Who's good at tracking obscure details?

[Dennis Urban]

I also grew up in that area and have walked and biked the C&O Canal from Georgetown to the Monacacy Aqueduct and river. The Potomac River is the western boundary of Montgomery County, MD. Loudoun County, VA is across from Montgomery County, MD at White's Ferry, named Conrad's Ferry in CW times. White's Ford is a few miles north of the ferry. Folks frequently think the ferry and ford are one and the same but they are not. Conrad's Ferry is several hundred yards above the northern tip of Harrison's Island which was the Federal troops crossing point for the Battle of Balls Bluff (10-21-1861). The ferry still operates and is the only modern crossing point from the American Legion Bridge to Point of Rocks. Just south of Harrison's Island is Edward's Ferry another Federal crossing point for Ball's Bluff and later. I am unaware of any crossing point at Seneca or at the site of the current American Legion Bridge. The river at Seneca is quite wide and begins to run swiftly. It is not fordable at Seneca. The river gorge is much narrower at the site of the Legion bridge and the flow much swifter so I doubt that was a crossing point. The Federal Corps of Observation picketted the MD side of the Potomac along the canal from Georgetown to the Monacacy. During this time, late 1861 to early 1862, Union and CSA troops frequently exchanged coffee, tobacco, and newspapers but there was no specific crossing point that was commonly used.