Action on the River Road

The historic River Road began at the Valley Turnpike near New Market and ran more than a mile over Manor's Hill to the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. On the morning of the battle, much of the Union army, including Gen. Franz Sigel, had not yet reached New Market, and the outnumbered Federal troops who had arrived were commanded by Col. Augustus Moor. They formed a strong line along this road, with the 123rd Ohio to the front, the 1st West Virginia to the rear, and six cannon of Snow's Maryland Battery in the graveyard nearby, but Moor lacked enough troops to hold it and Union reinforcements were still stretched out along the Valley Pike. The Confederates outflanked both ends of the position, and when Sigel arrived about noon and saw that the rest of his force would not arrive before the attack, he ordered the troops here to fall back to the stronger, narrower line at Bushong's Hill. Between 1 pm and 2 pm the Federals had completely evacuated the town. The advancing Confederates then paused briefly along the road, with the 62nd Virginia gathering there, before launching their next assault against Federal troops on the Rice Farm. Fighting had also erupted here during the night of May 14-15, when Union troops opened heavy musket fire at close range and drove back an approaching Confederate infantry line.

New Market, Virginia · United States