The Taylor Hotel Winchester VA

southern blue

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Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Location
Virginia
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Built by Bushrod Taylor in 1848 on the site of a previous establishment. General “Stonewall” Jackson used the building as his first headquarters in the fall of 1861 while commander of the Valley District. Following the First Battle of Kernstown in March, 1862 and the Third Battle of Winchester in September of 1864, the hotel was one of many buildings crowded with wounded. (visit Winchesterva.com) According to the notes I have this above sketch is of the 2nd Mississippi on their way to Bunker Hill.

Armies of both sides were constantly going up and down this street and not just marching. There were actual skirmishes fought there. After Antietam wounded soldiers were not just in buildings...they were laid out in the streets, up against the curbs so that it was hardly possible to walk outside. The streets were literally filled with wounded soldiers.


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People like to think that General Jackson's daughter was conceived here...and General Turner Ashby received his General Star in the lobby of this hotel one week before he was killed in action nearby Harrisonburg VA.

Kunstler and John Paul Strain have both featured it in their period artwork.

http://mortkunstler.com/product_images/920_2.jpg

http://www.johnpaulstrain.com/art/christmas-moon.htm



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This was taken a few years after the war. I'm not sure what the rubble in the street was...it may or may not be left over war damage. This picture was used in the Ken Burns Civil War documentary.

There is a scene from Gods and Generals showing the 'hotel'.

Over the years they 'tinkered' with the building. At one point they took the columns down and had a store on the first floor. I remember it was a McCorys and we did some of our Christmas shopping there. It didn't look like the recognizable Civil war landmark. It didn't look like much of anything to be honest. It sat vacant for a long time and then then the middle section collapsed completely in 2007.


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I don't know where the top picture came from. I believe the bottom one is from the Winchester Star. There was talk that the hotel was to be razed completely. Another CW landmark would be gone forever.

However through a lot of petitioning and community effort the Hotel was restored.

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Its now a restaurant. The Cajun Experience. They seem to re-purpose a lot of these historical buildings in Winchester but I suppose its better than tearing them down. Its located on the Loudon Street Mall aka as 'The Walking Mall'. You can't miss it.
 
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J. H. Sawyer, Company B, 18th Connecticut wrote in the National Tribune: As of 13 June 1863, the Taylor House was used as a general hospital (Union), and received wounded from the fight there. I stayed in a room on the second floor, to the rear. Several cots were in this room. My room was located in the rear of a wing that extended at right angles to the front of the building. Directly opposite the door was a flight of outside stairs leading down into a small yard enclosed with some sheds and a board fence. An opening in this fence, near the foot of the stairs, led into open lots. Beyond these lots was a street of scattered houses. On 15 June, a battle was in progress and the Rebels took the town. The walking wounded and the sick were evacuated on 16 June. I passed a public building thought to be the Courthouse, and was marched to a pen north of town. I then marched to Staunton with about 1,500 others on 17 June.

Elisha Hunt Rhodes, All for the Union, wrote: 20-23 September 1864 – The Taylor House and the Virginia House, the two principal hotels, are used as hospitals and are full of wounded, while the churches as well as the private houses are put to the same use. My regiment is camped on Kent Street, one of the main streets of the city. From a house near I have borrowed some chairs, tables, etc. and have a very comfortable headquarters. The main street is Loudon Street, while Kent, Market, and Braddock Street run parallel with it. The cross streets are Cork, Water, Piccadilly, etc.

Laura V. Hale, in Four Valiant Years in the Lower Shenandoah Valley: An old storeroom nearly opposite the Taylor Hotel was used to feed Union prisoners.
 
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