New Market Gap - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

In late 1862, the Union army was gathering its forces in Stafford County, Virginia for an attack on Fredericksburg across the Rappahannock River. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee advised Gen. Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson to move his troops to Fredericksburg from the Shenandoah Valley where Jackson and his troops had remained after the Battle of Antietam. In November, Jackson and his force of more than 32,000 men marched through New Market, over the Blue Ridge Mountains at Fishers Gap and Luray, through Culpeper, and into Fredericksburg.

A stop along the Civil War Discovery Trail on Massenutten Mountain where Jackson and his men stopped to rest on November 23, indicates this is where Stonewall Jackson announced to his staff that they were no longer the headquarters of the Army of the Valley, but the 2nd Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. The 2nd Corps reached Fredericksburg in three weeks and helped Lee's Army of Northern Virginia successfully defend Fredericksburg.

References:

• Stonewall Jackson Directs D.H. Hill’s March to Fredericksburg
• On site information

Type of site: Transportation Route or Facility Address: Rt. 211 (at the old Massenutten Visitors Center parking lot) George Washington National Forest New Market, VA USA 22844 Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Driving Directions: On Rt. 211 approximately 7 miles west of Luray and 4 miles east of New Market. Phone Number: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/03/2012 BuckeyeFinnigan visited it