centreville--the most extensive system of field fortifications in
military history up to that time--was abandoned. As the Union armies
took the initiative in their repeated efforts to reach Richmond, the
crossroads at Fairfax Court House had key importance in the
communication and supply systems of these forces.

From 1862 to the end of the war, Union troops remained in control of
the crossroads and the courthouse. Contemporary photographs of the
building show it being used as a lookout point and station for
patrols. Other descriptions indicate that the courthouse was
loopholed,[88] the furnishi