As dawn arrives, twenty-seven members of a Union cavalry unit, the U.S. Loudoun (Virginia) Rangers, are holed up inside the Waterford Baptist Church. The county of Loudoun is under Federal control, and local Union supporter Captain Samuel Means is in charge of the cavalrymen. The remainder of Means’ men are guarding the roads into town and an ammunitions building, while Means is resting in his own home.
Meanwhile, Confederate Captain Elijah White, also a local, leads the 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry. The 25th Battalion, evading Union pickets by riding through fields, are determined to surprise the Loudoun Rangers. Twenty of White’s troops, dismounted, have quietly marched toward the Baptist church. But, not quiet enough, it turns out.
The Rangers hear noise and rush outside the church house. The Confederates, surprised and not yet in the church yard, fire prematurely. The volley injures about a third of the Rangers, who return the volley then retreat back into the church, carrying their wounded. Inside the sturdy building, the federals are safe from the heavy fire that soon comes from entrenched Confederate troops.
Captain White captures the ammunition in town but fails to find Captain Means. He then sends a civilian to the church house to demand that the federals surrender. Refused, the Confederates open fire again on the church, but to no avail. An attempt to capture the federals’ horses is unsuccessful, and a second call for surrender is rebuffed.
Conditions within the church, however, are rapidly worsening. Wounded men are lying in pools of blood. There is no water, and ammunition is almost exhausted.
Finally, the Union cavalrymen surrender when asked to do so a third time. Their liberal conditions are met, as the Confederates are also running low on ammunition. Most of the Union soldiers are paroled, with a single death on each side as a result the three hour battle. The wounded are treated by the town doctor in the homes of local citizens.
Sources: “The Fight at the Baptist Church, Waterford, 1862”, including image (link); Richard E. Crouch, “The History of Loudoun County, Virginia” (link); “A Guide to the Battle at Waterford Baptist Church, 1862” (link)
