The First Battle of Kernstown

At 9:00 A.M. on March 23, 1862, Confederate artillery unlimbered near the Valley Turnpike and fired on Pritchard's Hill to begin the First Battle of Kernstown. Union artillery rolled onto these knolls and responded by discharging 700 rounds of shot and shell over the next five hours. More than 300 Union soldiers crowded the height to protect the artillery while Colonel Nathan Kimball, the Union battlefield commander, set up headquarters on this same hill. Kimball successfully repulsed Confederate infantry in its attempt to dislodge the artillery from this ground early in the afternoon, only to watch as General Jackson swiftly shifted his Confederate artillery from the Valley Turnpike to the crest of Sandy Ridge. By 3:30 P.M., Jackson's cannon suppressed the Union artillery position. From this hill, Kimball countered by launching two infantry attacks in quick succession in an effort to force "Stonewall" Jackson from his commanding position. By sunset, Kimball's assaults dislodged Jackson's troops from Sandy Ridge, capturing two cannon and 250 healthy soldiers by nightfall. The Confederates also suffered 450 killed and wounded within their ranks from the day-long battle. Colonel Kimball's men, killed and wounded, numbered nearly 600 for the day. His victory earned him a promotion to brigadier general. An Indiana physician before the war, Kimball later became the only field commander in the Civil War to defeat both Robert E. Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson in separate engagements. Colonel William Murray spent most of the battle on this knoll with his 84th Pennsylvania infantry until ordered to charge the Confederate cannons on Sandy Ridge late in the afternoon, and he was killed 40 yards from the Southern artillery, the highest-ranking officer to die that day.

Winchester, Virginia · United States