"Willow Wall", also known as McNeill Family House, is a historic home located near Old Fields,

Hardy County, West Virginia Hardy County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,299. Its county seat is Moorefield. The county was created from Hampshire County in 1786 and named for Samuel Hardy, a distinguished V ...

. It was built in 1811–1812, and is a two-story, "U"-shaped brick dwelling in the Georgian-Tidewater style. It has a double Georgian porch, outlined by

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

columns. The two wings have double

Palladian window Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

s on the front gable ends. The interior features the French hand-printed

wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so t ...

"The Passing of the Chase." The property was first settled in between 1760 and 1770 by Daniel McNeill. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

the McNeill properties were centers of activity for

McNeill's Rangers McNeill's Rangers was an independent Confederate military force commissioned under the Partisan Ranger Act (1862) by the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War. The 210 man unit (equivalent to a small or under-strength battalion) w ...

and the Willow Wall residence was used as a hospital for wounded men. The

Battle of Moorefield The Battle of Moorefield was a cavalry battle in the American Civil War, which took place on August 7, 1864. The fighting occurred along the Potomac River#South Branch of the Potomac River, South Branch of the Potomac River, north of Moorefield, ...

of August 7, 1864 (also styled the Battle of Old Fields) began outside Willow Wall. It followed Jubal Early's Confederate raid upon Washington, and his cavalry under McCauseland and

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

's ensuing burning of

Chambersburg, PA Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

. General Johnson was staying in a second-floor room of Willow Wall, and he escaped out a window. The

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

losses suffered in the battle left them unable to control the Shenandoah Valley and marked the increasing

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

dominance in the Valley. There is a tale that Daniel McNeill (who died 1844 and is buried in a tomb across the road and about 50 yds. to the south) owned many slaves, and was somewhat of a cruel man. Becoming aggrieved that someone was pilfering from him, as an object lesson he had one of his slave's hands cut off, and kept in a jar on a shelf in the basement house-slave quarters. At least until the late 1970s, there was a portrait of Daniel McNeill present in the 2nd floor hallway as an old man, lying in bed with severely twisted and crippled hands. Willow Wall has strong architectural and historical connections to four nearby Van Meter family dwellings:

Buena Vista Farms Buena Vista Farms is a historic home located near Old Fields, Hardy County, West Virginia, USA. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The main house at Buena Vista Farms was built in 1836 and is a brick dwelling in t ...

, Traveler's Rest,

Fort Pleasant Fort Pleasant — formerly known as Fort Van Meter and Town Fort and still also known as the Isaac Van Meter House — is a historic site located near the unincorporated community of Old Fields about 5 miles north of Moorefield in Hardy Count ...

, and the Garrett VanMeter House. Willow Wall was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1973.

References

External links

* American Civil War sites in West Virginia Georgian architecture in West Virginia Hardy County, West Virginia in the American Civil War Houses completed in 1812 Houses in Hardy County, West Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Hardy County, West Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in West Virginia Palladian Revival architecture in West Virginia 1812 establishments in Virginia {{HardyCountyWV-NRHP-stub