VA-T40 Lincoln Reviews Troops at Baileys Crossroads

Marker text: LINCOLN REVIEWS TROOPS AT BAILEY'S CROSSROADS

After the Union defeat on 21 July 1861 at the First Battle of Manassas, Lincoln appointed Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan as commander of the demoralized army. A superb organizer, McClellan rebuilt the army and on 20 November 1861 staged a formal military review here, between Munson's Hill and Bailey's Crossroads. Lincoln and his entire cabinet attended. Occupying nearly 200 acres, some 50,000 troops, "including seven divisions -- seven regiments of cavalry, ninety regiments of infantry, (and) twenty batteris of artillery," took part in the review, at that time the largest ever held in America.

Department of Historic Resources, 1992