The damage to the old church, according to one of the oldest citizens of the town, Mr. George B. Ives, was done by a company of Union cavalry on picket duty under command of a captain of the regular army. He permitted his men to tear out the floor of the church and use it for a stable. The building might have been damaged beyond repair had it not been for Mr. Ives and the late Mr. John Bartlett, who reported the matter to General Augur, the Military Governor of this district, by whose orders the captain was arrested and further desecration prevented.
About three miles from Falls Church, on the Alexandria turnpike, is Bailey's Cross Roads, where in November, 1861, President Lincoln reviewed the Union forces preparatory to the Peninsular Campaign.
The story of the most important events occurring during those stormy times around the old Colonial church is best told by the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," extracts from reports therein following:
Dr. T. C. Quick
Skirmish at Munson's Hill August 31, 1861.
Report of Colonel Geo. W. Taylor, 3rd N. J. Infantry, dated September 2, 1861.
General: The pickets of the enemy having for some time been extremely annoying to outposts on Little River Turnpike and on the road leading from thence to Chestnut Hill, I decided on making a reconnaissance in person with a small force with the view of cutting them off. Accordingly I marched with 40 men, volunteers from 2 companies of my regiment, on the morning of Aug. 31, at 3 a. m., and keeping to the woods arrived soon after daylight at or near the point, a little beyond, at which I desired to strike the road and cut them off.