West Virginia Civil War Trails: Col Mosby’s Adventures In Jefferson County I Trail Cooking

I started reading a copy of Gray Ghost: The Life of Col. John Singleton Mosby, and that led me down a rabbit hole of history for our area in West Virginia. We live in Jefferson County, the last county in the Eastern Panhandle.

When Duffields Depot was mentioned on the book, I realized I had missed out on local history. I started researching where the two Civil War events had occurred and realized both had occurred very close to our home (within 2 miles).

Visited first was the memorial for The Greenback Raid, where Mosby and his men derailed a Union train, and made off with quite a bit of money in 1864. His men each were given $2,000, about $41,000 in modern money.

The location is across the street from the Route 9 trail. So yes, you can have a hike and a history lesson all in one. With fall coming, the Route 9 trail is a great choice for an easy walk.

The Greenback Raid. The second of Mosby’s daring acts.

It happened near the junction of Bardane, which in modern times is at the corner of Charles Town Road and Luther Jones Road, where the railroad cuts through, heading to Shenandoah Junction.

The sign is located on the edge of Black Dog Coffee’s parking lot.

Civil War Trails is a great website, with so many ideas of places to see. They break down by state.

The second visit was Duffields. In modern times, this is the bare bones commuter station for the MARC train as it heads into Washington D.C. There are three distinctive things to look at here in the area. None of them are easy to access because of a lack of parking. Two are directly on the road as well.

To start off with is marker #9.

In 1910, for the 50th anniversary of the Civil War, 25 obelisks were installed across Jefferson County by Confederate veterans.

It is on Flowing Springs Road, just past the rail crossing at Duffields. It does sit on private property. You can reach it from Melvin Road and park off the road. Just watch traffic.

#9 was a memorial to the many skirmishes in the area of Duffields and Melvin’s Hill for a couple of years during the Civil War.

There is also a memorial the other way to General William Drake, who was from the Revolutionary War. It is on Flowing Springs Road, just over the train tracks, right on the road. If one parked at modern Duffields, it can be walked over to. Again, watch the traffic. West Virginia isn’t known for having shoulders on their roads. We aren’t fancy like Maryland is (with their vast amounts of paved shoulders and steep traffic tickets).

The next was the Duffields Depot, a historical area, and Col. Mosby’s first raid on the B&O railway.

To find it, turn down Melvin Road off of Flowing Springs Road. It is just a short distance from the MARC station.