Prospect Hill Cemetery-Jackson Prepares for Battle - Front Royal VA - Battlefields on Waymarking.com

Prospect Hill Cemetery-Jackson Prepares for Battle
— Battle of Front Royal - May 23, 1862

Devoid of trees in 1862, this hill afforded Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's troops their first good look at Front Royal and the deployments of the Union garrison here. Approaching from the south on the Gooney Manor Road (now Browntown Road), Col. Stapleton Crutchfield, Jackson's artillery chief, posted a battery here. The smoothbore cannon, however, lacked the range to reach the Union guns on Richardson's Hill, a mile an three quarters further north. Lt. Samuel J. Simpson, a native of the area, led Crutchfield's artillery on a path concealed by woods around the western end of town and up the ridge on which Randolph Macon Academy stands. By 3:30 p.m., a Confederate rifled cannon was in position there.

In the meantime, the 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA) and the Louisiana Brigade advanced on Front Royal from the southeast. The Marylanders overran pickets who revealed that they were members of the 1st Maryland Infantry (US), which garrisoned the town.

Col. John R. Kenly commanded Front Royal's Federal defenders - a thousand infantrymen and a two-gun section of rifled artillery on Richardson's Hill. With this meager force, he sought to protect the military supplies stored in town, the Manassas Gap Railroad, and the bridges over the forks of the Shenandoah River. When the surviving pickets straggled in, Kenly understood that his force was about to be tested.

(Lower Left Sidebar): On November 7, 1868, the Ladies' Warren Memorial Association was chartered to collect the Confederate dead buried in sites throughout Warren County and rebury them in this circular lot, later called Soldier's Circle. The task of locating and moving the bodies involved much labor and expense and was especially difficult in the post war era. In a short time, however, the remains of 276 soldiers representing every state in the former Confederacy were interred here. Some 90 were identified and placed in separate graves, each with a marble headstone. The remains of 186 unknown soldiers were buried in a common grave in the center of the circle, and on Aug. 24, 1882, the 18-foot-high monument was erected above them. A memorial service is held annually on the anniversary of the Battle of Front Royal.

Several notable local residents are buried elsewhere in Prospect Hill Cemetery. They include Lt. Samuel J. Simpson and Lucy Buck, the diarist.

Name of Battle: Battle of Front Royal Name of War: U. S. Civil War Date(s) of Battle (Beginning): 05/23/1862 Entrance Fee: Not Listed Parking: Not Listed Date of Battle (End): Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Post a photo of you in front of a sign or marker posted at the site of the battle (or some other way to indicate you have personally visited the site.

In addition it is encouraged to take a few photos of the surrounding area and interesting features at the site.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/09/2023 Don.Morfe visited it