The Bull Run Civil War Roundtable honored the history and mystery of the “Centreville Six,” in a ceremony for the Historical Marker unveiling. The Marker documents the graves of six Union soldiers discovered in Centreville, at Route 28 and Route 29 in 1994. The remains of these men were hastily buried in 1861 and only discovered when construction had started for the restaurant. The dedication event attracted over 75 Civil War and history enthusiasts who listened to the fascinating story, from a century ago, of the discovery of these soldiers’ lives, their deaths, and graves.
Blackburn’s Ford was a crossing point from Bull Run, and the soldiers had been on the retreat from the disastrous Battle of Manassas. The six young soldiers, ages 17 to 30, were killed in the earliest days of the Civil War. The soldiers’ remains were returned to Massachusetts in 2006 and given a parade and a military burial.
City of Fairfax Band trumpeter, Glenn Maravetz, who played taps in honor of the Centerville Six, says: “The City of Fairfax Band Association provides all kinds of service to our community. One of those is answering the call when requests are made for buglers to play taps at veteran funerals or historical memorials.”
Clarinetist Sam Leven, of the Main Street Band, recalls being at the ‘dig’ at the age of twelve, accompanying his mother, a volunteer with the county at the time the photo in the marker was taken.
