Matthews Hill Loop Trail map (click to enlarge)

---

Note: The trails at Manassas National Battlefield Park are poorly marked, so be sure to bring a trail map with you for navigational purposes. The best is the Trail Guide, a tri-fold map that is free at the Henry Hill Visitor Center. For planning purposes, you can download it here, but be sure to pick up a full-color version before you begin your hike.

Manassas Trail Map (PDF)

---

Length: 1.1-mile loop
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: easy with a few small hills

While Matthews Hill played a role in both the First and Second Battles of Manassas, the Matthews Hill Loop Trail and the exhibits you will see along the way focus on the first battle. The trail follows both the Confederate and Union battle lines where they faced off around 10 AM on July 21, 1861. Union troops where positioned at the top of the hill and the Confederates were on the slope.

Since the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Union General Irvin McDowell had been tasked with capturing the Confederate capital of Richmond and ending the war early. One of his first objectives was Manassas Junction, a vital railroad hub. To defend against such an attack, 22,000 Confederate troops under the command of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard were stationed along the west bank of Bull Run (creek) guarding the crossing spots from the Stone Bridge south to Union Mills (located in the modern-day Hemlock Overlook Regional Park near Clifton). Union troops had to cross Bull Run in order to reach Manassas Junction.

McDowell first confronted Confederate troops to the south of the Stone Bridge at Blackburn’s Ford with no luck. (Blackburn’s Ford is close to where Hwy 28 / Centreville Road crosses Bull Run). He then came up with a plan to mount a diversionary attack on the Stone Bridge while sending roughly 15,000 men marching north to cross Bull Run at Sudley Ford. They would then travel down the Sudley-Manassas Road (today’s Sudley Road) and attack the Confederates from behind.

At 5:30 AM, Union artillery opened fire on the men stationed at the Stone Bridge. However, after two hours of shelling and no formidable attack, Confederate Colonel Nathan Evans got suspicious and sent most of his men up to Matthews Hill. If anyone was going to sneak up behind him, they would be coming from that direction. Sure enough, at around 10 AM the two sides met, spoiling the Union’s surprise attack. Evans’s men were soon joined by reinforcements, but the Confederates were overrun after an hour-and-a-half of fighting and retreated in disarray back towards Henry Hill to join newly arrived comrades who had marched from other locations on Bull Run.

Parking for the Matthews Hill Loop Trail is at Stop #4 on the Second Manassas Battlefield Tour. Look for the trailhead on the right side of the parking lot. The trail is lollypop-shaped, meaning you hike out on the stick for a short distance before coming to the loop portion of the trail.

Trailhead for the Matthew Hill Loop Trail in Manassas National Battlefield Park

Half of the trail is out in the open and half is in the forest, so if avoiding the sun is important to you, be sure to wear a hat and apply sunscreen. Also, the open-air section follows a mowed swathe of grass, a favorite habitat for ticks. While I did not pick up any on this hike, I did on some of the other trails. I suggest wearing long pants treated with Permethrin when hiking anywhere in Manassas National Battlefield Park.

From the parking lot you have a mild uphill climb in order to reach the loop portion of the trail, which begins at an unmarked intersection at the crest of the hill. The Matthews Hill Loop Trail is rectangular in shape, and by taking a left at the intersection you will start off walking along the Union line, one of the long sides of the rectangle. By staying straight, you are heading down to the Confederate line, which is how the trail is intended to be hiked.

Intersection with the Union battle line at the start of the loop portion of the Henry Hill Loop Trail in Manassas National Battlefield Park

As you hike south towards the Confederate line you will pass an artillery exhibit marking the position of the Rhode Island Artillery Battery, which consisted of six 13-pounder James Rifled Guns (pounder refers to the weight of the ball or shell that could be fired). As soon as the Confederates were spotted coming up the hill, the 2^nd Rhode Island Regiment charged down the hill to hold them off while the cannon were maneuvered into place. Those on display are authentic Civil War-era guns, but not necessarily ones used at Manassas.

Cannon exhibit on Matthews Hill marks the placement of the Rhode Island Artillery Battery, Manassas National Battlefield Park

Union cannon on Matthews Hill aims towards the Confederate line, Manassas National Battlefield Park

Civil War-era cannon on Matthews Hill, Manassas National Battlefield Park

From the artillery exhibit, continue down the hill, passing through an opening in a rail fence, until you come to the next intersection, which is again unidentified. Since starting the hike at the parking lot you have been walking on a merged segment of the Matthews Hill Loop Trail and the First Manassas Trail. If you were to continue straight at this intersection, you could take the First Manassas Trail all the way to the Visitor Center at the top of Henry Hill, which you can see in the distance. However, turn left and hike towards the forest to stay on the Matthews Hill Loop Trail. Upon doing so, you will be following the Confederate battle line.

Matthews Hill Loop Trail passes through an opening in a rail fence at its southwestern end, Manassas National Battlefield Park

The southern end of the Matthews Hill Loop Trail follows the Confederate battle line, Manassas National Battlefield Park

From this position you can see just how close the two armies were from each other. The Confederates, who had 900 men at the start of the battle, faced an overwhelming 15,000-man Union force, yet they held out for one and a half hours before retreating back towards Henry Hill. How, you may ask, did the 15,000 not immediately overwhelm them? Because not all 15,000 arrived at once. The line of Union troops stretched for six miles all the way back to the Stone Bridge. Thus, the Confederates originally faced a reasonable number, but with each passing minute more Union soldiers arrived. Even with reinforcements joining them on the battlefield, they could not contend with the endless supply of Union soldiers coming over the hill.

The Confederate line is the only part of the Matthews Hill Loop Trail that does not overlap with the First Manassas Trail, and there isn’t much to see on this section. Therefore, if you have hiked or plan to hike the First Manassas Trail, there is no reason to do both. I do suggest that if the First Manassas Trail is your choice that you at least walk partway across the field on the Confederate line just so you can look up towards the Rhode Island Artillery Battery and see the battlefield from the Confederate perspective.

View towards the Union battery on Matthews Hill from the Confederate perspective, Manassas National Battlefield Park

One of the interesting features of the trails at Manassas National Battlefield Park are the wayside exhibits along the way that contain eyewitness accounts from men who fought in the battle. Quotes from Union soldiers are posted along Union lines, and quotes from Confederate soldiers are posted along Confederate lines. When you reach the edge of the forest you will find one such exhibit. You will also be standing at another unmarked intersection with a trail that runs north along the tree line (this is not on the map). If you were to take a left and head up the hill, you would cross the Union line before ending up back at the parking lot. The downhill path leads nowhere, dead ending into a forest.

Shortcut back to the parking lot where the Confederate battle line meets the forest on the Matthews Hill Loop Trail, Manassas National Battlefield Park

Exhibit along the Matthews Hill Loop Trail with a quote from a Confederate soldier who fought in the First Battle of Manassas, Manassas National Battlefield Park

Continue into the forest to stay on the Matthews Hill Loop Trail, and in a tenth of a mile you will connect back with the First Manassas Trail at a memorial for George Stovall. According to the inscription, he was killed at this spot on July 21, 1861. However, this is not the original location of the monument. It was moved here from a wheat field by farmers so that it would be at the location where Stovall’s unit, the Rome Light Guards of the 8th Georgia Volunteers, did most of its fighting. Stovall was not an officer or anyone important, so this monument was erected by his family, not by the state or federal government or a veterans organization. (Prior to the First Manassas Trail intersection is an intersection with a horse trail, but keep walking straight until reaching the memorial.)

Memorial to George Stovall in Manassas National Battlefield Park

Take a left at the memorial to continue on the Matthews Hill Loop Trail, which once again merges with the First Manassas Trail. This is one of the few intersections that actually has a directional sign posted.

Intersection at the Stovall memorial where the Matthews Hill and First Manassas trails merge, Manassas National Battlefield Park

The trail intersects once again with a bridle trail and then curves to the left and eventually comes back out onto the field. You’ll immediately see the trail that runs along the tree line to the parking lot, but keep straight and cross the field. You are now walking along the Union battle line. The trail passes just above the cannon marking the location of the Rhode Island Artillery Battery that you saw at the beginning of the hike, and in another hundred yards you will be back at the stick portion of the trail. Take a right to get back to the parking lot.

Matthews Hill Loop Trail follows the Union battle line just north of the Rhode Island Artillery Battery, Manassas National Battlefield Park

When I am hiking on a battlefield, I don’t care much about scenery, but I do like the trails to enhance the battlefield experience. With the wayside exhibits featuring first-hand accounts from soldiers who fought in the battle, the Stovall monument, and the placement of the Union artillery battery, the hike on the Matthews Hill Loop Trail certainly gave me a better understanding of the First Battle of Manassas. You can read about it all you want, but until you see the terrain with your own eyes and stand on the Confederate line and look up to where the Union soldiers appeared in a never ending stream, you can’t understand the difficulties of what took place. I highly recommend this short and easy hike unless you have already done or plan to do the First Manassas Trail.

Back to the Top