The Second Battle of Kernstown, on July 24, 1864, was the last significant Confederate victory in the Shenandoah Valley. It was the latest in a string of Federal setbacks that summer — and it pushed Ulysses S. Grant to hand the Valley to the aggressive Philip Sheridan.
The Pritchard House on the Kernstown battlefield. Photo by the National Park Service
A Federal army thinned out
After the Battle of Rutherford's Farm on July 20, Union Gen. Horatio Wright concluded that Jubal Early's Confederates were "in full retreat toward Richmond" and sent the 6th and 19th Corps out of the Valley to join the sieges of Richmond and Petersburg. That left Gen. George Crook's 8th Corps — about 13,000 veteran infantry, cavalry and artillery.
Prisoners told Early of the withdrawal. With about 16,000 men, and orders from Robert E. Lee to keep as many Federals in the Valley as possible, he attacked.
The lines
| Federal (Crook) | Position |
|---|---|
| Col. Joseph Thoburn's division | Sandy Ridge, the right |
| Col. James Mulligan's small division, with 10-pounder Parrott rifles reaching 1.2 miles | Pritchard's Hill, the center |
| Col. Jacob Higgins's cavalry | the lower ground east of the Valley Pike — little else held it |
Early's army set out north on the Valley Turnpike at about 4 a.m., led by Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's division — including remnants of the famed Stonewall Brigade — with the divisions of Brig. Gen. Gabriel Wharton, Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur and Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes behind, and cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Vaughn screening.
The fight
- 8 a.m.: skirmishing begins south of Kernstown. For over two hours Mulligan's men and dismounted cavalry trade fire with Confederate horsemen and infantry.
- Confederates infiltrate: knowing the ground, they creep up ravines and behind ridges; Gordon's sharpshooters, some with 1,000-yard Whitworth rifles, drive Federals back to the stone wall before Pritchard's Hill.
- About 11:30 a.m.: Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge deploys Wharton's division east of the Pike, against the weak Federal left. Crook sends Col. Rutherford B. Hayes's brigade to help.
- The key move: Crook, not seeing Wharton's hidden division, orders an advance, with Hayes wheeling west to flank Gordon. Breckinridge leads Wharton forward through ravines to strike Hayes.
- About 1 p.m.: the Confederate line stretches about four miles, closing around both Federal flanks, with Rodes and 12 guns arriving and cavalry circling toward Crook's rear.
Despite reports of Confederates on both flanks, Mulligan and Hayes attacked around 3 p.m. — "my orders are to attack whatever is in front," Mulligan said; "I will move when you do," Hayes replied.
Collapse
Thoburn's thin line stalled against Ramseur. Hayes's brigade marched straight past Wharton's concealed men, who poured a flanking volley into it, followed by canister from Maj. William McLaughlin's guns. "We were cut down by the score," a Federal officer wrote. The Upshur Battery's Parrotts and a charge by Brig. Gen. Alfred Duffie's cavalry into Wharton's flank let many Federals escape.
Mulligan, in his green battle shirt, rode his crumbling line; his 23rd Illinois, some armed with 16-shot Henry repeating rifles, held until, as one soldier put it, "though we shot them down, they still came on." Ordering a retreat, Mulligan was hit three times and died two days later in Confederate hands. By about 4 p.m., Hayes and other officers were covering the retreat; Duffie's cavalry saved the ambulance train. After a panicked wagon stampede through Winchester, Crook's army crossed the Potomac into Maryland on July 26.
"I was attacked by a large force of the enemy near Winchester. I repulsed their force twice and was driving them when they partially turned my left and threw it in some confusion. At the same time, a heavy column was moving around my right, and I gave the order to fall back…"
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— Maj. Gen. George Crook
What followed
Losses were modest — about 300 Confederate and 1,200 Federal — but the fighting was furious and the consequences large. Emboldened, Early sent Brig. Gen. John McCausland's cavalry to burn Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on July 30. And Grant put Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan in command of a rebuilt Army of the Shenandoah.
Sources
Based on "Second Battle of Kernstown," from the series Great Alarm at the Capital, Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park, National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Quotations are from 1864 accounts.
In these publicationsCedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical ParkGreat Alarm at the Capital
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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