Day by Day Journal, Page 46, Fighting at Fairfax Va.

"fighting at Fair-Fax Va."

This may refer to the early stages of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, a battle that was fought between Confederate forces under Nathan G. Evans and Union troops under Charles P. Stone on October 21, 1861. While this fight occurred in Loudoun county, rather than Fairfax, the two are 27 miles apart and are easy to confuse. Fighting would break out in Fairfax itself a month later at the Battle of Dranesville.