The Battle of Rutherford’s Farm, 1864: A Smaller Union Force Routs Ramseur

In July 1864, Confederate Gen. Jubal Early learned that a strong Union force was closing on Winchester, Virginia, from the north and east. He decided to abandon the town and retreat south, and to buy time to evacuate its hospitals and supplies he ordered Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur’s division to hold Winchester’s northern defenses. What followed, on July 20, 1864, was a sharp Union victory at Rutherford’s Farm — one that lasted exactly four days.

“Sketch of the battle of Rutherford Farm, July 20th, 1864,” by Jedediah Hotchkiss. Library of Congress.

The Federals approach

Marching south toward Winchester along the Martinsburg Pike came Col. William Powell’s cavalry brigade, Col. Isaac H. Duval’s infantry brigade and two artillery batteries, all under Gen. William W. Averell — no more than 2,600 men in all. Around 11 a.m. they reached Stephenson’s Depot, some ten miles north of Winchester, and stopped to cook their midday meal. It was a brutally hot day, and one soldier of the 14th West Virginia Infantry later remembered that the hard pace wore the men out and many dropped from the heat.

Two Confederate cavalry brigades, under Gen. John C. Vaughn and Col. William L. Jackson — a second cousin of “Stonewall” Jackson — shadowed the column. Sometime before 2 p.m. Averell reached Locust Grove, John Henry Rutherford’s farm, a few miles north of town.

Ramseur takes the bait

Vaughn sent word to Ramseur that Union troops were closing in. Ramseur later claimed Vaughn had described them as a small force; Vaughn denied it. Either way, Ramseur marched out of the defenses to meet Averell, bringing about 3,500 men — more than his opponent. Vaughn dismounted his cavalry along a wooded rise facing the farm.

Averell deployed with cavalry on both flanks of Duval’s infantry: the 2nd and 3rd West Virginia Cavalry on the right, west of the pike, and the 1st West Virginia Cavalry on the left. Watching from the roof of the Carter barn, he could not see Ramseur’s three infantry brigades through the woods — only a skirmish line — so he ordered Duval forward. Duval saw no reason, he replied, why they shouldn’t be having supper in Winchester.

The Confederate line collapses

Ramseur advanced at an angle, leaving the left flank of his leftmost brigade — Gen. William G. Lewis’s North Carolinians — hanging in the air.

In the center, Confederate lines rose from the timber and tall grass and poured a deadly fire into the 9th West Virginia Infantry, stopping its attack cold. But on the Union right, the 2nd and 3rd West Virginia Cavalry swept around the Confederate flank, and the 14th West Virginia Infantry struck the 57th North Carolina with nearly point-blank fire. The 57th broke; so did the 54th North Carolina beside it; and with Duval pressing forward, the whole Confederate line began to give way.

Gen. Robert D. Lilley’s Virginia brigade tried to stand behind Lewis, but retreating North Carolinians streamed through its ranks. Lilley was shot while rallying his men — he was captured and lost his right arm to amputation. A soldier of the 52nd Virginia later wrote that he met Ramseur in the retreat, and the general was in tears. Ramseur later recalled:

“… for the first time in my life, I am deeply mortified at the conduct of troops under my command.”

Aftermath

Vaughn’s cavalry slowed the Union pursuit, and by late afternoon the fight was over. From her porch in Winchester, Mrs. Hugh Lee watched “the distressing scene” and was told by a Confederate soldier that “we had been whipped, that some of the men had behaved badly, and that [Ramseur] had blundered badly.” Early was not pleased: “What the hell did you let the Yankees run you for this evening?”

The Confederates lost about 200 killed and wounded and some 250 captured. Averell reported that he could not push his pursuit further without risking everything he had won, and held his ground until dark. He gave the credit to Duval, telling him he had never seen such heroism and calling the attack “the most gallant charge and complete victory over vastly superior numbers.”

The victory did not last. On July 24, 1864, Early struck back with his entire army at the Second Battle of Kernstown — and this time it was the Federals who ran.

The battlefield today

The battle is also called Stephenson’s Depot or the Battle of Carter’s Farm, after the farm a short way north along the pike. Most of the battlefield has been lost to development; the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation keeps a small interpretive area beside U.S. Route 11 in Winchester.

Sources

Based on "Battle of Rutherford’s Farm," National Park Service, from its series Great Alarm at the Capital; a work of the United States government in the public domain, with later soldiers’ recollections rewritten in hubnx’s own words. The source gives Union infantry losses as 36 killed, 185 wounded and six missing “for a total of 237,” which does not add up, so those figures are left out.