Stonewall Jackson's First Battle in the Shenandoah: Falling Waters, July 2, 1861

James N.

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The waterfall seen here was before and during the Civil War a well-known feature occurring on the north shore of the Potomac River in Western (now West) Virginia that marked the site of an important ford. Also known as the Battle of Hoke's Run in the North, Falling Waters gave its name to the South for one of the first "battles" - a skirmish, really - of the war and the first to be commanded on the Southern side by an eccentric professor from the Virginia Military Institute, Col. Thomas J. Jackson, newly-appointed to lead a brigade of Virginia Volunteer regiments.

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In Spring, 1861, Jackson held department command in the extreme north of the state, separated from neighboring Maryland by the Potomac River and stretching from Harpers Ferry westward north of Martinsburg. He was superseded in his post by another Virginian, Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, retaining command of his brigade of fewer than 4,000 men, which took post just north of Martinsburg at Camp Stephens. This part of Maryland had already been occupied by Northern troops from Pennsylvania and states from the Old Northwest led by Pennsylvania militia General Robert Patterson, like Federal Commanding General Winfield Scott, a veteran of both the War of 1812 and Mexico. Patterson had retired from the Regular Army but returned to the colors when war broke out.

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Patterson's orders were to use his 18,000 men to prevent the 11,000 now led by Johnston from reinforcing Brig. Gen. Pierre G. T. Beauregard at Manassas Junction near the Federal Capital. In the early morning hours of July 2, 1861, his men began to cross the Potomac at the ford near the mouth of the creek above, only yards from the waterfall. Unopposed, they soon approached the nearby village of Falling Waters. Meanwhile, Jackson learned of the crossing and set out with only the 5th Virginia and the four-gun Rockbridge Artillery of his brigade; the 2nd and 4th Virginia were left with orders to stand ready if called, and the 27th Virginia was set to loading baggage into wagons in case it became necessary to retreat.Jackson also took along some of the 1st Virginia Cavalry under their Lt. Col. James E. B. Stuart to cover his flank as he advanced.

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Leaving three of Capt. William N. Pendleton's guns a short distance in the rear, Jackson continued on with 350 men of the 5th and a single cannon. Two companies were placed in and around the house and barn of local Unionist William Porterfield, above, which stands on the Valley Turnpike, now U.S. 11 a few miles south of the Potomac crossing site. Patterson's leading brigade, under his son-in-law J. J. Abercrombie, advanced cautiously, grossly overestimating Jackson's force at ten times its actual number. Jackson was under orders from the equally cautious Joe Johnston not to bring on a general engagement, so withdrew after about an hour's fighting, most of it at long range. Jackson had followed his instructions to determine the size of the enemy force, falling back on his main body at Camp Stephens which he then abandoned for a position south of Martinsburg where he was joined by Johnston and the rest of his army. Casualty figures vary from a couple of dozen to as many as a hundred or so for each side, but between those numbers is likely.

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Meanwhile, Stuart, while covering Jackson's left flank, had managed to capture a fifty-man company of Indiana infantry by himself; his blue Regular Army uniform confused them until it was too late! To his everlasting calumny, Patterson did not pursue the retreating Jackson past Camp Stephens, which he reached the same afternoon. He seems to have felt he had done all he could, and that it was enough to pin the Confederates in place. Johnston waited until July 8 for the attack which never came, then withdrew nearer Winchester; a little more than a week later, behind a screen of Stuart's cavalry, Johnston left the Valley to succor Beauregard at Manassas where together they won the first real battle of the Civil War.

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This marker beside U.S. 11 commemorates one of the legends that sprung up around the future "Stonewall" Jackson. According to Corporal William Brown of the Rockbridge Artillery,

Seating himself on a large, loose, round stone on the north side of the road, he commenced to write... A shot from a Federal battery struck centrally, ten feet from the ground, a large white oak that stood in the fence corner close to Jackson and knocked a mass of bark, splinters and trash all over him and the paper on which he was writing. He brushed away the trash with the back of his hand, finished the dispatch without a sign that he knew anything unusual was going on, folded it, handed it to the courier and dismissed him courteously: "Carry this to General Johnston with my compliments, and see that you lose no time on the way."

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Calm Under Fire
by Mark Churms depicts an alternate version of this incident showing Jackson and his staff members mounted; copy of print available from the Falling Waters Battlefield Association: http://www.battleoffallingwaters.com/calmunderfire.htm
 
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Excellent thread and photos OP. This battlefield is literally just down the road from us. Unfortunately, the actual ground has been extensively developed over the last ten-twelve years with several new housing sub-divisions and a Super-Walmart complex going up in 2007, despite the best preservation efforts of the battlefield association. The association has placed several historical placards in the parking lot of the Sheetz Convenience Store which sits directly on the intersection of Rt 11 (the Valley Turnpike), and Hammond's Mill Rd. The site of the Jackson incident and monument is approximately a 1/2 kilometer further south down Rt 11 (look for the small flagpole flying the First National Confederacy flag and the West Virginia flag on the east side of the road). The Spring Mills Exit # 20 of Interstate 81 provides direct access to the road junction.

Stumpy's Hollow (the site of the incident where Stuart captured the 15th Pennsylvania men), is approximately a 1/2 kilometer west of the Spring Mills Exit #20 Interstate 81 and sits directly off of Hammond's Mill Rd. The battlefield association installed a new placard around 2008, and recreated a segment of the split rail fence about five years ago.

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http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=45596


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http://www.battleoffallingwaters.com/map.htm


This is my favorite period illustration of the engagement, because it displays the Porterfield Barn burning in the distance. The picture was from the London Times, and demonstrates the heightened involvement and hunger of the European Press regarding the civil war in America. Looking at the grand picture, a viewer might think they were observing a second Waterloo rather than a 30 minute skirmish.
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http://www.battleoffallingwaters.com/newbattle.htm
 
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We are neighbors...sort of. :wink: I live across the line south of you. I have friends who live in Falling Waters.

Speaking of General Pettigrew....we used to pass this monument on the way to Harper's Ferry and for a long time had no idea what it was. I just knew it was something 'Civil War related. Its a monument to General Pettigrew.

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The name of the house where he died is called "Edgewood'. You can see it easily from Route 11. It is now a Bed and Breakfast.

http://www.innsnorthamerica.com/wv/Edgewood.htm

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Since this thread is discussing Jackson's activities in my backyard, allow me to include this relevant information. Continuing west on Hammond's Mill Rd. from Stumpy's Hollow for several kilometers toward Hedgesville, a large brick mansion can be seen on the north side of the road, directly opposite the Falling Waters Presbyterian Church. The house and grounds have an extensive historical relevance in their own right, as they were frequently used by Union forces as a hospital, and were the location from which Confederate General John McCausland's July 1864 cavalry raid on Chambersburg, Pennsylvania was launched. Confederate General T.J. Jackson utilized the mansion during the 1862 Antietam Campaign.

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http://www.hmdb.org/Marker.asp?Marker=72164

According to local lore the site was also the scene of a civil war atrocity, which was the result of the occasional habit of the Confederate sympathizing ladies of the Hammond household sniping at passing federal troops. According to legend, after one such incident, the Union troops captured the women and locked them up in the wooden slave quarters behind the house. At some point an order was given to burn the structure and it was put to the torch, condemning its female inhabitants to a gruesome end. After years of searching, I can find little corroboration for the story, but that doesn't mean it did not happen. The 1864 Confederate raid was in direct response to the Union burning of southern sympathizers homes and property in the Shenandoah Valley.
 
The Falling Waters Battlefield Association fought a protracted, doomed legal battle trying to save the land from further development for several years, but the location was prime for interstate access and Walmart/the developers wanted it. The FWBA were successful in saving the Porterfield house from the wrecking ball, but I am not sure of its current ownership or status. The Rt. 11 Valley Turnpike was the main conduit for troops of both armies heading north and south in this area. The actual Falling Waters fording site is interesting, the Maryland side of the river is essentially a cornfield.

Another possible tie between T. J. Jackson and the influential Hammond family was that their eldest son George Hammond was a VMI graduate, and was wounded while serving with the Martinsburg Militia during John Brown's raid of Harpers Ferry in 1859.

Here is a picture of the homespun Virginia Confederate flag of an unknown unit which was seized by the advancing First Wisconsin troops when they overran the rebel's hastily deserted bivouac area at Hokes Run. It is currently housed in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum:
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http://www.wisconsinbattleflags.com/units-flags/captured-confederate-flags.php
 
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