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Welcome to Ox Hill Battlefield Park – Fairfax County’s only major Civil War battlefield. On behalf of the American Battlefield Trust and the Bull Run Civil War Round Table, we invite you to enjoy the park, its interpretive trail, and other battlefield points of interest beyond the park while you explore this app to learn more about the Battle of Ox Hill – also known as the Battle of Chantilly – which was fought in the late afternoon on September 1, 1862, during a severe thunderstorm.

This battle occurred two days after the Second Battle of Manassas (or Bull Run) and foreshadowed the start of Lee’s Maryland campaign. Here at Ox Hill in just a few hours the Confederate and Federal forces suffered a combined total of approximately 1,500 casualties, including two noted Union Generals – Isaac Stevens and Philip Kearny – both of whom were killed in action.

The preservation battle that occurred here in the late 1980s and 1990s saved only 4.9 acres of the historic 500+ acre battlefield. However, this was the spark that ignited the modern battlefield preservation movement – and specifically the formation of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS), then the Civil War Preservation Trust which evolved into the American Battlefield Trust and the battlefield preservation programs we know today.

Although most of the Ox Hill battlefield has been lost to development, this small urban park preserves a piece of the historic battlefield, and includes the privately owned lot containing monuments to Generals Kearny and Stevens dedicated in 1915.

Ox Hill Battlefield Park today is a calming refuge in the midst of a heavily developed area. An interpretive kiosk, interpretive trail with wayside markers, and monuments present information about the battle and its significance and offer insights into some of the soldiers who fought here and civilians impacted by the battle.

4134 West Ox Rd, Fairfax, VA 22033

8AM–6PM, weekdays and weekends