During the Civil War, Milford, present-day Overall, was a small commercial center on the Luray-Front Royal Turnpike in a narrow valley between river and mountains, and it saw repeated military action. Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and his army camped in the area on May 22, 1862, before the Battle of Front Royal, and small engagements occurred there in June 1862 and May 1864. Two significant actions came in the autumn of 1864. On September 22-24, after Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's victory at the Third Battle of Winchester, Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early retreated to Fisher's Hill and sent Col. Thomas T. Munford's cavalry into the Page Valley to prevent Union forces from encircling his army and blocking his escape route south. At Milford, a natural choke point, Confederate forces burned the Overall Run Bridge and dug in on the south bank while Union guns were placed on the bluffs north of Overall Run. Outnumbered by more than two to one, the Confederates withstood a Federal artillery barrage and repelled Union Gen. James H. Wilson's flank attack to the east, allowing Early to escape south after his defeat at Fisher's Hill. On October 25-26, after Early's defeat at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Confederate Gen. Lunsford L. Lomax's cavalry again used the narrow Page Valley terrain there to prevent Union Gen. William H. Powell's cavalry from encircling Early's retreating army.

Photo: Shane Oliver

Photo: Craig Swain

Photo: Craig Swain

Woodstock, Virginia · USA