Grave of Judith Henry. In the Henry yard, a few feet west of the house, is the grave of the widow, Judith Henry, enclosed by an iron railing and shrubbery. She is said to have been buried here by Confederate soldiers the day after the first battle. A son and daughter are also interred here. Mrs. Henry’s tragic death is dramatically treated in Stephen Vincent Benet’s poem, “John Brown’s Body.”
Union Monument. This pyramidal monument of reddish brown stone, located in the yard on the east side of the Henry House, was erected by Union soldiers in 1865 to the memory of their comrades who fell in the first battle. It is one of the earliest memorial monuments of the Civil War.
2. ROBINSON HOUSE.
About 800 yards northeast of the Administration-Museum Building, on a projecting spur, stands the Robinson House on the site of the wartime structure owned by the free Negro, James Robinson. No part of the present house is original, though a section of it dates to about 1888. The original house was torn down in 1926 to permit the construction of the larger portion of the present structure. Suffering little damage in the first battle, the original house and fields were sacked by Sigel’s Federal troops in the second battle. For these damages Robinson was awarded $1,249 by Congress in a Private Act of March 3, 1873. A picturesque view unfolds from this point eastward across Bull Run and westward to the mountains.
3. STONE BRIDGE.
The Stone Bridge and the stream, Bull Run, that flows beneath it are inseparably linked with the story of the two battles of Manassas. Located on the Warrenton Turnpike, approximately 1½ miles east of its intersection with the Manassas-Sudley Road, it formed, during the first battle, the anchor of the Confederate left and the objective of the Federal diversion under Tyler. Following the rout of McDowell’s forces, it constituted one of the main avenues of escape. In the second battle, it was the main route of the Federal advance and retreat. Though the bridge was destroyed a number of times, the abutments are original. The present Lee Highway bridge crosses Bull Run about 100 feet south of the old structure which is now memorialized by the State of Virginia.
The Stone Bridge as it now appears.
4. STONE HOUSE (MATTHEWS).
Built in the early part of the nineteenth century, this two-and-one-half story structure of reddish brown native stone, stands as the best preserved and most conspicuous landmark on the two battlefields. It is located on the north side of Lee Highway, near its junction with the Manassas-Sudley Road. Here the tides of battle twice engulfed it as it served alternately as a hospital for the wounded of each side. Shells may still be seen embedded in its walls. For a number of years after the war it was operated as a tavern.