• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Alert

Help Someone You Know Get a Library Card for Library Card Sign-up Month! More Info

Home - Arlington County Virginia - Logo
MENUMENU
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • My Checkouts
    • My Holds
    • My Lists
    • My Reading History
    • About Borrowing
    • About Holds
    • About My Account
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
  • Contact Us

Arlington Public Library

MENUMENU
  • Search
  • Collections
  • Library Services
  • Events
  • Explore
  • Join Now
  • My Account
    • Login
    • About Borrowing
    • About Holds
    • About My Account
  • Hours & Locations
    • All Hours & Locations
    • Holiday Closings
  • News
  • Contact Us

Life During Wartime

Post Published: June 24, 2008

On May 24, 1861, Union troops came over the river to Arlington. At the time, Alonzo Hayes, Jr., lived with his widowed mother, Malvina, his two attractive older sisters, Annie and Mary, and his brother, William, in a two-story house at Sunnyside Farm, two miles from Aqueduct Bridge.

Company L, Second New York Artillery, at Fort C. F. Smith in August, 1865.

Sunnyside farm was adjacent to six Union forts protecting Washington and was occupied by a succession of Union troops. Fences and timber were removed to build forts and corduroy roads and for firewood. A stable with over 1,000 horses was built on their property and Union soldiers boarded in their home.

According to a 1975 Oral History interview by his granddaughter Mrs. Janet Hayes Baldwin, twelve-year-old Alonzo was hit in the heel by a stray shell from a Union fort across the river and limped for the rest of his days. Alonzo also caught smallpox from the troops but survived with no scarring. The family would entertain soldier visitors who were well-behaved but seemed to be homesick, but the widowed mother would sometimes send her daughters upstairs during those visits.

The site of Sunnyside Farm is now the Arlington Science Focus School and children still play on the lawn of Emily Hayes Park, which was donated to Arlington County by Janet Baldwin’s maiden aunt Emily Hayes.

The photograph above was marked for publication, and shows Company L, Second New York Artillery, at Fort C. F. Smith in August, 1865. The original is owned by the Library of Congress.

What About You?
Do you know about Civil War events in Arlington? Is there evidence of the war on your property? Let us hear from you!

June 24, 2008 by Web Editor Filed Under: Center for Local History, News Archive, Our Back Pages

Primary Sidebar


The Center for Local History: Where Stories Live


Link to Parkington story.

A Taste of Arlington History


Link to Parkington story.

Parkington


Link to blogpost.

Airport and A Movie


Link to Echoes of Little Saigon online exhibit.

Oral History: Anhthu Lu


Read more blog posts from the Center for Local History


Center for Local History


The Center for Local History (CLH) collects, preserves, and shares resources that illustrate Arlington County’s history, diversity and communities. Librarians and archivists develop collections of unique research material and make them available for use by residents, students, teachers, genealogists, scholars, authors, journalists and anyone interested in learning more about Arlington County.

Footer

About Us

  • Mission & Vision
  • Center for Local History
  • News Room

Administration

  • Policies
  • Library Staff
  • Job Opportunities
  • Propose a Program

Support Your Library

  • Friends of the Library
  • Giving Opportunities
  • Donating Materials
  • Volunteer Opportunities

Our Mission

We champion the power of stories, information and ideas.

We create space for culture and connection.

We embrace inclusion and diverse points of view.

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. YouTube. Flickr. Newsletters.

download appDownload the Library App

Arlington County | Terms & Conditions | Accessibility | Site Map
· Copyright © 2023 Arlington County Government ·