May 23, 1862 - Front Royal
May 23, 1862
The Battle of Front Royal (or Guard Hill, or Cedarville)
Front Royal and Cedarville, VA
Gen. Nathaniel Banks: Col. John Reese Kenly (wounded and captured here)- 29th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment guarded the area between the two forks of the river; 100 men from two companies of the 5th New York Cavalry Regiment; 1st Maryland Infantry
vs.
Maj. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson: Ewell, The Stonewall Brigade, Turner Ashby's cavalry; 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA) under Col. Bradley T. Johnson & Major Roberdeau Wheat's Louisiana Tigers; the 2nd Virginia Cavalry Regiment and the 6th Virginia Cavalry Regiment under Colonel Thomas Flournoy, and part of the 8th Louisiana Infantry Regiment
* Banks' men were entrenched and guarding the Shenandoah Valley, facing south from Strasburg, so Jackson headed east to circle around and hit them from behind, at their Front Royal outpost, where only 1,00 men anchored their long line across the Valley.
* Starts with the 1st Maryland Infantry (US) vs. 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA), which "had recently had an incident with mutiny," but Col. Bradley Johnson (later to invade Maryland) made a patriotic speech to energize his unit.
* Famous Confederate spy Belle Boyd makes an appearance here, basically telling Jackson to "go fo it" as the Union outpost was small.
* Poor Kenly keeps withdrawing and making various stands, but he's outnumbered 3:1. He trained the 1st Maryland right by me at Camp Carroll.
* Another victory as part of Jackson's legendary Valley campaign: successfully keeps Union troops away from McClellan's simultaneous Peninsula campaign. Later joins them for the end of the Seven Days battles.
* Ashby has less luck (and less than a month to live), and his attack is repulsed with the loss of officers by elements of the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and the 27th Indiana Infantry Regiment, a force of about 150 men.
* This is After 1st Kernstown and McDowell. Before 1st Winchester, Cross Keys, and Port Republic. Here's a beautiful overview of the whole campaign:
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| By Hlj - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99368985 |
The delightful Front Royal driving tour appears like the trail tracing John Wilkes Booth's escape route, wherein the map is traced onto a timeline. <swoon> The only difference is that this engagement travelled north, so the map is upside down. To explore this battle we will start at the bottom of the map and move up. So it begins south of town, in the morning...
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=171036 |
Asbury Chapel
“1st Maryland to the Front!”
—Battle of Front Royal-May 23, 1862—
Early on the morning of Friday, May 23, 1862, Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson paused here at Asbury Chapel well in advance of his 16,000-man army. Although he was familiar with the main roads to Front Royal, Jackson knew that the terrain through which they passed would restrict his troop-deployment options. He also wanted to find a route concealed from his Union adversary at Strasburg, Gen. Nathaniel Banks, who still thought Jackson was in the main part of the Shenandoah Valley to the west of the Massanutten Mountain. In fact, the Confederate army stretched for twelve miles south of here on the Luray and Front Royal Turnpike (present-day U.S. 340), which passed the western side of the church in 1862.
Jackson noticed Col. Isaac King, a church leader, sitting on a fence here. King informed Jackson that Lt. Samuel J. Simpson, a Warren County native, was in his army and knew the area like a book. Simpson soon arrived and told Jackson that a road just south of the church (today’s Rocky Lane) led northeast to Gooney Manor Road (now Browntown Road) and Front Royal, with good ground for deployment.
Jackson ordered the 1st Maryland to the front to lead his army as it veered off the turnpike onto Rocky Lane. He also sent Col. Turner Ashby ahead to cross the Shenandoah River at McCoy’s Ford and ride west to Buckton Station on the Manassas Gap Railroad. His orders were to cut communications between Front Royal and Strasburg. The attack on Front Royal had begun.
After winning a battle at McDowell May 8, 1862, Jackson crossed the Massanutten Mountain and marched north towards Front Royal hoping to outflank a Union army in Strasburg.
Asbury Chapel (now Asbury United Methodist Church) was built in 1848 and named for Bishop Francis Asbury; who evangelized throughout the Shenandoah Valley from 1783 to 1805. During the Civil War, the congregation met irregularly, and the church was used as a hospital, probably after the Battle of Front Royal.
In 1916, the building was dismantled, revealing bloodstained floorboards. Using original materials when possible and following a similar design, the congregation completed the present structure the next year. The reconstructed church was dedicated on the fourth Sunday in October 1917.
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Moving North, Belle Boyd is part of the battle around 1:30pm. Her historical marker is obscured at Skyline Caverns, which was a weird place. Boyd's role here may have been exaggerated and she's unlikely to have met Jackson in person.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=57966 |
Near here Stonewall Jackson was met by the spy, Belle Boyd, and informed of the position of the Union troops at Front Royal, May 23, 1862. Jackson was advancing northward attempting to get between Banks’ army and Winchester.
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I'm not gonna lie: there was a funeral happening, and I accidently drove the wrong way up a steep hill. So I didn't get out of my car at Prospect Hill Cemetery. I saw what I saw and it counts. Please see the HMdb.org link for better pics.
Prospect Hill Cemetery
Jackson Prepares for Battle
—Battle of Front Royal-May 23,1862—
Devoid of trees in 1862, this hill afforded Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's troops their first good look at Front Royal and the deployments of the Union garrison here. Approaching from the south on the Gooney Manor Road (now Browntown Road), Col. Stapleton Crutchfield, Jackson's artillery chief, posted a battery here. The smoothbore cannon, however, lacked the range to reach the Union guns on Richardson's Hill, a mile and three quarters further north. Lt. Samuel J. Simpson, a native of the area, led Crutchfield's artillery on a path concealed by woods around the western end of town and up the ridge on which Randolph Macon Academy stands. By 3:30 p.m., a Confederate rifled cannon was in position there.
In the meantime, the 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA) and the Louisiana Brigade advanced on Front Royal from the southeast. The Marylanders overran pickets who revealed that they were members of the 1st Maryland Infantry (US), which garrisoned the town.
Col. John R. Kenly commanded Front Royal's Federal defenders - a thousand infantrymen and a two-gun section of rifled artillery on Richardson's Hill. With this meager force, he sought to protect the military supplies stored in town, the Manassas Gap Railroad, and the bridges over the forks of the Shenandoah River. When the surviving pickets straggled in, Kenly understood that his force was about to be tested.
On November 7, 1868, the Ladies' Warren Memorial Association was chartered to collect the Confederate dead buried in sites throughout Warren County and rebury them in this circular lot, later called Soldier's Circle. The task of locating and moving the bodies involved much labor and expense and was especially difficult in the post war era. In a short time, however, the remains of 276 soldiers representing every state in the former Confederacy were interred here. Some 90 were identified and placed in separate graves, each with a marble headstone. The remains of 186 unknown soldiers were buried in a common grave in the center of the circle, and on Aug. 24, 1882, the 18-foot-high monument was erected above them. A memorial service is held annually on the anniversary of the Battle of Front Royal.
Several notable local residents are buried elsewhere in Prospect Hill Cemetery. They include Lt. Samuel J. Simpson and Lucy Buck, the diarist.
Here's what's on the monument to Mosby's Men; and yes, we are gonna hear about it later:
Erected
1899
by the survivors of
Mosby’s Command
in memory of
seven comrades
executed
while Prisoners of War
near this spot,
September 23rd, 1864.
(rear)
In
everlasting honor
of
Thomas E. Anderson
Carter
David L. Jones
Lucian Love
William Thomas Overby
Henry C. Rhodes
Albert C. Willis
43rd Battalion VA. Cavalry
Mosby’s Command
C.S.A.
Erected 1899 by Survivors of Mosby’s Command.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=587 |
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=158637 |
The Courthouse
Front Royal Street Fighting
—Battle of Front Royal, May 23, 1862—
As Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s army pushed its way into Front Royal, Col. Bradley T. Johnson’s 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA) confronted Col. John R. Kenly’s 1st Maryland Infantry (US). The street fighting grew especially hot here, between the Warren County Court House and the Confederate military hospital just across the street to the west.
Federal troops delivered “hot musketry fire” from the large windows of one of the two-story hospital buildings, threatening the Southern advance. Gen. Richard S. Ewell asked Johnson, “Colonel, can you take that building?” Johnson replied, “Yes, sir, in five minutes.” His Marylanders, led by Capt. William H. Murray, charged and “the building was taken in half the time promised.” The tide of battle then flowed from the courthouse area north on Crescent Street toward Chester Street. House-to-house fighting ensued as the Federals retreated to Richardson’s Hill.
The Confederates were surprised to find themselves dodging enthusiastic civilians as well as bullets when sucessionist women ran into the streets to greet their liberators, waving their bonnets, cheering and screaming. One soldier wrote, “Indeed the ladies were perfectly regardless of danger, balls flying in every direction, but there they stood, pointing out where some Yankees had hidden and encouraging us in every way.” Soon many of these women would be caring for the wounded of both sides.
In June, 1861, the Confederate government established three military hospitals in Front Royal. Federal troops used the two-story barrack-style building for cover during the battle on May 23, 1862.
The present Warren County courthouse was built in 1935-36 on the site of the antebellum one, which was also occupied by the 1st Maryland Infantry, USA during the battle.
Warren County was named for Gen. Joseph Warren, from Massachusetts, who was killed during the battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. The county was formed in 1836 from parts of Frederick and Shenandoah Counties.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=45760 |
CSA
1861 – 1865
Unveiled
July 4, 1911
This monument was erected
to commemorate the courage
and patriotism of the men
from Warren County, who
served honorably, in the Confederate Army
“To those who fought and lived and to
those who fought and died. To those
who gave much, and those who gave all.”
[ Right Side Marker : ]
Bull Run
Seven Pines Front Royal
Manassas Fredericksburg
Chickamauga Murfreesboro
Sharpsburg Chancellorsville
Company A 23 Virginia Cavalry
Capt. Thos. Triplett K. Lieut. Jas. Collins Lieut. Wm. B. Triplett
Privates
Gideon Atwood • Jno. N. Bowman • Geo. Brown • Jas. B. Cameron • Erastus Compton • Jacob Cullers • Jas. Curry • Noah Fauley • Reuben A. Finnel • Abr’hm Frederick • Wm. Gordon • Patrick Henry • Augustine King • Jas. P. Laing • Alex D. Lake • Wm. Leary • Jas. Leeth • Jno. Leeth • Geo. W. Manuel • Jno. W. Manuel • Jacob Robinson • Phil. Rudacille of Jno. • Phil. Rudacille of Wm. • Jno. Sperry • Decatur Steed • Jas. P. Triplett
Company B 17 Virginia Infantry
Col. Thos. B. Roy Lieut. Col. Robt. H. Simpson K Lieut. Col. Irving A. Buck Major Geo. A. Williams A.A.G. Hardee’s Corps. A.T. 17 Va. Inf’y A.A.G. Cleburne’s Div. A.A.G. Covan’s Brig. Major Robt. N. Turner Major V. M. Brown Hardee’s Corps Cleburne’s Div. Qr. Master Corse’s Brig. Commis’ Corse’s Brig. Capt. F.W. Lehew Lieut. N.W. Snyder Lieut. T.W. Petty Lieut. S.S. Turner Lieut. Wm. Millar Richardson K Lieut. Rich’d B. Buck Lieut. W. Scott Roy
Sergeants
Rich’d Timberlake K Wm. D. Rust Thos. N. Garrison Giles Cook Jr. DeKalb Pipher K B.W. Petty
Corporals
Jno. W. Boone R.S. Walter Geo. W. Grove Steve S. Garder K Gus Tyler Wm. B. Turner
Privates
Thos. A. Bowen • Chas. A. Brown • Jas. E. Brown • Jesse Brown • Jno. Brown K • Elias Broy K • Wm. Broy • Alvis D. Buck • Chas. K. Buck • Thos. R. Campbell • Jno. W. Chrisman K • Walter Chuning • Saml. C Cooley • Edw’d Cooper • Leonard Copp • Lebius Cornwell • Marcus D. Darr K • Phil. C. Darr K • J.J. Derflinger • Geo. Duke • Balis Earle • Chas. P. Eckhart K • Jos. Elbon • Walton Farra • Milton Forsyth K Chas. W. Fox • Scott Fristoe • Jas. W. Garrett • M.N. Garrett • Jas. W. Goroon • Amos Grove • Frank Grubbs • Jas. D. Hall • Wm. Hickerson K • Geo. H. Hope • Hanson Hopper • Jas. D. Hall • Wm. Hickerson K • Geo. H. Hope • Hanson Hopper • Jas. Hopper • Jos. Keller K • Wm. B. Kenner • Chas. E. Leher • Ed. S. Littleton • Wm. H. McDonald • Thos. B. McKay • H.M. Miller • Jos. W. Miller • Robt. B. Mitchell • Casper Myers • Jas. A. Oliver • Elijah Peterson • Henry S. Petty • Jas. T. Petty • Lewis Reager K • Peter Reed • Romands Rinker • Marcus Roberts K • Edw’d M. Saffell • Thos. W. Santmyers • Lewis A. Scroggin • Peyton Scroggin K • Geo. W. Settle • Jno. Seemers • Jno. W. Simpson K • Chas. Simmons • Abe S. Spengler • Danl. H. Spengler • Saml. F. Spengler K • Chaney J. Steed K • Chas. B. Steed • Jno. W. Steel K • Phil Stickley • Jos. Stokes K • E.D. Thompson • Leonidus Triplett • Dr. Jas. H. Turner • Saml. H. Watkins • Robt. L. Weaver • Achillis Willey • Atwell T. Willey • Jacob Willey
Company D 23 Virginia Cavalry
Capt. Marcus F. Richardson Lieut. Marcus C. Richardson
Privates
Jas. H. Anderson • Wm. H. Beaty • Robt. Broy • Rich’d Claic • Edw’d Colston • Jas. Costello • Jno. Davis • Wm. Davison • W.C. Downing • Mark Duke • Thos. Ford • Hamilton Garrett • Wm. R. Garrett • Al’fd Kidwell • G. H. Martin • Wm. Milburn • J. W. Miller • Jno. Miller Back Side Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by Bill Coughlin, July 31, 2011
4. Back Side Marker
• H. Mills • Austin W. Mitchell • Luther G. Mitchell • W. H. Mitchell • Albert M. Putnam • Wm. R. Putnam • B. F. Rinker • Wm. Ridgeway • Enoch Robinson • Elisha Roy • Tobias Stickley • Wm. Sumption • Jas. Swartz • Jno. A. Thornhill • Gibson Vaught • Simeon Vaught • Cornelius Vincent • E. L. Wilkerson
Company D 49 Virginia Infantry
Major Manley T. Wheatly Capt. Bailey S. Jacobs K Capt. J. B. Updike Lieut. Col. R. D. Funkhouser
49 Va. Inf’y Lieut. E. V. Boyd K Lieut. Jno. C. Brown Lieut. Abe Updike
Sergeants
Wm. A. Cumpton J. B. Compton L. D. Baker
F. H. Bolen Theo. Garmong K W. C. Wharton
Corporals
Geo. W. Fox Geo. W. Martin W. A. McFarland
Privates
Arch Allen Jno. Allen Luther D. Atwood K Sam’l Atwood
K following a name indicates killed or died of wounds received in battle
[ Back Side Marker : ]
Gettysburg
New Market Shiloh
Port Republic Fisher’s Hill
Atlanta Cedar Mountain
Wilderness Resaca
Company D 49 Virginia Infantry
Privates
Jno. S. Barber • Jos. H. Barber • Wm. A. Beaty • Henry Bennett • Jno. Bennett K • Henry L. Brown • Jas. Cain • Steven N. Cave K • Jno. T. Clark K • Madison Craig • Alpheus Cornwell • Norman Cornwell • Simeon Corder K • Frank Coulter • Jamerson Darnell • Scott Darr • Sam’l Day • Jno. J. Eastman • Sam’l P. Esche • Jas. Fish • Addison Fletcher • Jno. R. Foster • Anthony Fox • Jno. Fox • Thos. Fox • Thos. W. Fristoe K • Jesse T. Funk • A. M. Garrett • DeWitt C. Gore • Oliver Gurock K • Wm. Grove K • Geo. W. Hall K • Jno. Hall K • Geo. W. Henry • Gibson Henry • Jno. J. Henry • Jno. W. Henry K • Marcus Henry • Moses Henry • Geo. Hoffman K • Jno. H. Hoffman • Rich’d Holder • Nepheus Hudgh • Luther Jett • Jno. Johnson • Wm. Jones • Wm. Leach K • Wm. Lovelace • Horace Manks K • Jas. M. Mathews • Robt. I Mathews • W. F. Mauck • Robt. McFarland • Chs. E. Mills • Henry Mills • Jas. H. Mills • Marcus Mills • Thos. R. Pomeroy K • Jno. W. Ridenour • Wm. H. Ridgeway K • J. Wm. Rinker • Dan’l Robinson • Geo. W. Rudacille K • Isaac Rudacille • Isaac Santmyers • Jno. E. Santmyers • Morgan Snapp • Jas. W. Stokes • Jno. Stokes K • Rich’d E. Stokes • Jos. G. Sealock • Jas. Sealock • Jno. T. Sumpton • Geo. Vaught • Rich’s Vincent K • Wm. Vincent K • Jas. H. Walker • Jno. W. Walter • David R. Williams
Company E 7 Virginia Cavalry
Capt. Walter Brown Capt. Thos. H. Buck Capt. Saml. J. Simpson Lieut. Wal. Kennerly Lieut. McK. H. Wells Lieut. Wm. Walter Buck K
Sergeants
Pendleton Lond Edwin G. Buck D. M. Cloud Wm. M. Cloud N. N. Cloud Jno. R. Jenkins
Corporals
Jno. Meater K Thos. M. Roy A. A. McKay
Privates
Alex’d Adams • Jno. M. Ash • Rich’d B. Bayly • S. H. Beaty • Wm. Benn K • Jos. M. Bennett • Edw’d B. Brown K • Jas. H. Brown • J. M. Brown • J. W. Brown • Jno. N. Buck • Thos. N. Buck • T. Wm. Buck K • Wm. A. Buck • Wm. A. Churchill • Byrd Clapsaddle • M. A. Clapsaddle • Harry C. Cline • Wm. R. Cline • G. Wythe Cook • W. Scott Cook • Robt. F. Grupper • Broadus Doran • Phil. Eastham • Jacob Emerson • G. A. Foster • J. L. Foster • Dr. M. L. Garrison • Casper Green • F. W. Green • Bushrod Grubbs • Nathan Grubbs • Henry Heater • Robt. Helm • Chas. Henry K • Hugh Henry • W. F. N. Houser • Marcus B. Irwin • Wm. T. Jackson K • Jno. I. Johnson K • Middleton Jordon • Jas W. Kendrick • Geo. Knave • Henry E. Lacey • J. Rush Lacey • W. H. Mitchell • Jos. D. Neville • P. C. Neville • Jas. W. Oliver • A. B. Parkins • Jno. W. Peyton • Jas. K. Putnam • Chas. U. Richardson • Wm. Robinson • Wm. A. Rogers • Theo. Royston K • Frank S. F. Steed • W. T. Steed • Shelton Steed K • Anthony Vaughn • Geo. Vaugan • Geo. Williams • Burrell Wines • Robt. Wright
Company E 12 Virginia Cavalry
Capt. James Marshall Capt. Jese McKay Lieut. Thos. Marshall K Lieut. Wm. B. Conrad
Sergeants
Mort. A. Boyd Wm. Berryman Jos. D. Amiss
Corporals
Lun’d A. Green Geo. McDonald W. H. Painter
Privates
Geo. Berryman • Thos. Berryman • Alf’d Bolem • Mayward Boler • J. Frank Boyd • Alf’d Bolen • Hayward Bolen • J. Frank Boyd • Jno. W. Brewer • Jno. A. Derflinger • Jas. Derflinger • Jacob Fawley • Sidney Fox • Jas. H. French • Robt. Garrett • David Hall • Elijah Hall • Jefferson Hall • Wesley Hall • Wm. A. Hoskins • Peter S. Hyde • Gabriel Jenkins • Peyton T. Johns • Jos. H. Johnson K • Patrick Kelley • Geo. Knight • Edw’d Kouser • Bushrod Legg • Chas. J. Maddox • Harvey Maddox • Jno. N. Maddox • Russell D. Maddox • Travis Maddox • Wm. B. Maddox • Jacob McKay • Robt. Mills • Jos. A. Painter K • Geo. Pickerell • Henry Pickerell • Robt. Van. Riley • Benj. F. Rowzie K • Sam’l F. Rucker • Geo. Sealock • Chas. Scmidt • Jacob Snipe • Arthur M. Smith • Jno. W. Smith • Jno. Strother K • Wm. Williams
K following a name indicates killed or died of wounds received in battle
[ Left Side Marker : ]
Franklin
Winchester, Va. Malvern Hill
Petersburg Perryville
Kennesaw Mountain Nashville
Brandy Station Vicksburg
Company I 12 Virginia Cavalry
Col. Thos. B. Massie Capt. A. M. Earle Lieut. Granville Eastham Lieut. H. Clay Rust 12 Va. Cavalry Reg’t L Qr. Master Lieut. Jno. R. Rust Lieut. Jno. McKay Ser’gt Maj. Edw’d G. Massie
Sergeants
Jno. W. Ashby K Jas. Grubbs Chas. L. McKay Bushrod Rust
Corporals
Peter F. Cooley
Privates
G. Albert Ash • Jno. B. Ash • Lewis Ashby K • Russell Ashby K • Jonas Baker • Elias Biggs • Geo. H. Bowman • Saml. Breedlove • Jas. Brown • Jno. T. Brown • Geo. W. Chapman • Lewis Coverstone • Saml. C. Cooley • Smith S. Cooley • A. C. Davis K • Wm. W. Eastham • Wm. M. Harrison • Edw’d L. Hefflybower • W. F. Holmes • Danl. H. Hoskins K • Jno. W. Hoskins • Thos. M. Johnson • Thos. B. Kenner • H. R. Kerns • Isaac Laing • Enoch A. Lake • Jno. H. Lake • Geo. Martin • Benj. Massie • Chas. McDonald K • Harvey McDonald K • Jos. C. McKay • Wm. MooMaw • Alfred A. Oliver K • Jno. B. Oliver • Robt. R. Palmer • Geo. N. Petty • Jno. W. Powers • W. R. F. Putnam • Geo. W. Reid K • Jno. R. Reid • Jos. Ridgeway • Newton Ridgeway • Jas. W. Riley • Jas. T. Robinson • Benj. F. Ruffner • Chas. Russell • D. M. Santmyers • Geo. W. Sibert • Chas. Stokes • L. N. Stokes • Jno. Talley K • Chas. Talbert • Jas. E.Philetus Thornhill • J. Calvin Turner K • Jas. Vermillion • Jas. W. White • Wesley Whitmore • Jno. W. Womack
Mosby’s 43 Virginia Battalion Cavalry
J. Pollard Bowen • Wm. B. Bowen • Henry P. Boyd • Eugene Brown • Jos. M. Carter • Z. T. Compton • Chas. Conrad • W. C. Conrad • Alpheus Figgins • Chas. Fish • Noah Rockman • Thornton V. Leach • B. D. Maddox K • Sam’l. McDonald • Johnson Pomeroy • Henry C. Rhodes K • Harrison Ritter • Jno. Robinson • Vincent Robinson • Jas. A. Silman • Jno. A. Silman • Jas. Sills • S. H. Smith • Alf’d Thompson • Jno. D. Thompson • B. Trenary • Jas. F. Trenary • F. D. Triplett • W. S. Woodward
White’s 35 Battalion Virginia Cavalry
Wm. Brown • Marcus J. Foster • Chas. B. Fristoe • Phil. A. Hockman K • Clinton Jennings • I. N. Jennings • Benj. F. Kibler • Chas. W. Kibler • Wm. Nail • Jacob F. Rudacille • Jacob Rudacille of J. • Thos. Rudacille • Newton Santmyers • Jack Thompson • Peter F. Winsboro
18 Virginia Cavalry
C. W. Bennett • Jno. R. Hammock • W. B. Henry • Milton H. Hottle • O. V. Laing • G. L. Laing • J. T. Martin • J. H. Santmyers • S. A. Steed • Jas. Vermillion • Henry Viands
Chew’s Virginia Battery
T. Wm. Buck • Geo. Cooper • Sam’l. Everly
Company A 39 Battalion Virginia Cavalry
Wm. V. Green • J. B. Lehew
1 Missouri Infantry Bennett Ad’jt K • Pr’vt Phil. A. Spengler
2 Missouri Infantry
Pr’vt J. Marshall Blakemore • Pr’vt Alex’d Cook • Pr’vt Wm. Cook
Miscellaneous
Private Lewis Ashby K - 6 Va. Cavalry • Capt. Wm.. H. Balthis - 21 Va. Cavalry • Private Jno. Barbee K – 6 Va. Cavalry • Capt. Thomas W. Bartlett – 13 Ark. Infantry • Private Marcus M. Bayly – 13 Va. Infantry • Capt. Saml. D. Buck – 13 Va. Infantry • Private Thos. K. Beaty – 1 Va. Cavalry • Private T. Frank Buck – Price’s Body Guard Mo. Cav. • Private Alex’d W. Blakemore – Morgan’s Ky. Cavalry • Private Geo. B. Blakemore - Engineer Corps. A.T. • Private Jas. H. Blakemore – Mahone’s Div. A.N.Va. • Lieut. Marcus N. Blakemore – 2 Ky. Cavalry • Lieut. Rich’d M. Blakemore – Ad’jt Forrest’s Bat’ln Art’ly • Private Robt. N. Blakemore – Cheatham’s Div. A.T • Capt. Wm. T. Blakemore – A.D.C. to Gen. B. R. Johnson • Private S. D. Boyd – Richmond Defense Bat’ln • Private Beverly Cornwell – 8 Va. Infantry • Private John Cucack – 17 Va. Infantry • Private J. Smith Davison – Quantrell’s Guerillas • Major Jno. N. Edwards – A.A.G. Shelby’s Mo. Brig. • Major Henry Lane K – 42 Va. Infantry • Private Geo. W. Martin – 33 Va. Infantry • Private Martin P. Marshall – Stribling’s Va. Battery • Private Erastus Pittman – 10 Va. Infantry • Private Frank Ralls – Co. E 49 Va. Infantry • Private Wm. H. Riley K – Stribling’s Va. Battery • Dr. Jno. M. Rust – Surgeon Floyd’s Div. • Private Emanuel Stickley K – 33 Va. Infantry • Private Thos. F. Showalter – 11 Va. Cavalry • Private Innman Thompson – Carpenter’s Va. Battery • Private Thos. W. Timberlake – 2 Va. Cavalry • Private Jno. B. Trenary – 1 Va. Cavalry
K following a name indicates killed or died of wounds received in battle
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In order to get the full story about Belle Boyd and the later Mosby incident, here's some info from the marker at the Visitor's Center. (Also, not pictured/visited: Rose Hill.)
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| Photographed by Tom Fuchs, August 19, 2007 |
During the Civil War, Front Royal, a “cross-roads town” of fewer than 600 residents, was the economic center of Warren County. One soldier described the town as “...quite rural. The principal objects of interest are two small churches and the town pump. The streets run all manner of ways, crossing each other at all points of the angle. Terrifically muddy and awfully gloomy.”
The homes of Bel Air, Rose Hill, Bon Air, Oakley and Hillcrest, now absorbed in the town, were working farms. A large plantation, Belmont, with its vineyards, orchards and grain fields, was located just south of town.
By the end of the war, there was not a store or business open in Front Royal.
*
“(Belle Boyd was) not beautiful but she was attractive and fascinating to a degree that would charm the heart out of a monk and cause him to break his vows of celibacy.”
Boyd, who had come to Front Royal early in the war, used the town as a base for her spying activities. She was imprisoned twice, “reported” nearly 30 times and arrested six.
Confederate Lieutenant Henry Kyd Douglas, aide to Stonewall Jackson, recounts their meeting before the battle at Front Royal in May, 1862. “Nearly exhausted and with her hand pressed against her heart, she said in gasps ‘I knew it must be Stonewall when I heard the first gun. Go back quick and tell him that the Yankee force is very small ... Tell him to charge right down and he will catch them all.’ ”
*
“Hang them without trial.” Six of Confederate Col. John S. Mosby’s Rangers were executed on September 23, 1864 under orders from Union Gen. George A. Custer.
As they were brought through the town, four men were shot. One was 17-year-old Henry Rhodes from Front Royal, who borrowed a neighbors horse and joined Mosby’s men on that fateful day. The remaining two were hanged from a tree midway between the town and the Shenandoah River. A placard was placed around the neck of one of the men reading “This will be the fate of Mosby and all his men.”
Mosby later retaliated by executing several Union troopers. After that, the practice came to a quick close.
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And at Rose Hill...
Rose Hill
Combat in the Front Yard
—Battle of Front Royal — May 23, 1862—
Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Maryland and Louisiana troops had steadily pushed Col. John R. Kenly's 1st Maryland Infantry (US) north, despite occasionally fierce street fighting, until they reached this point. The Confederates halted abruptly when Union artillery and infantry on Richardson's Hill opened fire.
Col. Bradley T. Johnson quickly reorganized his battle line, posting the 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA) on the right and Maj. Chatham Roberdeau Wheat's battalion on the left. As the Confederates entered this meadow, they saw a stone wall running from east to west near the foot of Richardson's Hill. They flattened themselves behind it while Union shells raked the open ground in front.
The cannon balls arced over Rose Hill, the home of the widow Richardson and her three daughters directly ahead of you. According to young Sue Richardson's diary, the cannon fire so frightened her mother that she became ill: "We carried her to the cellar. Our yard was full of our soldiers. Major Wheat gave orders from the yard.... We all worked hard that night feeding hundreds of soldiers."
The Southern artillery, positioned on the Randolph Macon Academy ridge west of Front Royal, was too far away to neutralize the Union guns. For the moment, the Confederate advance had stopped.
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| Photographed by Craig Swain, June 29, 2007 |
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=256842 |
Richardson’s Hill
Kenly Makes His Stand
—Battle of Front Royal, May 23, 1862—
Directly in front of you is the “commanding height” where Union Col. John H. Kenly made his last attempt to hold Front Royal. Atop Richardson’s Hill—this “cherty” ridge, as Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson called it—Kenly posted the two-gun section of Knap's Battery E, Pennsylvania Light Artillery. The two ten-pounder Parrott rifled cannons, commanded by Lt. Charles Atwell, pinned down the Confederates on the plain below while Kenly’s infantry gathered here to support the guns.
Kenly realized that the Union occupation of Front Royal was essential to protect the left flank of Gen. Nathaniel Banks’s main army at Strasburg. “I prepared to hold the position as long as possible,” Kenly later wrote, “for I was certain that if I did not check Jackson’s advance...Banks was lost.” In a momentary stroke of good luck, two companies of the 5th New York Cavalry arrived from Strasburg to augment Kenly’s infantry.
Col. Bradley T. Johnson, commanding the Confederate attackers, soon countered Kenly’s deployment. While the 1st Maryland infantry (CSA) and Maj. Chatham Roberdeau Wheat’s battalion returned fire from behind the stone wall below Richardson’s Hill, the 6th Louisiana Infantry flanked the Union position to the west. In addition, Lt. Col. Thomas S. Flournoy's 6th Virginia Cavalry threatened the Federal rear. Kenly, about to be surrounded, ordered a retreat north across the forks of the Shenandoah River.
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As predicted, the retreating Union troops had to first cross the South Fork of the Shenandoah River here...then again cross its North Fork to get to Guard Hill. Here's their first crossing:
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=256812 Race For The River “Burn the Bridges!” —The Battle of Front Royal-May 23, 1862— Shots and shouts filled the air here on the afternoon of May 23, 1862. Union troops swarmed past this spot as they raced to cross a wagon bridge that spanned the river in front of you. Pursuing Confederates were hot on their heels. One Union officer fell dead almost at your feet. Flanked out of his position on Richardson's Hill, Union Col. John R. Kenly had hurried his command north to cross the bridges that spanned the forks of the Shenandoah River. Two bridges crossed the South Fork to the peninsula beyond, the wagon bridge here and a railroad bridge 400 yards to your right. Another span, the Pike Bridge, crossed the North Fork. Once Kenly's men were safely across, they packed hay onto the bridges and set it afire. But the wooden beams, soaked by recent rains, proved hard to set alight. Confederates from the 1st Maryland threw the blazing hay off the wagon bridge and crossed here, while 8th Louisiana soldiers under Gen. Richard Taylor stepped on the railroad ties to cross that bridge—although some fell into the river below. Hurrying across the Pike Bridge, Kenly ordered that span burned as well, and a section of the structure collapsed. But Confederate cavalrymen began fording the river, while others carried water in their hats and canteens to put out the fire. Kenly's time was running out. * Medal of Honor at Front Royal Union Sgt. William Taylor received the Medal of Honor for helping to burn the Pike Bridge. His citation read, "he was painfully wounded while obeying an order to burn a bridge, but persevering in the attempt, he burned the bridge and prevented its use by the enemy." |
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| Where a Union officer fell dead, apparently. |
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Custer will be by here in 1864. Here's the final river crossing, but not the Union's last stand that day.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=3736 |
Guard Hill
“Oh, What an Opportunity for Artillery!”
—Battle of Front Royal-May 23, 1862—
Closely pursued by the 8th Louisiana Infantry, Union Col. John R. Kenly's rear guard occupied Guard Hill just west of here. The two-gun section of Knap's Battery E, Pennsylvania Light Artillery, commanded by Lt. Charles Atwell, covered part of the peninsula between the North and South Forks of the Shenandoah River as the Confederates surged toward the North Fork Bridge.
As the Confederate forces crossed the South Fork onto the peninsula, Kenly's Union troops deployed on the Winchester side of the Pike Bridge over the North Fork. The prominence of Guard Hill offered Kenly a good position to slow down the Southern advance. Atwell unlimbered his cannons on the height west of the turnpike near Dr. Kenner's home, while the Federal infantry dug in on either side of the road to combat any attempt by the Confederates crossing at the bridge.
Atwell's guns held off the commands of Col. Bradley T. Johnson and Maj. Chatham Roberdeau Wheat for almost an hour, despite being shelled by Capt. John A. Lusk's Confederate battery from Atwell's former position on Richardson's Hill. When Kenly rode forward to check the progress of his bridge-burning orders, he found "the river below the bridges...alive with horsemen [Lt. Col. Thomas S. Flournoy's 6th Virginia Cavalry], crossing in two different places by fording." Kenly ordered a retreat, leaving two companies of the 5th New York Cavalry as a rear guard while the infantry and artillery hastened north on the Front Royal Turnpike.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=254775 |
Fairview
Kenly’s Last Stand
—Battle of Front Royal-May 23, 1862—
This stone structure, known as Fairview, was the home of Thomas McKay. On this site Union Col. John R. Kenly rallied the 1st Maryland Infantry (USA) for a last stand as the Confederates approached. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson had ordered Col. Thomas S. Flournoy's 6th Virginia Cavalry in pursuit as Kenly's troops retreated from Guard Hill north on the Front Royal Turnpike toward Winchester. While Kenly strove in vain to deploy his men in the fields and orchard here, Flournoy's cavalry were on them before they could fix bayonets or form a front.
Kenly ordered the 5th New York Cavalry to countercharge, but it was too late. The troopers instead raced north in a panic, running over Kenly's men as they struggled to form a battle line. In the confusion, some of the Marylanders fired at New Yorkers and many fell.
The charge of the 6th Virginia, which Jackson afterwards declared was the most gallant and effective he had ever seen, overwhelmed Kenly's force, which grounded its weapons and surrendered. Kenly himself was severely wounded and captured.
The Federal loss in the Battle of Front Royal was 904 killed, wounded, and captured out of Kenly's 1,000-man garrison. The Confederates suffered fewer than 100 casualties. At the end of the engagement, they had not only occupied Front Royal, but also had seized some $300,000 worth of U.S. quartermaster and commissary stores. Jackson had flanked Gen. Nathaniel Banks's main force at Strasburg, and the way was clear to Winchester.
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Many wounded soldiers were cared for at the McKay house, where blood stained the floors for years. Dabney Eastham, of Co. B, 6th Virginia Cavalry, was believed to be mortally wounded and was left lying in the yard. The next morning, when his father arrived from Rappahannock County to claim his son's body, he found that the grass and mud had clotted his wound and saved his life. To avoid opening the wound, the sod was taken up with him when he was carried into the house. Eastham survived and left descendants in Rappahannock and Warren Counties.
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Back at Guard Hill, there's some reviews of the whole battle. Other signs reference the other engagement at Guard Hill and Mosby's rangers. And a couple other overviews from in town.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=33568 |
Confederate Army of 16,000 under General Stonewall Jackson overwhelmed a Federal outpost of 1,000 under Colonel John R. Kenly. The Confederates approached Front Royal undetected from southwest on the afternoon of May 23. Spy Belle Boyd gave the advance units of Ewell's division information on Federal positions and the Confederate 1st Maryland Regiment of Ewell's Division led the attack against Kenly's Federal 1st Maryland. After the opening assault the Federals took an artillery position on the heights just north of the rivers. Confederates crossed the river bridges before Federals could destroy them. Outnumbered, the Federals retreated toward Winchester. Colonel T.S. Flournoy's cavalry pursued and smashed Kenly's command in a classic charge at Cedarville. Federal Army of 6,500 under Banks at Strasburg, being outflanked, withdrew northeast on Valley Pike May 24.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1552 |
The First Maryland Regiment, U.S.A., was part of the force holding this town when it was attacked by Stonewall Jackson, May 23, 1862. With Jackson was the First Maryland Regiment, C.S.A. The two regiments were arrayed against each other.
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=171046 |
May 23, 1862, General Jackson surprised General Banks’ forces in and around Front Royal, capturing many prisoners and army supplies and forcing Banks to flee in disorder out of the Shenandoah Valley into Maryland. This was the first move in Jackson’s celebrated ‘Valley Campaign’.
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Hang on, before we leave, "But what is Warren County Virginia like 100 years later?" some might be asking. Well, for the answering, let's read a sign that I didn't actually see:
In 1958, the local NAACP chapter, lead by James W. Kilby, won a federal suit against the Warren County School Board to admit African Americans for the first time, in response, Gov. James Lindsay Almond Jr. ordered it closed in Sept. 1958, the first school in Virginia shut down under the state's Massive Resistance strategy. Following the 1959 Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruling that Massive Resistance was unconstitutional, a U.S. Circuit Court ordered it reopened. On 18 Feb. 1959, 23 African American students walked up this hill and integrated the school.
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| By Michler, Nathaniel; United States. War Department - www.davidrumsey.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8652857 |
And this goes here too (sorry):
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| https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=37247 |
Battle of Milford
Guarding Early's Flank
During the Civil War, Milford (present-day Overall) was a small commercial center on the Luray-Front Royal Turnpike. Located in a narrow valley between river and mountains, the village saw more than its share of military action. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and his army camped in the area on May 22, 1862, before the Battle of Front Royal. Small engagements occurred here in June 1862 and May 1864.
Two significant battles here occurred in the autumn of 1864. On September 22-24, after Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's victory at the Third Battle of Winchester, Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early retreated to a defensible position at Fisher's Hill. To prevent Union forces from encircling his army and blocking his escape route south, Early sent Col. Thomas T. Munford's cavalry to the Page Valley. There they engaged Union Gen. James H. Wilson's cavalry in a series of delaying actions as they fell back to the south. Here at Milford, a natural choke point in the valley, Confederate forces burned the Overall Run Bridge and dug in on the south bank. You can still see the bridge abutments just to the east. Union guns were placed on the bluffs north of Overall Run. Outnumbered more than two to one, the Confederates withstood the Federal artillery barrage and repelled Wilson's flank attack to the east. The Confederate stand allowed Early to escape south after his defeat at Fisher's Hill, much to Sheridan's disappointment. Later, on October 25-26, after Early's defeat at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Confederate Gen. Lunsford L. Lomax's cavalry used the narrow Page Valley terrain here again, to prevent Union Gen. William H. Powell's cavalry from encircling Early's retreating army.
The Milford Battlefield Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Sources include:
https://home.nps.gov/articles/000/battle-of-front-royal.htm
https://www.shenandoahatwar.org/battle-of-front-royal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Front_Royal
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