ngs were removed, and the interior
generally was gutted so that only the walls and roof remained.[89] For
all practical purposes, the courthouse and its related buildings were,
in the years 1863 and 1864, a military outpost and minor headquarters
in the Union army's system to protect its supply and communications
lines from the irregular troops who kept hostilities constantly
smoldering in Northern Virginia. Throughout the western part of
Fairfax County, and in Loudoun, Fauquier and Prince William Counties,
lived many who gave the appearance of innocent farmers during the
daylight hours, but who changed into Confederate uniforms at night and
on weekends to ride against isolated outposts or supply points of the
Union army or destroy vulnerable bridges and communications centers.

The operations of these guerilla bands kept thousands of Union troops
pinned down on rear area security guard duty, and preoccupied the
forces assigned to Fairfax Court House. The difficulty of their task
under the circumstances that prevailed in Northern Virginia was
dramatized in the famous Confederate raid on Fairfax Court House by
men under the command of Col. John S. Mosby when, on the night of
March 8, 1863, the Confederate commander with about 30 men captured
and carried off 33 prisoners, including Union Brigadier General Edwin
H. Stoughton, and a large number of horses and quantity of supplies.
Throughout 1863, 1864 and the spring of 1865 hardly a night went by
without some cries of alarm and shots being fired because of the
activities of the Confederate irregulars. Yet they took a substantial
toll from the wealth and welfare of the very people they claimed to
represent, for the Union troops soon learned more efficiency in their
rear area operations, and increased the restrictions on movement of
civilian traffic. The transaction of personal business in normal ways
became virtually impossible. The historian, Bruce Catton, has assessed
the activities of the guerilla bands as follows:

The quality of these bands varied greatly. At the top was John S.
Mosby's courageous soldiers led by a minor genius, highly
effective in partisan warfare. Most of the groups, however, were
about one degree better than plain outlaws, living for loot and
excitement, doing no actual fighting if they could help it, and
offering a secure refuge to any number of Confederate deserters
and draft evaders.... The worst damage which this sys