Merrybrook is the only known remaining home of American Civil War Confederate spy Laura Ratcliffe.

However, urban encroachment continues, the recent widening of Centreville Road was a near miss for Merrybrook which still survives behind the trees.

The album was signed not only by Stuart but also by many other soldiers who fought with him including Mosby and Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee.

February 7, 1863 - Col. Mosby was planning to raid the Union picket lines in Fairfax when he had word of a band of robbers nearby.

These men had been stripping citizen's homes of valuables, stealing horses and even taking the local doctor's medical saddlebags after encountering him on the road.

Ratcliffe's assistance to Mosby, besides saving his life, included providing timely information on Union troop movements, hiding both men and money for him, and occasionally acting as "banker" for the Rangers.

This was also apparently where Laura successfully hid several thousand dollars entrusted to her after the Rangers had liberated it from a Union train.