The Battle of Fisher's Hill was fought September 21–22, 1864, near Strasburg, Virginia, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the

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

. Despite its strong defensive position, the Confederate army of

Lt. Gen. Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Jubal Early was defeated by the

Union Army of the Shenandoah The Army of the Shenandoah was a Union army during the American Civil War. First organized as the ''Department of the Shenandoah'' in 1861 and then disbanded in early 1862, it became most effective after its recreation on August 1, 1864, under ...

, commanded by Maj. Gen.

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close a ...

Background

Military situation

Sheridan had almost 35,000 men in the Shenandoah Valley opposing Early, with just under 10,000. Early, following the Third Battle of Winchester took a strong position. His right rested on the North Branch of the

Shenandoah River The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 in t ...

. The left flank of his infantry was on Fisher's Hill. Confederate cavalry was expected to hold the ground from there to Little North Mountain. Maj. Gen.

George Crook George R. Crook (September 8, 1828 – March 21, 1890) was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. During the 1880s, the Apache nicknamed Crook ''Nanta ...

advised Sheridan to flank this position. His command was assigned to move along the wooded slopes of the mountain to attack the cavalry.

Opposing forces

Union

Confederate

Battle

Crook's attack began about 4 p.m. on September 22, 1864. The infantry attack pushed the Confederate troopers out of their way. Maj. Gen.

Stephen Dodson Ramseur Stephen Dodson Ramseur (May 31, 1837 – October 20, 1864) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War, at one point the youngest in the army. He impressed Lee by his actions at Malvern Hill and Chancellorsville, where his brigade led ...

tried refusing the left flank of his division. Crook and Brig. Gen.

James B. Ricketts James Brewerton Ricketts (June 21, 1817 – September 22, 1887) was a career officer in the United States Army, serving as a Union Army general during the Civil War. At First Bull Run, he was wounded and captured, but later exchanged. He fought a ...

's division, of

Horatio G. Wright Horatio Gouverneur Wright (March 6, 1820 – July 2, 1899) was an engineer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He took command of the VI Corps in May 1864 following the death of General John Sedgwick. In this capacity, he ...

VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to: France * VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars * VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army du ...

struck Ramseur's line, pushing it in. Wright's remaining divisions and XIX Corps broke the Southern line.

Aftermath

The Confederates fell back to

Waynesboro, Virginia Waynesboro (formerly Flack) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is a principal city of the Staunton-Waynesboro Metropolitan Statistical Area. Waynesboro is located in the Shenandoah Valley and is surrounded by Augusta Co ...

. Brig. Gen.

Alfred Torbert Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert (July 1, 1833 – August 29, 1880) was a career United States Army officer, a Union Army General commanding both infantry and cavalry forces in the American Civil War, and a U.S. diplomat. Early life ...

was sent into the Luray Valley with 6,000 cavalrymen to force his way through the 1,200 Confederate cavalrymen under Brigadier General

Williams Wickham Williams Carter Wickham (September 21, 1820 – July 23, 1888) was a Virginia lawyer and politician. A plantation owner who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, Wickham also became a delegate to the Virginia Secession Conventi ...

. Torbert was then supposed to move through the New Market and Luray Gap in Massanutten Mountain and come up behind Early and cut-off his retreat at Fisher's Hill. Torbert fell back after making a token effort against Wickham's force at Milford (present day Overall) and Early escaped. Four Union Army enlisted men and one officer received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...

in the action at Fisher's Hill. * Private James Connors, 43rd New York Infantry * Private John Creed, 23rd Illinois Infantry * Private George G. Moore, 11th West Virginia Infantry * Sergeant Sylvester D. Rhodes,

61st Pennsylvania Infantry The 61st Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 61st Pennsylvania was organized at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in August 1861 and mustered i ...

* First Lieutenant Edward N. Whittier, 5th Battery Maine Light Artillery

Battlefield preservation

The Civil War Trust (a division of the

American Battlefield Trust The American Battlefield Trust is a charitable organization (501(c)(3)) whose primary focus is in the preservation of battlefields of the American Civil War, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 through acquisition of battlefield land. T ...

) and its partners have acquired and preserved of the battlefield. The preserved portion of the battlefield is marked by trails and interpretive signs.

Fisher's Hill Battlefield page. Accessed May 28, 2018.

Notes

References

National Park Service battle description

CWSAC Report Update and Resurvey: Individual Battlefield Profiles

Memoirs and primary sources

*Early, Jubal A. ''A Memoir of the Last Year of the War for Independence in the Confederate States of America''. Edited by Gary W. Gallagher. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2001. . * Sheridan, Philip Henry.
Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army in Two Volumes
', Vol. II. New York, New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1888. * U.S. War Department
''The War of the Rebellion''
''a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies''. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fishers Hill, Battle Of Battle of Fisher's Hill Fisher's Hill 1864 Battles of the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War Union victories of the American Civil War Fisher's Hill Battle of Fisher's Hill Conflicts in 1864 September 1864 events