Three Battlefields

This ground lay within three different Civil War battlefields, reflecting how often fighting erupted around Winchester. On June 15, 1863, during the Second Battle of Winchester, Louisiana troops cut off Union Col. Andrew T. McReynolds's men as they tried to break out just north of here, and the 6th Maryland Infantry escaped through this area by taking a circuitous route. During the Battle of Rutherford's Farm on July 20, 1864, Confederate Col. William L. "Mudwall" Jackson's cavalry attacked across the ground in front of here to support their army's collapsing right flank, temporarily driving back Federal forces and saving many North Carolinians from capture. On the morning of September 19, 1864, as the Third Battle of Winchester began, Confederate troops moving south to the battlefield passed here, and later Confederate Col. William H.F. Payne's cavalry crossed this ground to join an attack on Federal horsemen threatening the Confederate flank before a Federal counterattack routed them.

Virginia · United States