Ballenger Mansion (Site)

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the house used to be. No remains are visible here.


<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>
<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>•<•>

Here is an excerpt from Donald Hakenson's "This Forgotten Land" tour guide:

Ballenger's Hill got its name from its land owner, Peyton and Jane Ballenger. Peyton and Jane had at least three sons that served in the Confederate Army. Private Clinton P. Ballenger enlisted with Company H, Seventeenth Virginia Infantry on July 1, 1861 and was killed in action on May 5, 1862 at Williamsburg, Virginia and was buried at that location. Private Robert Washington Ballenger enlisted April 20, 1861 in Company F, Sixth Virginia Cavalry. He was captured February 19, 1864 at Upperville, in Fauquier County. On May 5, 1865 Private Ballenger signed his parole at Fort Delaware, Delaware. On November 16, 1919, Private Ballenger passed away at his daughter's home, aged eighty-two years old and was buried at St. Paul's Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia. Frank Ballenger enlisted in Company H, Seventeenth Virginia Infantry on March 5, 1862. He was captured June 30, 1862, and sent to Fort Columbus, New York Harbor and Fort Warren, Massachusetts. Exchanged July 31, 1862 and killed in action at Second Manassas around August 30 or 31, 1862. The Ballenger House was located in Jefferson Manor across from Fort Lyon. Brigadier General Samuel Heintzelman made the Ballenger mansion his headquarters in late 1861 thru early March 1862.

MOSBY VISITS HEINTZELMAN'S HEADQUARTERS:
According to the memoir, Mosby and His Men, written by one of Mosby's own followers Ranger J. Marshall Crawford revealed an interesting incident that is not documented anywhere else.

Crawford states in early 1862 John S. Mosby, at that time an independent scout for Major General J.E.B. Stuart, observed some puzzling Union troop movements while scouting near the Potomac. He informed Stuart of this activity and was ordered to ascertain the reason. Mosby, with two men, silently penetrated the Federal lines near Fort Lyon, outside of Alexandria and proceeded to General Samuel Heintzelman's headquarters at the Ballenger House, across today's North Kings Highway from the Huntington Metro Station. There, Mosby just missed Heintzelman, but learned from his staff officers of McClellan's Peninsula plans. Whether this narrative is true or not will never be solved or proved, but does make for a wonderful story. Almost one year later Mosby would bag a Northern general out of his bed at Fairfax Court House without a single shot being fired.