"Procure pickets two inches wide, by half an inch thick, and six feet long; nail them to two rails, three inches square and twelve feet long; at each end of every rail, U-shaped pieces of stout hoop-iron (hogshead iron is best) are fastened by screws, so as to form staples, through which posts seven feet long and two and a half inches in diameter, pointed at both ends, are thrust and set firmly in the ground." — Harcourt, 1889

Picket fence

"Procure pickets two inches wide, by half an inch thick, and six feet long; nail them to two rails,…

A man entering a gate with a balloon, with a boy running towards him.

Man and Boy

A man entering a gate with a balloon, with a boy running towards him.

"Skirmishing between the pickets of the two armies near Munson's Hill- the hill in the distance. Munson's Hill is about five miles from the Chain Bridge, on the northern side of the Leesburg Turnpike, about one mile from Bailey's Crossroads, where our pickets were stationed, and about three miles this side of Falls Church, which was in full possession of the enemy. In this neighborhood they had strong pickets, which frequently came into collision with those sent out upon the Federal side from Ball's Roads." — Frank Leslie, 1896

Munson's Hill

"Skirmishing between the pickets of the two armies near Munson's Hill- the hill in the distance. Munson's…