Port Republic Battlefield
Posted by: 
Arby Geo
N 38° 18.089 W 078° 46.020
17S E 695257 N 4241624
Site of the final battle of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. The battlefield can be explored from public roads that run through the area. Markers mark the locations of some of the battle's major action.
Waymark Code: WM12FA
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 12/25/2006
Views: 72
On June 9, 1862, Stonewall Jackson concluded his Shenandoah Valley Campaign, arguably one of the most brilliant military campaigns in human history, with a victory at Port Republic over the Union forces of General James Shields.
After Stonewall Jackson had spent weeks embarassing and inflicting heavy damage on Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley, President Lincoln sent reinforcements and personally designed a trap. Jackson escaped the trap at Winchester, then again at Strasburg, and retreated up the Valley towards Port Republic. In a third attempt to trap him, he was pursued by General John C. Frement (coming up the "Valley Pike" on the west) and General James Shields (coming up the "Luray Valley" on the east).
Rather than waiting for the trap to be sprung, Jackson sprung his own trap, detaching General Richard Ewell at Cross Keys to stop Fremont, while he pounced on General Shields 3,000 troop vanguard with his own 6,000 troops at Port Republic.
The initial going was tough, as Confederate General Charles Winder's "Stonewall Brigade" crossed an open field and took heavy fire from Federal artillery located on a hill called "The Coaling". After sustaining heavy losses, Jackson sent General Richard Taylor to the right through thick woods in a roundabout assault on The Coaling. After an hour of bloody hand-to-hand combat, Taylor succeeded in taking the hill, only to find that Union reinforcements had come up and were preparing to counterattack his greatly outnumbered force. Just in the nick of time, Confederate reinforcements led by General Ewell, who had successfully finished his work at Cross Keys, arrived on the field and forced the Federals into panicked retreat down the Valley.
I have posted pictures and waypoints at two battlefield markers: The Coaling, and the field over which Winder's and Early's men advanced. Please feel free to post pictures and waypoints of additional markers and points of interest!
Type of site: Battlefield
Address:
Route 340
Port Republic, Virginia USA
Admission Charged: No Charge
Website: [Web Link]
Phone Number: Not listed
Driving Directions: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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