Colleagues: In investigating the history of southeastern Prince William County (the region around Dumfries and the Quantico Marine base, not Manassas) and its place in northern Virginia during the Civil War era, I encounter references to Governor Francis Pierpont's Restored Government, the Unionist government organized after the secession of the Richmond government from the United States in 1861. Pierpont's government exercised what authority it had first from Wheeling, and, after West Virginia's statehood in 1863, from Alexandria. Secondary sources note that the authority of Pierpont's government didn't extend very far geographically after its move to Alexandria; it wielded various degrees of power on the eastern shore, in Norfolk and Portsmouth, and in counties around Alexandria (which I infer to mean today's Arlington County and the city of Alexandria). However, I have not found specific information as to which northern Virginia felt the reach of Pierpont's administration. Just how far into northern Virginia was Pierpont's government able to consistently project authority? Did Fairfax County send delegates to the state assemblies meeting in Alexandria? Did Loudon or Prince William? Or were these counties a borderland of sorts between Confederate Virginia and U.S.-held territories? Edward Roach Historian, Prince William Forest Park National Park Service Servicewide Intake Class of 2003 [log in to unmask] To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html