The Third Battle of Winchester

Confederate Defense

In the mid-morning of September 19, Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon's infantry, veteran troops from Georgia, Louisiana, and Virginia, took position to your right on the other side of Hackwood Lane. At 11:40 a.m., at the sound of artillery ...

The Third Battle of Winchester

Hackwood House

Prominent Virginian John Smith was charged with guarding prisoners of war held in Winchester during the Revolutionary War. He purportedly had this stately home (in front of you) built by Hessian and British prisoners around 1777.

During the fighting ...

The Third Battle of Winchester

Fording Red Bud Run

"To stop was death. To go on was probably the same; but on we started again."

Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S.A.

Red Bud Run is as wide and boggy today as it was in 1864. During their attack, the ...

The Third Battle of Winchester

The Attack of the Eighth Corps

"The order was to walk fast, keep silent, until within about one hundred yards of the guns, and then with a yell to charge at full speed."

Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S.A.

At noon on September ...

The Third Battle of Winchester

Confederate Horse Artillery

"A more murderous fire I never witnessed..."Col. Thomas Munford, C.S.A.

In an effort to protect the Confederate left flank, Gen. Fitzhugh Lee placed a detachment of cavalry and six pieces of horse artillery, lighter cannons made specifically for horse ...

The Third Battle of Winchester

(Left Side): The Third Battle of Winchester - September 19, 1864

Bloodiest Battle of the Shenandoah Valley

Gen. Jubal Early assuming that Gen. Phil Sheridan was yet another cautious Union commander, divided his roughly 14,000 troops on a wide front north from ...

Third Battle of Winchester

A Gathering of Future Leaders

The Third Battle of Winchester, fought here on September 19, 1864, was a proving ground for several men on both sides who shaped post-war America. They included two future presidents, two senators, a state governor, and ...

Third Battle of Winchester

Near here Early, facing east, took his last position on September 19, 1864. About sundown he was attacked and driven from it, retreating south. Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley served in this engagement on the Union side.

Marker is ...

Third Battle of Winchester

September 19, 1864

Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign began in June of 1864. Until the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19, he more than fulfilled General Lee’s hopes that the great success of 1862 could be repeated in ...

Third Battle of Winchester

"One Moving Mass of Glittering Sabers"

On September 19, 1864, Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah routed Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early’s Valley Army at the Third Battle of Winchester (also called Opequon) in the bloodiest and largest ...