Fort Edward Johnson was a series of

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

(CSA) military

breastworks A breastwork is a temporary fortification, often an earthwork thrown up to breast height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position. A more permanent structure, normally in stone, would be described as a parapet o ...

constructed in April 1862 by the four-thousand member brigade known as the "Army of the Northwest". The Army of the Northwest was a remnant of the

Confederate Army of the Northwest The Army of the Northwest was a Confederate army early in the American Civil War. On June 8, 1861, Confederate troops operating in northwestern Virginia were designated the "Army of the Northwest" with Brig. Gen. Robert S. Garnett as commandi ...

which had been disbanded in February 1862. The Army of the Northwest was commanded by Colonel Edward "Alleghany" Johnson and had been ordered to secure a major roadway through the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...

known as the

Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike The Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike was built in what is now the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia during the second quarter of the 19th century to provide a roadway from Staunton, Virginia and the upper Shenandoah Valley to the Ohio River at ...

. Johnson ordered the construction of fortifications and breastworks at a high point along the turnpike on top of

Shenandoah Mountain Shenandoah Mountain is a mountain ridge approximately long in Virginia and West Virginia. The steep, narrow, sandstone-capped ridge extends from northern Bath County, Virginia to southern Hardy County, West Virginia. Along the way, its crest def ...

, which is in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, west of Staunton. Though Colonel Johnson had been victorious at the

Battle of Camp Allegheny The Battle of Camp Allegheny, also known as the Battle of Allegheny Mountain, took place on December 13, 1861, in Pocahontas County, Virginia (now West Virginia), about 3 miles from the mountainous border of Highland County, Virginia, as par ...

, where Johnson had been given the nickname "Allegheny" and was subsequently officially promoted to General, they suffered significant losses, and other Confederate setbacks in the Western Theater of operations influenced Robert E. Lee to order Johnson to take his forces east to better protect the strategic city of Staunton, as well as the Shenandoah Valley. Johnson moved his forces east along the Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike and determined that the low gap along the crest of Shenandoah Mountain where the turnpike passed through would be the best location to build a defensive position to fight off any advancing

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

forces. Starting on April 5, 1862, members of the Army of the Northwest spent the next two weeks constructing breastworks and cutting down parts of the forest along the western approaches to the fort. The fort was named after the commanding officer on April 6. General Johnson was ordered east to rendezvous with General

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in near ...

's army near Staunton on April 19, and the fort was abandoned to the advancing Union forces who occupied the position without a shot being fired. On May 7, 1862, Johnson's resupplied army again advanced west and retook the fort that had been abandoned by the Union forces. Johnson did not linger, by the next day his forces had left the fort and they marched westward to engage their opponents. Fort Edward Johnson is adjacent to U.S. Route 250 at the mountain pass of the route on top of Shenandoah Mountain and is west of Staunton, Virginia (). A walkway leading from a parking area through the confederate breastworks provides an interpretive opportunity. The parking area also provides access to the Shenandoah Mountain Trail and Ramsey's Draft Wilderness. The remains of the fort are within

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests is an administrative entity combining two U.S. National Forests into one of the largest areas of public land in the Eastern United States. The forests cover of land in the Appalachian Mountai ...

on the border of Augusta and Highland counties, Virginia.

References

{{reflist Edward Johnson 1862 establishments in Virginia