May 8, 1862 - Shenandoah Valley Campaign: The Battle of McDowell

May 8, 1862

The Battle of McDowell

Highland County, Virginia

Brig. Generals Robert H Milroy and Robert C. Schenck (Union skirmishers from the 32nd Ohio Infantry, 73rd Ohio Infantry, and 3rd West Virginia Infantry; some units from CT too)

vs.

Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson (a brigade of five regiments of infantry and two artillery batteries commanded by Brigadier General Charles S. Winder, a brigade of three infantry regiments, an infantry battalion, and two artillery batteries commanded by Colonel John A. Campbell, and a brigade of three infantry regiments and one artillery battery commanded by Brigadier General William B. Taliaferro); reinforced by Brig. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson (brigade of three infantry regiments commanded by Colonel Zephaniah T. Conner and a second brigade of three infantry regiments commanded by Colonel William C. Scott, all  from Virginia, except for one Georgia regiment in Conner's brigade)

* A Confederate strategic victory on the heels of Jackson's defeat at Kernstown, but also preceding additional victories in the Valley. 

* So, again(like New Market) - I haven't specifically, intentionally visited the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields yet, but I passed McDowell on the way home from West Virginia [Summer 2024], and I couldn't resist. I'll be back! 

"Joining forces with Brig. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's Army of the Northwest in early May, 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson moved to McDowell, Virginia to intercept the army of Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont gathering west of there. Late in the afternoon of May 8, the head of Jackson's infantry column took a position on Sitlington's Hill, a mile-long rocky spur overlooking the Union camp beside the Bull Pasture River. The brigades of Brig. Gens. Robert H. Milroy and Robert C. Schenck attacked Jackson and Johnson using the cover of ravines and woods. The Federals were repulsed after severe fighting lasting four hours. After the battle, Milroy and Schenck withdrew to the west, freeing up Jackson’s army to return to the Shenandoah Valley. Jackson's victory at McDowell set the stage for his hard-marching, hard-fighting 1862 campaign that, over the next month, kept Union troops penned up in the Valley."

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=155460

This stately brick house [not pictured LOL] was built about 1855 for Felix Hull (ca. 1823-1861) in the Greek Revival style popular in the late antebellum period. During the Civil War, his widow, Eliza Mathews Hull, was living here on 7-8 May 1862 when the house was commandeered for headquarters by Union Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy and his superior, Brig. Gen. Robert C. Schenck. On 9 May, after the Battle of McDowell on Sitlington’s Hill just to the east, the victorious Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson made his headquarters here. He pursued the Union army westward, then returned here on 14 May for the night before moving toward Staunton.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235814

Highway To War

Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike

During the Civil War, Virginia's roads were of vital importance to both Union and Confederate armies for the transport of soldiers, artillery, supply wagons, and livestock herds to feed the troops. The roads ranged from narrow dirt paths to wide, hard-surfaced highways, such as the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike which connected the Shenandoah Valley with the Ohio River.

The turnpike was among the most strategically significant east-west transportation corridors in western Virginia when the war began. The first land battle of the war was fought on the turnpike at Philippi in present-day West Virginia on June 3, 1861. The Union victory at the Battle of Rich Mountain on July 11 gave the Federals control of much of the turnpike and the Tygart River Valley. Confederate Camp Allegheny, located off modern U.S. Route 250 in West Virginia just west of the state line, guarded the road there and was the scene of an engagement on December 13; the Confederates retained control. Both armies used the turnpike in April-May 1862 before and after the Battle of McDowell.

The type of bridge that was here over Crab Run during the war is not known. The current bridge is a rare Lane Truss Bridge. Daniel Lane, owner of the Lane Bridge Company in Painted Post, N.Y., patented the original design in 1890 and improved it in 1894. His design utilized straight and bent railroad and trolley rails made of steel instead of iron trusses. The West Virginia Bridge Works in Wheeling manufactured this bridge in 1896 to carry traffic over the stream on the original alignment of the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike. The bridge was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

Beginning in 1823, Claudius Crozet, principal engineer for the Virginia Board of Public Works, supervised the survey of the route of the turnpike. The 15-to-20-foot-wide road was constructed over the next decades with numerous switchbacks and loops along its roughly 230-mile length to maintain a grade of no more than 4 percent. Numerous bridges were built over the mountain streams and rivers; the Philippi Covered Bridge is one of the best known. When the Virginia State Highway Commission improved the turnpike in the 1920s, the present short McDowell bypass was constructed in 1927 as part of U.S. Route 250.

Although U.S. Route 250 follows much of the turnpike route, segments of the original road can be traveled in Virginia on Route 688 (paved) west of Staunton between Buffalo Gap and Route 629 at the Calfpasture River. An unpaved segment is located about 50 miles west of here at Camp Allegheny, just across the West Virginia line, where the old turnpike winds around and down the mountain to Bartow. Four-wheel drive is highly recommended.

Yea, I am familiar with accessing Camp Allegheny via the old turnpike. If I'm not mistaken it was the highest altitude of any encampment in the war. And, no- my little hybrid Hyundai does not have four-wheel drive.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235831

Battle of McDowell

"God blessed our arms with victory at McDowell"

—1862 Valley Campaign—

Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's unsuccessful attack on Union forces at Kernstown on March 23, 1862, alarmed Federal officials, who assigned additional troops to the Shenandoah Valley to guard against a Confederate assault on Washington, D.C. In May and June, Jackson's "foot cavalry" marched 350 miles; defeated three Union armies in engagements at McDowell (May 8), Front Royal (May 23), Winchester (May 25), Cross Keys (June 8), and Port Republic (June 9); inflicted twice the number of casualties it suffered; and tied down 60,000 Federal troops. The campaign made Jackson the Confederate's foremost hero.

In May 1862, two Union armies threatened Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's army in the Shenandoah Valley. To keep them from uniting, Jackson left a division to block Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's force at Winchester and turned his attention to Gen. John C. Frémont's army, which was approaching from the west. Jackson first marched his command out of the Valley to suggest that he was en route to Richmond and then turned back to Staunton. On May 7, he marched west on the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike. 

The head of Frémont's army, Gen. Robert H. Milroy's division had been camped here at McDowell since April 17. Milroy's artillery occupied Cemetery Hill across the road in front of you. He neglected to occupy the high ground—Sitlington's Hill, to your left across U.S. Route 250—and Jackson sent Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's division to hold it. On May 8, Johnson deployed his force with the 12th Georgia Infantry in front. Late in the afternoon, Milroy attacked up the steep slope, using ravines and heavy woods for cover. After desperate fighting at the summit, the Federals fell back to McDowell.

The next day, Jackson telegraphed Richmond, "God blessed our arms with victory at McDowell yesterday," and then pursued the retreating Federals west on the turnpike and then north about thirty miles to Franklin. After some skirmishing, Jackson marched back to the Valley on May 12. Frémont's army soon retreated deeper into western Virginia, leaving Jackson free to operate against Banks.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=62929

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235759

This congregation, first known as Central Union Church, was organized in 1822. The present brick sanctuary, an interpretation of the Greek Revival style, replaced an earlier structure ca. 1856. The entrance on the building's south side was likely for the use of free and enslaved African Americans, who worshiped from the balcony. During the Battle of McDowell on 8 May 1862, the church served as a hospital. Union and Confederate dead were reportedly buried in the congregation's cemetery across present-day Route 250. The church is listed on the American Presbyterian and Reformed Historic Sites Registry, the Virginia Landmarks Register, and the National Register of Historic Places.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235849

Neighbor fought neighbor on this ground during the Battle of McDowell. During the fighting, the 3rd Virginia Infantry (Union) moved to your left along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike in an attempt to get around the Confederate right flank. Reaching this area, the Federals were blocked by the Confederate 31st Virginia.

Some of the Confederates moved through the woods to the left and circled to the rear of the Federals. Taking fire from front and back, the Federals defended themselves by wheeling to fire first in one direction, then the other. When orders came for the 31st Virginia to move up to the hill, the southerners who were behind the Federals left and advanced up the hillside.

The remainder of the 31st Virginia continued their private battle with the 3rd Virginia (Union). Remarkably, the opposing sides found themselves firing on their own neighbors. Three companies of the 3rd Virginia (Union) had been recruited from the Clarksburg area in modern-day West Virginia - as had Company C of the Confederate 31st Virginia.

Some members had even served in the same pre-war militia unit. (Stonewall Jackson himself had been born in Clarksburg.) Looking at the enemy from just 100 yards away, they recognized familiar faces. Union soldier Andrew Price late recalled that "The [31st Virginia] came close to the 3rd, and saluted them, and called them by name, and proceeded with the slaughter." Another soldier said that, "The jibes and insults flew as thickly as the bullets." Casualties were relatively light, however, as much of the fire was hurried and high.

The fighting died down when the rest of the 31st Virginia moved up Sitlington's Hill to reinforce the defenses there. Although Stonewall Jackson ordered the 21st Virginia to take their place, the 3rd Virginia (Union) had pulled back, and largescale fighting ended on the turnpike.

And now for some drive-bys. Cut me some slack, as I had just spent 48-hours in West Virginia and was heading home.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=4232

Stonewall Jackson, to prevent a junction of Fremont and Banks, took position on the hills just to the south and beat off the attacks of Fremont’s advance under Milroy, May 8, 1862. Milroy retreated that night.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=4283

Commemorating The Battle Of McDowell

May 8, 1862

Federals in action 4000, killed and wounded 256.

Confederates in action 2500, killed and wounded 498.

Confederate Officers Killed

Captains                     Lieutenants

Samuel Dawson           John K. Goldwire

William L. Furlow           William A. Massey

John McMillan           William H. Turpin

James W. Patterson           James T. Woodward

All of the 12th Georgia Regiment

Colonel S.P. Gibbons...           10th Virginia Regiment

Captain J. Whitmore ...           25th    "        "    

Captain William Long...           52nd    "        "    

Lieutentant Wm.H. Gregory...   23rd    "        "    

            "           Charles E. Dyer... 25th    "        "    

            "           Samuel P. Dye... 37th    "        "    

            "          C.G. Fletcher ... 37th    "        "    

             "          John A. Carson... 52nd    "        "    

Erected 1917 by Highland Chapter United Daughters of The Confederacy.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235927

Anthony's Burg

Post-Civil War African American Community

—The Civil War Era in Highland County—

The parking lot you are standing in was built upon land donated by Lt. Col. Leonard Harris, U.S. Army (Ret.), and his cousin John Howard "Duffy" Smith. Their family was deeded property here shortly before the Civil War. Allegedly, Robert Sitlington, a wealthy landowner, gave small parcels of land to enslaved people he had freed, although no such land transfer is noted in his will or other county records.

Harris and Smith's great-grandfather, John Smith, was a free man and a Community leader. Lt. Col. Harris was raised on the property by his grandparents, and he remembered seeing many Civil War artifacts on the old homestead, including a well-preserved rifle and bayonet.

This area was part of a post-war African American community called Anthony's Burg. Most African American families in Highland County lived here or in a nearby community called Flood. According to county records, in 1906, the son of slaveholder George Washington Hull sold 64 acres to Anthony Young. Young sold the land to his fellow black residents, who formed the community of Anthony's Burg.

Churches were established in Anthony's Burg and Flood, including the Pleasant View AME Church in Anthony's Burg, and became centers of activity in their communities. Before the churches were built, African Americans had to sit in the balcony of the McDowell Presbyterian Church.

The survival of Anthony's Burg and Flood depended mainly on the skilled labor of its residents. Unfortunately, the communities were not large enough to support black owned businesses, and as time went on, residents began looking for work and opportunity outside of Highland County. The last resident of Anthony's Burg, Ms. Georgia Pleasant, died in 1975.

(Captions):

This drawing by famed artist W. L. Sheppard depicts African Americans worshipping at church sometime after the Civil War.

This is a post war photo of an African American family. These families faced new hardships after the Civil War.

Image Courtesy of the Encyclopedia of Virginia.

This map shows the approximate locations of the communities of Anthony's Burg and Flood.

Battle of McDowell

Sitlington's Hill

The Battle of McDowell was the second engagement of Confederate Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. After being defeated by Union forces at Kernstown, just south of Winchester, on March 23, 1862, Jackson withdrew south in the Valley. In early May, bolstered by reinforcements, he moved west into the mountains to take on Union Gens. Robert Milroy and Robert Schenck, who had been advancing from western Virginia. Stonewall's troops seized Sitlington's Hill in McDowell on May 8, and held it despite several Union assaults. After the battle, Milroy and Schenck retreated north. Jackson returned to the main Valley, where he won four additional victories over Union forces before his legendary campaign ended in mid-June.

"We saw from our position - distant one mile, and on an elevation which commanded the whole ground that there were four rebels to one of our men."

Sgt. G.A. Stevens, 32nd Ohio, describes Sitlington's Hill.

This lovely (new?) signage from the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Historic District is not in the database (someone else can get it), though their similar marker for the Battle Of Cross Keys is. Nonetheless, I think we've got it at this point. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=235875

In front of you is the original road trace of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike. The turnpike was built between 1838-1850, to provide a roadway from Staunton, Virginia, and the upper Shenandoah Valley to the Ohio River at present-day Parkersburg, West Virginia. The turnpike was designed by Claudius Crozet, famed Principal Engineer and Surveyor for the Virginia Board of Public Works.

The turnpike was originally planned to be built on a variation of the macadam plan, a paving system featuring an elevated road surface with several layers of small stones combined to make a watertight surface, but only some sections of the turnpike were completed in this manner.

The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike became crucial during the Civil War; some of the earliest campaigns were fought for control of the roadway. The turnpike was the main route for the opposing forces before and after the Battle of McDowell, fought on May 8, 1862. During the battle, members of the same community of Clarksburg (in modern-day West Virginia) fought against each other along the roadway itself, about a mile further down the pike.

By the 1920s, highways were paved to provide suitable roads for automobiles. Although some re-routing improvements were made, considerable sections of the original turnpike remained the best available route. The turnpike here was moved to your left where modern-day Rt. 250 now sits.

(Captions):

Claudius Crozet, who designed the turnpike described the route as a "sea of mountains and valleys with little level land" and rivers "flowing in every direction of the compass." Crozet was also one of the founders of the Virginia Military Institute.

Image Courtesy of the Virginia Military Institute Archives

The above image shows the standard construction of a macadamized roadway. Parts of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike were macadamized.

This map shows the original route of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike from Staunton to Clarksburg, Virginia.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=15791

Confederate troops, the remnant of the Army of the Northwest commanded by Brig. Gen. Edward “Allegheny” Johnson, constructed this fortification about 1 Apr. 1862 to protect the Shenandoah Valley, the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy.” Federal troops briefly occupied the fort after he withdrew to West View near Staunton later that month. With Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s Army of the Shenandoah, Johnson’s command confronted Union forces under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy and Brig. Gen. John C. Fremont at the Battle of McDowell on 8 May. Johnson’s ankle was shattered during this first victory in Jackson’s famous Valley campaign.

And then I stopped randomly at a scenic overlook and learned more about Fort Edward Johnson and the Confederate breastworks still vaguely visible in the landscape. But I was burning daylight and just indulged a quick skim of the areas many sites. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=30389

Highland County. Area 422 square miles. Formed in 1847 from Pendleton and Bath, and given its name because of its mountains. The Battle of McDowell, 1862, was fought in this county.

Augusta County. Area 1006 square miles. Formed in 1738 from Orange and named for Augusta, Princess of Wales and mother of George III. Originally it included a large part of the middle west. President Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton.

Where I was (McDowell), where I am (Fort Johnson), and where I am going (Staunton, then North and home). 

Not really a marker, but a good map. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=255037

As “Stonewall” Jackson’s Army passed through the gap on their way to McDowell, Virginia one soldier wrote:

Tuesday 13th May 1862

I have been struck with the wild & mountain scenery. The Shenandoah Mt. Pass is grand indeed, you asend to the very top of the mountain & from there you see as far as the eyes can reach, Mtn. after Mtn. in every variety of shape & grandeur whilst away down below a little valley & stream with winding road, winding around from Mt. to Mt. to descend the grade. After reaching this valley we asend the hd waters of the James to a point where the waters turn the other way & then we discerned the hdwaters of the Potomac. The Mts. tower above us beautifully.

Every now & then you will find a fresh & sparkling stream gushing out of the mtn. side & running away into the larger streams of the Valley….

Diary of Frank B. Jones

Major, 2nd VA Infantry

Major Jones was later wounded at McGehee’s Mill and succumbed to typhoid.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=208803

You are standing in the middle of what was once Fort Edward Johnson. Confederate soldiers built this fort in 1862 under the command of Brigadier general Edward Johnson, a career officer from Virginia.

Look to your right, and then left across the highway for what remains of the mile of trench and breastworks. They were built by Confederate soldiers to defend the Shenandoah Valley from an invasion by Union Troops marching from the west.

In the early spring of 1862, this fort was garrisoned by 3,000 troops, primarily from the 12th Georgia Regiment. Most of these troops were stationed four miles to the east at Camp Shenandoah, where there was good drinking water and pasture for their horses.

By May of 1862, General John C. Fremont’s Union Army, under General Robert Milroy, was moving toward the fort from the west. “Stonewall” Jackson’s Confederate Army retreated out of the Shenandoah Valley leaving a chance that the fort would be cut off from the rear by Union forces. General Johnson’s troops evacuated the fort. They moved toward Staunton only to find Jackson’s army had returned to Staunton in a lightning move that surprised both the Union generals, and Jackson’s own staff. General Johnson’s men joined Jackson’s Army and marched back through the fort, which had been occupied by advance Union troops. The combined Confederate Army continued its march through these mountains on the Parkersburg Turnpike until it reached the small village of McDowell, Virginia, where the main Union Army was encamped. On May 8th “Stonewall” Jackson’s Army, after suffering heavy losses, sent the Union forces into full retreat and relieved the threat to Staunton.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=16773

My name is Shepherd Green Pryor, but my friends and family call me “Shep.” I was elected First Lieutenant of the Muckalee Guards, Company A, 12th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry. We’ve just survived a cold Virginia winter on the top of Allegheny Mountain – a long way from our warm homes in Sumter County, Georgia.

Walk with me on this 0.5-mile trail while I share with you my experiences guarding Fort Johnson during the spring of 1862. Through my letters home to my dear wife Penelope, I hope you can understand how lonely I am for home, and how this awful war has changed or ended the lives of the young soldiers who once kneeled in these trenches.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=16775

On April 19, 1862, General Johnson, with General Lee’s approval, moved our regiment from Allegheny Mountain to Shenandoah Mountain. To protect ourselves from Yankee bullets, we dug about a mile of trench in this rocky ground. We then opened our field of fire by cutting down trees on the western slopes – the direction the Union Army was coming from.

We made breastworks by first piling logs laid on the downhill side of the trench, and then piling dirt on the outside of the logs. Our regiment could kneel in the trench and fire our rifles without being exposed to Yankee fire. Can you see what remains of the trench where I knelt behind the breastworks? [Yes, kinda...]

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=16776

February 23, 1862

My Dear Penelope,

I write a few lines this morning to let you know that I am well & doing as well as I have since Iv been in the service.

Well, Dear, wee had an alarm Friday knight about two oclock, and the way wee got around quick untwill we were all way ready was a site. The regiment formed & was ready in ten minutes. March up to the intrenchments, got in the ditches and they were hald full of snow. It was cold business, sure. I marked time for three hours to keep my feet from freezing, but when the day dawned wee did not have to fight; I don’t want to fight as long as wee can do as well without it. I don’t want to be shot at; some of them stand a good chance to hit a fellow. I want to see the close of the war & live at home a free man once more.

Give my love to all my friends. Kiss the babies for me.

I am yours,

Shep

*This letter was actually written from Camp Allegheny, but was included because of Lt. Pryor’s description of going into battle.

There was more of that story on that trail, but like I said - no time. I may or may not ever make it back. But meanwhile, on the way out of the mountains...

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=62920

Mountain House

Jackson's March

—1862 Valley Campaign—

The Battle of McDowell began three miles to the southeast (near the intersection of Routes 629 and 716) when Confederates were fired upon by Union cavalry on May 7, 1862. After skirmishing, Federals rushed to the base camp here, sounding the alarm as they rode through.

A Northern cavalryman wrote, “Our company was the only company in the fight. They were the furthest company out – five miles beyond Shenandoah Mountain. They were cut off by Johnson’s force, and the only way they had to get back was to fight their way, which they did nobly. We lost but one man [but] had six horses killed in the road, and ten more shot that will never get well.”

This land was part of a farm abandoned by Henry Ryan, a prosperous settler who had moved from the area because he was a pacifist. On May 8, 1862, a Staunton diarist wrote, “General Johnson surprised the Federal scouts, some 200 cavalry, on yesterday at Ryan’s in the Pastures… Cannonading was heard today from early morning till four o’clock p.m. in the direction of Shenandoah Mountain.”

Georgia troops had camped in Ryan’s fields while stationed atop Shenandoah Mountain. After they abandoned Camp Shenandoah on April 19, Federals advanced to this point, with cavalry stationed to the east as pickets.

“The enemy… had retreated up the Shenandoah Mountain but we supposed was still holding our ‘Fort Johnson’ at the pass on the top. The General ordered me to go up the spur of the mountain on our right, preceded by a line of skirmishers…. We had to scramble up a steep slope but finally reached the top only to find the enemy all gone but seeing their rear guard on the top of Shaw’s Ridge.” – Jed Hotchkiss, Stonewall Jackson’s mapmaker, May 7, 1862.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=30389

 

Useful orientation of recently visited sites. And this is why I take the back roads.  

By Jedediah Hotchkiss - This file is from the Mechanical Curator collection, a set of over 1 million images scanned from out-of-copyright books and released to Flickr Commons by the British Library.View image on FlickrView all images from bookView catalogue entry for book., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57395442

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=32910 

Big one. Plenty of links/info out there:

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/mcdowell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_McDowell

https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/battle-of-mcdowell

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/battle-of-mcdowell.htm