The fertile Shenandoah Valley served as the Breadbasket of the Confederacy and as an avenue of invasion. Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early's march north and raid on Washington, D.C., in June-July 1864 led Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to send Gen. Philip H. Sheridan and his Army of the Shenandoah into the Valley in August to defeat Early. In battles from September 19 to October 19, including Third Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Tom's Brook, and Cedar Creek, Sheridan defeated Early and then devastated much of the Valley in the Burning. Believing Early no longer posed a serious threat, Sheridan was caught off guard when Confederate forces made a daring night march and struck the Federal camps north of Cedar Creek in predawn fog and darkness on October 19, achieving complete surprise and driving the Union army past Middletown. The Federals regrouped on high ground just north of Middletown, where by about 10 a.m. Union officers formed a defensive line with cavalry divisions anchoring both ends. On and around this farm, Union Gen. Wesley Merritt's First Cavalry Division held the Federal left flank, with Col. Charles Russell Lowell Jr.'s Reserve Cavalry Brigade at the center of the far left, Col. James H. Kidd's brigade on a distant ridge to the left, and Col. Thomas C. Devin's brigade to Lowell's right. About 4 p.m., the Federals counterattacked after Sheridan rode south from Winchester to rally his force. Merritt's cavalry charged the infantry divisions of Gen. John Pegram and Gabriel C. Wharton and the brigade of Gen. William T. Wofford on the Confederate right flank. After repeated attempts, the Confederates gave way. Lowell, seriously wounded that morning, remained in the field and was mortally wounded, dying the next morning. By nightfall, the Union victory was complete and Early's army was shattered. The nearby Larrick-Nixon House, called Thorndale, is an L-shaped frame dwelling whose older rear section was probably built about 1790 by John Larrick II, with a Greek Revival-style front section likely added about 1855 by his grandson Archibald B. Larrick; its bank barn, dating to about 1870, incorporates hand-hewn fire-damaged beams from an earlier structure on the stone foundation of an earlier barn.

Photo: Craig Swain

Photo: Craig Swain

Photo: Shane Oliver

Photo: Shane Oliver

Photo: Craig Swain

Photo: Craig Swain

Middletown, Virginia · USA