Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign: Fort Edward Johnson

James N.

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Named in honor of the commander of the remnant of the Confederate Army of the Northwest, Brig. Gen. Edward Johnson, this earthwork fort played a role in Stonewall Jackson's march on the village of McDowell, Virginia, in April and May of 1862. Construction of the fort and earthworks began under extreme late winter conditions in early April amid snows, sleet, and freezing temperatures. The frozen ground was especially hard to work with the few tools available, and camping here for the workers on the steep mountainside was appalling.

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Brig. Gen. Edward "Old Allegheny" Johnson, commander of the position here.

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Today the remains of trenches are readily visible atop the mountain ridge in the George Washington National Forest. Administered by the U. S. Forest Service as Confederate Breastworks the trenches can be visited on a half-mile loop trail beginning in the parking area along U. S. 250, the old Parkersburg - Staunton Turnpike.

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The view above is looking west toward the town of McDowell, still many miles away. There was no action here until late April when Federal forces under Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy led the advance of Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont's army to the towns of Monterrey and McDowell. Fremont's main body was spread along mountain roads to the north, but Milroy's threat caused Ed "Allegheny" Johnson to pull his force numbering fewer than 3,000 men back to the east toward Staunton where he met Jackson's Valley Army of some 6,000 coming to his aid.

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This short section of the trenches has been fully restored and is used by local Confederate reenactors in living history programs. Before Jackson and Johnson returned, the position here was briefly occupied by Milroy's advance guard. A short, sharp skirmish ensued and the Federals withdrew to McDowell and Milroy's main camp along Bullpasture Creek at the base of Sitlington's Hill.

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Johnson's small force was in the lead of Jackson's now enlarged army of 9,000 men and quickly bypassed their old defenses here, pressing on to defeat Milroy and Brig. Gen. Robert Schenck in the Battle of McDowell, fought May 8, 1862, the first of the string of Confederate victories in Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Below, the trenches were never used again but remain as mute witnesses to what happened here.

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Prior to the war, My ancestor was one of the first to settle in the area and owned property there on Crab Run next to Peter Hull's place. They sold out and moved on to Tennessee about 1815. Beautiful area, thanks for the pictures. Must go there someday.
 
I had to go out that way on business a few years ago, and on the way back my partner and I stumbled on this place. I had never heard of it and we spent a fun hour there. (I was lucky in the partner for that project -- we had gone out shooting his Sharps and Burnside carbines a few weeks before.)
 
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