On this Monday, the146th anniversary of the battle (which was also fought on a Monday), we have added one of many videos to the record of The “Lost" Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly). The above video shows an unfired .58 caliber Minie ball being recovered on the slope below the Confederate batteline on a ridge facing to the east where the vital crossroads at Germantown were located.

The same style Minie Ball and other artifacts were in a perfect battleline formation where the 51st New York attacked the ridge after the 21st Massachusetts was decimated on the south side. It was most likely that these attacks coming from two different directions on the east side caused the Confederates to contract their lines closer to West Ox Road.. More importantly, this diversion allowed General Stevens to break through the Confederate Center as Gen.Earlys Brigade was drawn off his back-up postion behind the center line. The apparent reason was to meet what was thought to be an attack from the Union troops at Germantown.

Without this archeological record, especially when topographical features have been erased by grading the battlefield for high density development, historians and the general public can only guess at what happened during the battle. They will never be able to enjoy or reflect on this important part of the battle since this survey is the only evidence of exactly where the battlelines were located.