Mission to Mason Neck

(NYTimes) Though there was little organized fighting along the Union defenses around Washington, they were continuously harassed by Southern skirmishers through the latter half of 1861 and into 1862.
The situation was particularly troublesome in southern Fairfax County, Va., not far from Mount Vernon and Alexandria. Rebels repeatedly challenged the Union pickets and effectively blockaded the Potomac River, which enabled them to smuggle mail and other materials across the river from Maryland. Continued

Photo: Maryland shore above Matawoman [sic] and Mouth of Occoquan, Battery of Virginia Shore, Field guns, Indian head, c1862 (Alfred Waud/Library of Congress).