Gainesville Real Estate Area Information and Homes for Sale in Prince William County, VA.


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The surrounding Gainesville area features numerous historic sites and played host to some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War. When war broke out in April of 1861, Confederate soldiers were recruited on the Brentsville Courthouse lawn, enticed by the glorious prospects of fighting in a skirmish expected to be over in a matter of months. Although Brentsville, located 10 miles south of Gainesville, was later raided by Union troops for building supplies, at least five original structures survived the war.

The Brentsville Historic Center now consists of the Courthouse, jail, church and a one-room schoolhouse. Several of the buildings are rumored to have had recent ghost sightings. Both Union General Irvin McDowell and Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard recognized the importance of the town’s location at the junction of the Alexandria and Orange and Manassas Gap Railroads. By capturing the Manassas railroad junction, the Union would take possession of the best overland route to Richmond, the Confederate capital. The Confederacy was prepared to defend the junction, at all costs.

Confederate soldiers, under the command of Generals Joseph E. Johnston and Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson, marched to the site of the battle through Thoroughfare Gap, a gap in the Bull Run Mountains. The battle broke out on the grounds of the McLean Farm, on Route 28 near present-day Yorkshire Market, the home of Confederate sympathizer Wilmer McLean, who offered Beauregard use of his house as a headquarters for the battle that was fast approaching. Five thousand soldiers lost their lives in the First Battle of Manassas, the first major battle of the Civil War.

The Second Battle of Manassas was four times larger than the first battle, with 120,000 men fighting for two and a half days. Nearly 24,000 soldiers were killed or wounded here in the rolling Virginia countryside.

Today, visitors can trace the footsteps of the soldiers who fought in this monumental battle at the Manassas National Battlefield Park where Thomas Jackson earned the nickname "Stonewall". This is also where the Confederate soldiers won their first victory and forced the Union army to retreat to Washington.