Alan...

The cabins were not destroyed at Centreville, as shown in Union photographs of the structures after the Confederate withdrawal. They were probably left intact as they were trying to cover their retreat and convince the Union pickets (and balloonists) that they were still in possession of the fort at Centreville. The cabins at Lewis House, however, were burned by the soldiers as they left. My ancestor (in the 9th AL) and about 6 other men in his mess cut their own timber, drug it several miles to the site, and then built their winter cabins out of the wood and stone. The 9th began moving into their cabins a half mile from the Lewis House on January 8, 1862.

Between the fortifications at Centreville and the winter cabins, there was hardly a tree left within 5 miles of Centreville.Some of the cabins were elaborately customized with two stories, windows, and built in bunks. The cabins were actually double cabins, in duplex style, with 5 men in each side. The chimneys were made of stone on the lower part with barrels for the upper part of the chimneys. The soldiers were forced to make their own cabins from scratch as Gen, Joseph Johnston let negotiaions break down to have a contractor build the cabins- he felt the troops could do it anyway...that is when they weren't working on the fortifications at Centreville, the Centreville Military railroad (to overcome the bad roads between Manassas and Centreville), or going out on picket duty. They finally finished the fort and slave labor was used to complete the railraod. It took them about one month to build their cabins.

The 9th was assigned picket duty every 30 days, with half the regiment going out at a time. There was local picket duty along the perimeter of the Manassas-Centreville line, and then there was extended picket duty. The 9th frequently went out Braddock Road to the east going to Annandale, Springfield, and Alexandria (the Munson Hill area near Bailey's Crossroads with a perfect vista of Washington). They even made it within 5 miles of Mount Vernon on one excursion, where they were within a stone's throw of Union pickets. On a few occasions they went west along Braddock Road almost to Leesburg. The Union picket line was frequently only about 10 miles to the west of Centreville at Vienna and Camp Washington near Fairfax Court House.

Soldiers were pretty much free to move around the Manassas/Centreville area, as the picket line enclosed those towns. Quite a few soldiers dined with local civilians at their homes or paid visits to some of the plantations in the area.
There was, of course, very little illegal drinking or sex going on away from camp- most of that could be found within the camp itself . Drunkenness was a major problem in an army where most of the soldiers would not see action for nearly a year (if you throw out Dranesville and Ball's Bluff). The effects of drinking were second only to disease in the loss of manpower within the regiments (which included discharges, imprisonment, and executions).

The 9th Alabama actually saw some action while on the picket line in 1861. It is well documented in letters from various soldiers that they were attacked on several occasions by rogue chickens, pigs, and sheep. They were successful in their defense...

John