Battle of Front Royal
Battle of Front Royal | |||||||
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The Union Army under Banks entering the town, by Edwin Forbes | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States (Union) | CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
John Reese Kenly | Thomas J, "Stonewall" Jackson | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,063[1] | 3,000[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
773 | 36 |
The Battle of Front Royal, also known as Guard Hill or Cedarville, was fought on May 23, 1862, during the
Banks had most of his force at
Background
In March 1862, during the
After Kernstown, Jackson withdrew south in the valley, where he joined forces with Major General
Jackson's approach
Meanwhile, Ewell had received an order on May 17 dated May 13 from General Joseph E. Johnston to take his force from the Valley to support Johnston's army against McClellan. Jackson sent a message to Johnston that same day requesting that Ewell be allowed to remain with his command so that a blow could be struck against Banks, and on May 18 Jackson and Ewell decided that Ewell should remain under Jackson's authority until the reply from Johnston was received. As it took several days for communications to travel between Jackson and Johnston, Jackson did not receive a reply on May 20, when another set of orders for Ewell to move east were received. Jackson then contacted General Robert E. Lee, an advisor to Confederate President Jefferson Davis requesting the continued use of Ewell's men, but another message from Johnston arrived later that day giving Jackson discretionary use of Ewell's command.[6]
Between Jackson and Ewell's forces, the Confederates nominally had 17,000 men,[1] although historian Gary Ecelbarger estimates that due to desertion and straggling the true number of effective was closer to 12,000 or 14,000.[7] The Confederates resumed moving north to strike Banks.[1] The Union forces at Strasburg had built fortifications facing south, but Jackson decided to move to the east and destroy the Union outpost at Front Royal. By taking Front Royal, Jackson could sever Banks's communications to the east and then get into the rear of the Strasburg position, either capturing it or forcing its abandonment. The Confederates began their march on May 21,[8] crossing Massanutten Mountain and entering the Page Valley to approach Front Royal.[1] At the time of the Confederate approach, Banks had about 6,500 men in Strasburg,[9] about 1,000 in Front Royal,[10][11] and 1,000 in Winchester.[9] Jackson did not know the exact Union strengths, but was aware that the force at Front Royal was weaker than that at Strasburg.[12] Front Royal and Strasburg were separated by about 12 miles (19 km) on the more direct railroad route, although longer paths existed on roads.[13]
Battle
Initial Confederate attack
Jackson prepared his attack on the morning of May 23. Colonel
The Confederates learned from captured pickets that the Union force in Front Royal was the
The Union troops were caught by surprise, unaware that the Confederates had infantry in the area.[22] Banks had not stationed any cavalry at Front Royal, and the lack of cavalry in the morning prevented Union forces from learning of the Confederate advance earlier.[23] The Confederate attack quickly drove the Union forces from Front Royal and their camp, and the Union commander, Colonel John Reese Kenly, withdrew what remained of his force onto Richardson's Hill,[24] a height between Front Royal and the South Fork,[25] and deployed two 10-pounder Parrott rifles.[26] Some of Kenly's men were captured within the town,[24] and a Union supply train was captured as well.[27] Not much organized resistance was met within the town; one Confederate soldier referred to the town stage of the battle as "more like a police riot than a fight between soldiers".[28] In front of the new Union position was an open meadow, which would have to be crossed to frontally attack Kenly's position.[29] Kenly had about 700 infantrymen remaining in line at this point.[30] The two Parrott guns fired effectively on the Confederates.[22]
Union withdrawal to Richardson's and Guard Hills
With the two Union cannon battering his lines, Jackson had his chief of artillery, Colonel Stapleton Crutchfield, bring up artillery to counter the Union fire, but the first battery that reported was armed only with guns of too short of range to reach the Union position. Crutchfield was eventually able to locate three cannons with long enough ranges,[24] and a fifteen-minute artillery duel followed. Kenly tried to make his line seem stronger than it was. A small detachment of the 29th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment guarded the area between the two forks of the river,[31] and 100 men from two companies of the 5th New York Cavalry Regiment, which Banks had sent from Strasburg that morning despite being unaware of the battle,[32] arrived and sortied against the skirmishers of the Confederate 1st Maryland.[31] Meanwhile, Johnson's Marylanders attacked from the center, the 6th Louisiana Infantry Regiment attacked the Union left, and more of Taylor's men fought with the Union right. Some of the Confederate cavalry to the west,[24] the 2nd Virginia Cavalry Regiment and the 6th Virginia Cavalry Regiment under Colonel Thomas Flournoy, also raced for the bridge over the North Fork, as Confederate control of that bridge would cut off the last Union line of retreat.[24] These cavalrymen had cut railroad and telegraph lines earlier in the day before heading for the fighting at Front Royal.[33]
The arrival of Flournoy's cavalry convinced Kenly to withdraw at around 4:30 pm. The Union troops withdrew across the bridges over the South Fork and the North Fork, and lit the bridges on fire,[34] and burned some of their supplies to prevent them from falling into Confederate hands.[35] The Confederates were able to put out the fires on the South Fork bridge, and Jackson sent aides to bring up the artillery and Stonewall Brigade left at Asbury's Chapel. While the commander of the Stonewall Brigade, Brigadier General Charles Sidney Winder, had put his men and the artillery in march behind the rest of the Confederate troops, they were still too far to the rear to be available for the fighting at Front Royal.[36] Kenly reformed his command on Guard Hill across the North Fork, while many of the Confederates became disorganized and plundered the abandoned Union camp.[37] With the addition of about 100 men from the detachment of the 29th Pennsylvania, Kenly defended Guard Hill with about 800 men.[38] News did not reach Banks of the fighting at Front Royal until about 5:45 pm, when a single messenger reached his headquarters.[39]
Flournoy's pursuit
At around 6:00 pm, a few of Flournoy's men were able to cross at a ford, and part of the 8th Louisiana Infantry Regiment was able to swim across. They were able douse the fire on the North Fork bridge.[40] While a portion of the bridge collapsed, enough of the span remained that men could cross single file.[41] With the Guard Hill position untenable with Confederates across the river, Kenly withdrew his men to the hamlet of Cedarville, Virginia.[40] Jackson ordered Flournoy to push 250 cavalrymen across the charred bridge and pursue the Union troops; Jackson himself followed behind Flournoy's men.[42] Making a stand about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Cedarville,[43] Kenly deployed his artillery, and ordered the New York cavalrymen to charge. Instead, the cavalry's commander lost his nerve and ordered his men to flee the field. The remaining Union troops formed a line at Fairview, the house of local man Thomas McKay.[44] Flournoy's men charged the position twice,[10] undeterred by a volley from the Union troops[45] that cut apart Company B of the 6th Virginia.[46] The Union line broke into confusion in the melee.[10] Kenly suffered multiple wounds during the melee and was captured, as were most of the Union troops.[47]
While Jackson had fought at Front Royal, Ashby had encountered Union troops during his mission. At about 2:00 pm, his men attacked Buckton Station on the Manassas Gap Railroad.[48] The position was defended by elements of the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and the 27th Indiana Infantry Regiment,[49] a force of about 150 men.[50] An attack made by 300 Confederates was repulsed with the loss of two promising officers, and a second charge fared little better. Withdrawing down the railroad, Ashby had the railroad line and the telegraph wires cut, accomplishing his purpose of isolating Front Royal from Banks. Cozzens describes the needless fighting at Buckton Station as "a waste of lives".[51]
Aftermath
Cozzens places Jackson's losses (excluding Ashby's action) at 36 men killed and wounded, while stating that Kenly's force suffered 773 casualties, of which 691 were as prisoners.[52] Robertson estimates the Union prisoners at 700, and places Jackson's losses at less than 100.[10] The National Park Service gives Union losses as 904 and Confederate losses at 56.[1] Historian Robert G. Tanner says the Union lost about 900 men, and the Confederates a little over 100.[53] Ecelbarger estimates Union losses at about 900.[54] The Confederates also captured both Parrott rifles, a number of wagons, and about $300,000 worth of supplies. Ashby's expedition netted the capture of two locomotives.[10] A Union soldier, William Taylor, was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1897 for his actions in the bridge-burning at Front Royal and in the later Battle of Weldon Railroad.[55] To prevent being cut off from Winchester,[56] Banks responded to the fall of Front Royal by rapidly withdrawing from Strasburg. Jackson attacked part of the withdrawing force at Middletown the next day, and then defeated Banks in the First Battle of Winchester on May 25.[1]
After defeating Banks at Winchester, Jackson advanced his force towards
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Campaign in the Valley". National Park Service. July 1, 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
- ^ Lewis 1998, pp. 74, 76.
- ^ Lewis 1998, p. 78.
- ^ Tanner 1998, pp. 78–80.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 278.
- ^ Robertson 1997, pp. 386–389.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 36.
- ^ Robertson 1997, pp. 390–392.
- ^ a b Kennedy 1998, p. 81.
- ^ a b c d e Robertson 1997, p. 398.
- ^ Tanner 1976, p. 206.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 29.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 22.
- ^ Warner 2006, p. 14.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 425.
- ^ Robertson 1997, p. 393.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 45.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, pp. 295–298.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 64.
- ^ Robertson 1997, p. 395.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 300.
- ^ a b Gwynne 2014, p. 280.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 56.
- ^ a b c d e Robertson 1997, p. 396.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 59.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, pp. 298–299.
- ^ Tanner 1976, p. 213.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 299.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 57.
- ^ a b Cozzens 2008, pp. 301–302.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 62.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 74.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 302.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 75.
- ^ Robertson 1997, pp. 396–397.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, pp. 302–303.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, pp. 76, 78.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 81.
- ^ a b Cozzens 2008, pp. 303–304.
- ^ Tanner 1976, pp. 213–214.
- ^ Robertson 1997, p. 397.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 82.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 304–305.
- ^ Gwynne 2014, p. 281.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 83.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, pp. 305, 307.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, pp. 307–308.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 296.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 68.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, pp. 307–309.
- ^ Cozzens 2008, p. 307.
- ^ Tanner 1976, p. 215.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, p. 88.
- ^ "William Taylor". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ^ Ecelbarger 2008, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Pfanz 1998, pp. 82–84.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0-8078-3200-4.
- Ecelbarger, Gary L. (2008). Three Days in the Shenandoah: Stonewall Jackson at Front Royal and Winchester. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806138862.
- ISBN 978-1-4516-7328-9.
- Kennedy, Frances H., ed. (1998). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- Lewis, Thomas A. (1998). "First Kernstown, Virginia". In Kennedy, Frances H. (ed.). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 74–78. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- Pfanz, Donald C. (1998). "Cross Keys, Virginia". In Kennedy, Frances H. (ed.). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 82–84. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- ISBN 0-02-864685-1.
- Tanner, Robert G. (1976). Stonewall in the Valley: Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign Spring 1862. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
- Tanner, Robert G. (1998). "McDowell, Virginia". In Kennedy, Frances H. (ed.). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (2nd ed.). Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 78–80. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-3150-3.
Further reading
- Clark, Champ (1984). Decoying the Yankees: Jackson's Valley Campaign. Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-4724-X.
- Martin, David G. (1994). Jackson's Valley Campaign: November 1861 – June 1862 (Revised ed.). Philadelphia: Combined Books. ISBN 0-938289-40-3.
External links
- Media related to Battle of Front Royal at Wikimedia Commons