Archeological Overview, Assessment, Inventory, and Evaluation Study of Manassas National Battlefield Park, Volume 1

WSP USA Inc; John, Bedell; Tiffany, Raszick; Erin, Cagney

The Manassas Battlefield encompasses over 5,072 acres of rolling hills in northern Virginia’s Prince William and Fairfax Counties. The mission of Manassas National Battlefield Park is to preserve and interpret the sites of two important Civil War battles, known as First and Second Bull Run or First and Second Manassas. Today the park consists mostly of forests and grassy fields, but over the past 11,000 years many people have lived there and put the landscape to their own uses. The park therefore has a rich archeological record that spans ancient Native Americans, European settlers, enslaved and free African Americans, and of course Civil War soldiers from both sides. Between 2018 and 2022, WSP USA Inc. (WSP) carried out a four-year archeological study of Manassas National Battlefield Park (the park, or the battlefield). The park is a unit of the National Park Service (NPS). WSP carried out this study under the terms of Contract No. P16PC00290, PMIS 41350A-D. This report documents the work done across the entire four-year archeological study. Volume I, this volume, is written as a narrative, and it is intended for park interpretive staff and the general public. Volume I does not include sensitive information such as the locations of archeological sites. Volume II is intended for park managers and cultural resource professionals and includes the technical information from the study, such as precise maps. The work of the four-year study began with an Archeological Overview and Assessment (AOA) study of the park. AOAs are standard resource management studies conducted by the NPS nationwide to meet their mission and follow applicable laws and regulations, including Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The main goals of this AOA were to summarize what is known about the archeological record and history of the battlefield and to establish a plan for the four-year archeological study. Quite a bit of archeology had already been done in the park before 2018: more than 30 studies had been carried out and 95 archeological sites recorded. Archeological study followed, with testing carried out in all four years. The main tasks were the following. • Investigation around historic house sites, which are key interpretive sites for the park, and the focus of much development. • Metal detecting in selected areas of heavy fighting, to enhance our understanding of the fighting in the two battles. • Survey of selected areas to locate new archeological sites. Documentary research was also carried out on selected topics, notably the enslaved population of Pittsylvania plantation and the fighting at the locations where metal detecting was carried out. Key advances include the following. • Significant metal detector finds related to the fighting at the Deep Cut and the Federal Breakthrough Site (Second Manassas) and Matthews and Henry Hills (First Manassas). • Uncovering features and artifacts at historic house sites, including Pittsylvania, Rosefield II, Van Pelt, Matthews, Hazel Plain, and M.J. Dogan. • Discovery of five new archeological sites.

Archeological Overview, Assessment, Inventory, and Evaluation Study of Manassas National Battlefield Park, Volume 1

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