Picket Duty at Falls Church

Friday, October 17, 1862

The Thirteenth New Hampshire had its first taste of military action early this morning, as the regiment arose before dawn and left camp at 7:00 A.M. with knapsacks, haversacks, and arms for Upton Hill, about two miles from Falls Church and fifteen miles from the Bull Run battlefield. Arriving at 11:30 A.M. two companies of the Thirteenth immediately deployed for picket duty beyond the earthwork defenses of Washington, while the remaining companies camped, mainly without tents, on open ground.¹

References:
¹S. Millett Thompson, Thirteenth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 : A Diary Covering Three Years and a Day (Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1888), 13-14.