Anyone who has trouble finding antebellum records from Prince William County, Virginia can blame the Union First Corps, and specifically the Iron Brigade. A member of the brigade, T. O. Webster, reports what happened in mid-June 1863: "We had come through a deserted village. There was a large court house and some other public buildings. It was a county seat; all the records and documents of the county were left behind. Our boys voluntarily destroyed them. This paper was out of one of the books." Webster does not identify the location, but a fellow soldier, Elon F. Brown of the 2nd Wisconsin Regiment, did so. Webster wrote on 15 June, at the beginning of the Gettysburg campaign: "In passing through Brentsville, some of the boys broke into the courthouse and nearly all the records were destroyed or carried away ... records of deeds, of contracts, of marriages and other things which happened over 100 years ago. The destruction of such relics I considered an act of vandalism far beneath the dignity of an American soldier in this enlightened age ... it is simply a stain upon the otherwise fair record of the intelligent army of Americans. But I am happy to say that such acts of barbarism are only perpetrated by a few outlaws and their acts are detested by the large body of the army." At the time Brentsville was the county seat of Prince William County (it was moved to Manassas in 1893). Welcome comments. I recall reading a soldier's letter written on the back of such a record but do not remember the details and if it related to this incident.