THE BURNING RAID, aka The Fury Order of Loudoun

In late November of 1864, General Grant authorized a raid on Loudoun County. This Union foray (a precursor to Sherman's March to the Sea) has become known in local lore as "The Burning Raid," but The Waterford News called it "The Fury Order." Grant's concept was to burn out the farms still able to provide forage to Confederate Colonel Mosby and his men. To this end, he ordered barns to be burned and livestock killed or driven off. Furthermore, men under 51 capable of bearing arms and any slaves remaining in the area were to be taken.  For the people of Loudoun who suffered from this order, political sentiment became unimportant. Mosby gathered forage from whoever had goods, thus the Union army visited whoever had goods.

So, in a sad twist of fate, pro-Union Loudouners had the unpleasant task of watching the Union army destroy in less than a week what they'd been hiding and protecting from bushwhackers and Confederates for four years. Between November 27th and December 2 of 1864, the skies over western Loudoun were dark with the smoke of hundreds upon hundreds of fires.  The Dutton's barn was one of hundreds of barns to be burned in that short time.

"Leaf" Erickson - Actor Phil Erickson prepares
for filming by dirtying up his Captain McNulty uniform.