Two More Cavalry Skirmishes

Wherein you're set up with a self-guided tour for Dranesville and Fairfax

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Well, yesterday worked out a little different than I expected and I won't have time to put together a post for the morning. But there were two cavalry skirmishes that occurred 150 years ago today. One at Dranesville, between the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry from George McCall's Division, on the one side, and J.E.B. Stuart's 1st Virginia Cavalry and some South Carolina infantry on the other; and the other at Fairfax Court-House [City of Fairfax] between the First New York Cavalry from William Franklin's Division and an unspecified Confederate command. Unlike the skirmishes near Vienna and Fall's Church, a Confederate after-action report does not exist, making it a little less fun to blog as well.

First, an embedded copy of the two reports (Dranesville first, followed by Fairfax Court-House) from the Official Records:

And second, an additional treat, since I'm making you do my work. George Meade's letter to his wife from November 28, in which he describes the Dranesville skirmish. And as a bonus, it contains some candid thoughts on McClellan and Charles P. Stone!