Manassas Junction and The Doctor
Twenty-eight-year-old Dr. Carter L. Tucker prepared to leave the train as the conductor shouted, “Tudor Hall! All off for Tudor Hall!” And thus author Van Loan Naisawald introduces the reader to the newly named Manassas Junction, Virginia, of May 1861. Dr. Carter arrived on the eve of the Civil War to establish a medical practice for the Prince William County population of 5,500 whites, 550 free Negroes and 2,500 slaves. Through Carter Tucker’s eyes we see Manassas Junction, a small hamlet with approximately 600 citizens, few buildings and a small hotel. The Orange & Alexandria Railroad that had carried the doctor to Manassas also carried foodstuffs to Alexandria. The people of the town warmly greet the doctor and quickly find uses for his medical skills. As he settles into his new community, Tucker sees the Confederate military changing the town as they make it a rail hub and supply depot. Manassas Junction therefore becomes a military target. It wouldn’t be too long before the two forces clashed. That same summer they meet at the Battle of First Manassas (Bull Run). As he treats the wounded of both armies, Dr. Tucker reveals much about the medical techniques used early in this new war. He witnesses and assists in his first amputation. We learn that military doctors believed such a procedure, used early in treatment, would save lives. Of course, he discovers that postoperative infection thwarted their efforts. He also helps the Confederate army prevent an outbreak of measles and is told how the spread of that malady and mumps have hurt the army. After the Confederate victory, the little hamlet continues to serve as a supply depot for Gen. Joseph Johnston and his large Confederate force. But, in the winter of 1861-62, the general is ordered to move his forces south. It appears that, through its network of Washington spies, President Jefferson Davis has learned that Gen. George McClellan would move his large Army of the Potomac to the Fort Monroe area in order to march on Richmond from the southeast. Johnston is ordered to destroy any supplies his force cannot carry off and destroy the depot as well. The doctor and other citizens watch the puzzling sight of their own cavalry setting fire to railroad buildings and tons of supplies. “Why are they destroying a railroad engine and all its cars?” one citizen asks aloud. Doctor Tucker answers: “I heard that some overzealous soldiers permanently blew up the bridge … now they can’t get the train out.” On the heels of the retreating Confederates, men from the advance units of the Union army are at the junction attempting to put out the fires. Thus begins the creation of a supply depot for General Pope’s Union Army with Manassas Junction becoming a Union rail center as well. The following spring Dr. Tucker watches Gen. Thomas Jackson’s Confederate force destroy the supply depot once again. Never again during the war will this site become a rail center or a supply depot. In this short work, the author does not reveal any new information about Manassas Junction. But it is an interesting look at the location through the eyes of the fictional Doctor Tucker. Reviewer: Dr. Michael J. Deeb Dr. Michael J. Deeb is author of The Drieborg Chronicles,” www.civilwarnovels.com
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Fiction, 108 pp., softcover, 2008. The Manassas Museum System,