Front Royal

On May 23, 1862, Front Royal was occupied by 1000 Federal troops, including the 1st Maryland Infantry, 29th Pennsylvania, and a battery of Knap’s Artillery, under Col. J. R. Kenly. In the early afternoon, Confederate Gen. T. J. “Stonewall” Jackson, after advancing north on the Luray Road during the morning, ordered Col. Bradley Johnson’s and Col. Roberdeau Wheat’s Louisiana Battalion forward. Kenly’s infantry pickets were driven back from positions 1½ miles from Front Royal, and as the Confederate advance appeared on the wooded heights south of town, Jackson placed his artillery on Prospect Hill. A Confederate charge sent Union soldiers through the town to join their main body on a height just north of the Winchester Pike. Kenly resisted for a time but soon realized Jackson’s army was surrounding him, so he retreated across the two rivers and attempted to burn the bridges, but failed. Jackson’s cavalry overtook the Federals at Cederville, completing the Confederate victory. Union forces lost 904 killed, wounded, and captured, while Confederates lost 36 killed and wounded. The battle became known as a “brother vs. brother” fight because the 1st Maryland Infantry, C.S.A., fought and captured the 1st Maryland Infantry, USA. This action forced the main Federal army at Strasburg to withdraw along the Valley Pike, and Jackson struck the moving force in the flank on May 24 before pursuing it to Winchester and fighting there on May 25. Col. John R. Kenly was severely wounded during the battle and his regiment was overwhelmed, and the Confederates seized Kenly’s flag. Col. Bradley T. Johnson faced insubordination in his regiment on May 23, 1862, when scores of men refused orders because they believed their terms of service had expired, but a speech praised as highly effective restored their willingness to fight. Riverside, the home of Maj. James R. Richards in the forks of the Shenandoahs, stood in the battle’s path, and Jackson slept there on the night of the battle.

Front Royal, Virginia · United States