Inner Defenses
N 37° 24.518 W 079° 09.229
17S E 663390 N 4141804
This historic marker is located on Park Avenue in the City of Lynchburg where recovering Confederate Soldiers gathered to defend the City during the Union Attack in 1864.
Waymark Code: WM24EY
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 09/02/2007
Views: 35
A week before the city of Lynchburg was to be invaded by 18,000 Union troops under the command of General David Hunter, the city lay vulnerable, unprotected by Confederate forces. Brigadier General Francis T. Nicholls, a double amputee who had recovered in a Lynchburg hospital, organized a corps of convalescing Confederates from Lynchburg's numerous hospitals to defend the city during that critical week. Over 700 "cripple corps" manned the barricades along with 200 Virginia Military Institute cadets who had rushed to defend the city. The initial line of inner defenses ran through the Old City Cemetery where V.M.I. cadets bivouacked for the night. The cadets and convalescents protected Lynchburg until the Confederate Second Corps and other units arrived to repel the Union attack the next day.
The text of the marker reads:
INNER DEFENSES
"Here, facing west, ran the inner defenses of the city, located by General D. H. Hill. They were constructed by convalescents and home guards. General Early, after an inspection of the system, moved most of the men to the outer works well to the westward."
Marker Number: Q6-8
Marker Title: Inner Defenses
Marker Location: 9th Street at Park Street
County or Independent City: City of Lynchburg
Web Site: [Web Link]
Marker Program Sponsor: Virginia Conservation Commission - 1941
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