Surprise Attack

The opening attack of the Battle of Cedar Creek began here at about 5:00 a.m. after a Confederate scouting party on Signal Knob saw that a frontal attack on the entrenchments and positions just north of Cedar Creek and the North Fork of the Shenandoah would be suicidal, but that an attack from the flank might succeed. After a silent all-night march along the base of the Massanutten, Confederate troops forded the creek and river and, aided by a dense fog, stormed this hill, catching many Union soldiers unaware, some still sleeping in their tents. Within 30 minutes the Union position here had been overrun, and the survivors fled back toward the Valley Pike.

Virginia · United States