winter quarters 1861/62 location help.

[Hammons]

Attempting to see if this camp has ever been located or photographed.

Pvt. Hamilton Branch to his mother January 19 1862, Co B 8th Georgia Volunteer Infantry

"There are to be eight shantees to each company and two for the officers of each company. I think we will have a nice home now we are right in the middle of a thick wood on Rocky Run near its Junction with Bull Run we are about a mile and a half from our old camp and about two miles from Centreville. We are near where the 2nd Ga. were encamped when you were here. Rocky Run is the little stream you crossed coming down the Turnpike between the Suspension Bridge and our camp. There is no bridge over it. I suppose you would like to know where I am." SOURCE

He goes into details on how they constructed their "Shantees" how the regiment cut down materials then issued the supplies out to the companies to include draws for shingles, instead of each company for themselves. He states his was 15' square and 6' at the eves with a pitched roof, large fireplace and slept 7.

I assume he is talking about what is today Little Rocky Run? Has Big Rocky Run changed course since 61?

 

[Saphroneth]

This is an 1859-survey-based map which shows the area around Centreville at a high level of abstraction:

Little Rocky Run runs just east of the Centreville road junction. Rocky Creek runs north of it.

This more detailed map shows the river, but without a label. I've added the bracketed label based on the bigger map.

I think that he's talking about Little Rocky Run, yes. On contemporary maps the only other "Rocky" river in the immediate area joins Cub Run (and doesn't cross the turnpike).

 

[TJodter]

I don't know exactly where the camps in question were located. But based on the description in the letter I would assume the "Turnpike" is referring to the Warrenton Turnpike (modern Rt. 29). The Suspension Bridge could refer to the bridge over Cub Run just west of Big Rocky Run as it is marked as "Suspension Bridge" on some period maps.

Big Rocky Run did and does cross Warrenton Turnpike - some of the CW era maps did not accurately depict the confluence of the Big Rocky Run and Cub Run south of the Warrenton Turnpike. But some did, e.g. this one.

David Rumsey Historical Map Collection - Map 1
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection - Map 2

 

[Saphroneth]

That might work, but what confuses me here is the bit about the junction between Rocky Run and Bull Run. Unless the letter writer is confused about something, the (big) Rocky Run doesn't have a junction with Bull Run directly.

That said, it's plausible that he means either the Rocky Run-Cub Run junction or the Cub Run-Bull Run junction.