Battle of Fairfax Court House

Date: June 1, 1861 • Location: City of Fairfax, United States

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1861.

The first land battle of the American Civil War after Fort Sumter took place in the village of Fairfax, Virginia.

The Battle of Fairfax Court House was the first land engagement of the American Civil War with fatal casualties. On June 1, 1861, a Union scouting party clashed with the local militia in Fairfax, Virginia, resulting in the war's first deaths in action, and the first wounding of a field-grade officer.