Battles of Manassas • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments • Facts • The Armies
The Church During Wartime wayside marker is next to the parking area at Stop 5 on the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour.
The wayside marker looks toward the Sudley United Methodist Church, which stands on the site of the wartime Sudley Church.
Text from the wayside marker:
Church During Wartime
People were on their way to worship—some already in the church yard—when thousands of Federal soldiers suddenly appeared marching south Sudley Road. Within minutes the sound of gunfire came from the direction of Matthews Hill. As wounded men stumbled back behind the lines, Federals turned Sudley Church into a field hospital. Harried surgeons used the altar for an operating table.
First
Battle of Manassas
Caption to the photo on the upper right:
Sudley Church, photographed in 1862. The present structure stands on the original site.
Caption to the photo at the bottom:
Sudley Springs Ford, with Sudley Church on the hill above. Here the Federal flanking column of 15,000 crossed Catharpin Run two hours late. McDowell’s stragety was further delayed as hot, dust-choked soldiers stopped to drink.
Location of the marker
The “Church During Wartime” wayside marker is at Stop 5 of the Manassas Battlefield Driving Tour, on the west side of Sudley Road, Virginia Route 234, about 1.6 mile north of US 29 and 0.9 mile north of Stop 4, Matthew Hill. The small paved parking area is on the west side of the highway about 300 feet south of the Sudley Methodist Church parking lot. The marker is on the north side of the parking lot facing toward the church.