Welcome to my blog
on the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. My name is Scott Patchan and I have studied this topic in intricate detail for nearly twenty-five years. Over the course of that time, I have written three books on the topic, The Forgotten Fury: The Battle of Piedmont; Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign; and Opequon Creek: The Last Battle of Winchester. Additionaly, I have written a book titled Second Manassas: Longstreet’s Attack and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge which will be published by Potomac Books, formerly known as Brassey’s later this year. I also served as an historical consultant and writer for Time-Life’s Voices of the Civil War: Shenandoah 1864 . I have written dozens of articles and led dozens of tours on Valley Topics, not to mention my scores of visits to Valley battlefields. I have serve on the Kernstown Battlefield Association Board of Directors and am a member of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation’s Resource Protection Committee.
This blog will focus primarily on the 1864 Valley Campaign but will include other topics from time to time, including the “other” Valley Campaign, the Second Manassas Campaign, the Atlanta Campaign and other items that may be of interest to readers. With the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War upon us, expect to see plenty of original first person accounts of a wide variety as I attempt to share the large volume of research material that I have amassed over the years.
Now Out – My Revised work on the Battle of Piedmont:
Hi, Scott. My name is Mike Weeks, and I recently came out with my first book, The Complete Civil War Road Trip Guide.
I visited almost 450 sites researching the book, and devoted an entire chapter to the Valley. I just wanted to tell you that the Kernstown site and the staff made a permanent positive impression on me. Anytime anyone asks me about visiting the Valley, I mention the Winchester/Opequon sites, but I always tell them that Kernstown is the must-see. Keep up the great work out there!
Thanks Mike.
Donna and Gary Crawford deserve the lion’s share of the credit for the wonderful interpretative programs and displays that KBA has to offer. The entire KBA project is a labor of love and it is especially evident with Donna and the work she has done on the visitor’s center.
Glad I came across your new blog. I look forward to following. You have a very impressive bio. I may be in touch in the future as I write a chapter regarding the Shendandoah Valley in my book, OSGOOD A True Civil War Story of Love & Courage, based upon my great-great grandfather’s Civil War letters. All the best to you!
Thanks Sarah.
Let me know if I can assist with your project. What regiment and what battles was GG-Gtather in?
Hi Scott, We met a number of years ago at a battlefield tour you did for 2nd Kernstown. Remember the thunderstorm as we headed up Pritchards Hill? Love your blog and will check it out each month. By the way, Shenendoah Summer is great book! Thanks!
Yes – those darks skies and the bolts of lightning are probably as close to the sounds of battle that Kernstown has been since the war ended.
Hi Scott, Just found out about your site through CWPT. Looking forward to more upcoming posts. Terry
Dear Scott,
I believe that Gen. David Hunter’s troops may have burned the library at Washington (and Lee)College. I believe he burned houses if guerrillas were related in some manner to the house. Can you confirm if they did burn the library and tell me why? Certainly, such an act would violate the Lieber Code dealing with educational institutions. VMI is a little more complicated since it was a military as well as educational facility. The participation of VMI cadets at New Market seems to have clearly placed it in the military facility category. General Gordon of the Ga infantry, in his memoirs, argued that a lot of educational places (Harvard to Yale) supplied soldiers so should they be burned? I ran across a letter in 1862 in which David Hunter, located on the SC coast, instructs a Col. to comply with the Lieber Code. He seemed to want to go by the laws of war at that time, but I know the war became more and more bitter.
Besides my question about the Washington College library, I wonder what you think of an observation I ran across in one of my readings that, in the Valley, Jubal Early accomplished a lot more with less resources that Jackson had in his earlier campaign.
Sincerely,
Conway Henderson
PS: I’m going to put your fine blog in my favorites list.
Sorry I have not replied sooner. Been a very busy summer and fall and I am just getting back to the blog now that the cooler weather is setting in. Hunter’s men looted the library at Washington College. I do not believe it was burned. VMI is a military facility. Its troops had fought against Hunter’s army a few weeks earlier and McCausland had artillery posted there when he was resisting Hunter’s advance.
Early accomplished a lot. His campaign was much longer and more extended. However, it did not have to end the way it did with his force virtually destroyed. Stonewall Jackson never would have tried to go toe to toe with Sheridan in the Lower Valley as Early did at Third Winchester. There is a comparative moment. After 1st Winchester, Jackson was nearing Harper’s Ferry when he learned that the large forces of Fremont and McDowell were entering the Valley. He turned around and raced back up the Valley. Instead of fighting the large force in the open ranges of the Lower Valley near Winchester, he pulled them down farther south and won the battles of Port Republic and Cross Keys. Early in the face of long odds took half his army to Martinsburg and only by luck and poor planning by Sheridan did his force survive the Third Battle of Winchester. Early was a belligerent general while Jackson was more of a strategist. Unfortunately, the damage Early’s actions caused his army outweigh the gains he might have made. Imagine if instead of losing 5,000 men in the course of three days at Winchester and Fisher’s Hill, he fell back up the valley and then struck back at him when conditions were more opportune. At the very least, he could have held the gaps and frustrated and embarrassed Sheridan and Grant.
Dear Mr. Patchan,
I am thoroughly enjoying your vast knowledge and look forward to your next book and more blogs.
Mr. Patchan:
I have a Confederate ancestor who was wounded at the Battle of Piedmont and then taken prisoner. He ended up at Camp Morton. I’d like to have a copy of your book on the battle. Do you know where I might be able to acquire one?
Thanks.
Richard, I have significantly rewritten it and hope to have it out next spring. I will post updates on the Shenandoah1864. Keep checking back, I’ll be posting more now that the “inside” weather is upon us. What regiment was your ancestor with? I could guess 45th VA based on the odds…
Thanks for reading.
Scott
Great – can’t wait to read it! Our local library has a copy of the first edition, so maybe I’ll check that out for now.
Actually, he was in the 60th Virginia – John Meredith Crutchfield. Wounded, taken to Camp Morton in Indiana, then transferred to Chimborazo Hospital in a prisoner exchange early in ’65. He died there w/out his widow ever knowing what had happened to him. For years, the family heard rumors – he deserted, ran off w/another woman, changed his allegiance and fought for the Union, etc, etc. I don’t really know why they never found out until very recently. A few years ago, I wrote a piece for the Washington Times’ old Civil War column telling this story and a fellow SCV member (who was working on cataloging names of Confederates buried in Oakwood Cemetery) read the piece and emailed me that my great-great grandfather was buried at Oakwood in a common grave with 2 (?) other soldiers.
We’re still waiting on VA approval for a new headstone.
Thanks again.
Scott – a couple of follow up questions about the Battle of Piedmont, if you have time. Do you know what type of artillery guns each side was using during this battle and what types of shells they were firing? I recently found a shell fragment near the battle site and was just curious. Someone told me it could be a Parrot or a Hotchkiss.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Richard,
The Union had 20 three inch rifles and four Napoleons. The Confederates had a wide variety that included three inch rifles, 10 pounder and 20 pounder parrots, several howitzers. I can’t recall what else they had off hand. Where did you find the shell fragment at?
Hi Scott -
Thanks for starting the blog and glad to hear that you’ll be re-releasing The Forgotten Fury. The only copy I’ve been able to locate is in the rare books room of the Alexandria, VA library on Queen Street – and they don’t let it out of their sight.
About 5 years ago, we purchased a house on Rockfish Road in Mt. Meridian (which I have nicknamed ‘Imboden’s Retreat’) and have been searching the Internet for information about the Battle of Piedmont. The house is located across the road from the old Mt. Meridian school house and about a half-a-mile from the Jackson Prayer Tree and what we believe to have been the Givens Farm. There must have been quite a bit of excitement there the morning of June 5 during the cavalry give and take along the road.
Since then we’ve gotten to know some of the residents whose houses figured prominently during the battle.
We’ve been contemplating trying to organize a progressive dinner along the route of the engagement to commemorate the battle. Have you heard of anything that’s in the works for 2014 and do you think you might be interested in participating and sharing your insights about the events of June 5, 1864?
Thanks and we really appreciate all the work you’ve done to provide this battle the recognition it justly deserves.
Bob
Hi Scott. I am about to visit Manassas for the first time in about 3 weeks. I am really looking forward to your book and disappoineted that it won’t be out before my visit. If possible, could you send me an email? I would love to ask you a few questions regarding your book and the involvement of some particular units at 2nd Manassas. Thank you!
We are so glad you have started this blog and that we found it. We have four brothers, numerous cousins and future inlaws in the 60th Va. We are looking for as much info on the Battle of Piedmont, as we have a 3rd gr uncle who was supposedly wounded and then taken to Staunton Gen Hosp and then died of his wounds. His compiled service records have his name spelled wrong several times (each time it is different) then on another card with a wrong name, of course, has his birth county as Greene Co and he was born in Monroe Va (now WV). So I need as much guidance as possible. We want to be on or near the battlefield June 5, 2011. If anyone has any info….. Thanks
If you are looking for detailed information about the Battle of Piedmont, you won’t do any better than Scott’s book. I’m about 2/3 of the way through it and it is well-written and does a great job of explaining troop movements, etc. Highly recommended.
Hi Scott ! We are trying to solve a mystery at Mt. Jackson on October 3, 1864. Robert Monahan was in Co. G. of the 14th Pa Cavalry. A detachment of the 14th was at Mt. Jackson on Oct. 3. Pension records indicate that Monahan was captured there and paroled on 12/31/64 at Annapolis, Md. The Website “CivilWarReference.com states: “The detachment, numbering 150 men and commanded by Capt. Jackson, was on picket duty at the bridge over the Shenandoah river near Mt. Jackson. About 4.m. the post was surprised by the 7th Va cavalry, 6 men were wounded, Jackson and 43 men, reported that night to Col. Edwrds in Winchester, some of the rest came in later, and some were never heard of.” The McNeill’s Last Charge Marker on U.S. 11 states: “In the predawn darkness of 3 Oct. 1864, Capt. John Hanson McNeill led thirty of his Partisan Rangers…against a hundred man detachment of the 8th Ohio Cavalry Regiment that was guarding the Meems Bottom Bridge on the Valley Turnpike. The attack ended in fifteen minuites with most of the guard captured and Mc Neill…mortally wounded.” Are there two bridges? Was there a coordinated attack? Did the 7th Va Cavalry and McNeill’s Rangers attack the 14th Pa and the 8th Ohio detachments at one bridge? Lastly, are there prison records of Monahan’s detention? Was there a release point at Annapolis? Please point me in the right direction to haep solve this mystery of the bridge, capture and detention. Thank you for your work! I just bought “Shenandoah Summer” and can’t wait to read it.
Brian M. Monahan
Easton, PA
Hi Scott ! We are trying to solve a mystery at Mt. Jackson on October 3, 1864. Robert Monahan was in Co. G. of the 14th Pa Cavalry. A detachment of the 14th was at Mt. Jackson on Oct. 3. Pension records indicate that Monahan was captured there and paroled on 12/31/64 at Annapolis, Md. The Website “CivilWarReference.com states: “The detachment, numbering 150 men and commanded by Capt. Jackson, was on picket duty at the bridge over the Shenandoah river near Mt. Jackson. About 4.m. the post was surprised by the 7th Va cavalry, 6 men were wounded, Jackson and 43 men, reported that night to Col. Edwards in Winchester, some of the rest came in later, and some were never heard of.” The McNeill’s Last Charge Marker on U.S. 11 states: “In the predawn darkness of 3 Oct. 1864, Capt. John Hanson McNeill led thirty of his Partisan Rangers…against a hundred man detachment of the 8th Ohio Cavalry Regiment that was guarding the Meems Bottom Bridge on the Valley Turnpike. The attack ended in fifteen minuites with most of the guard captured and Mc Neill…mortally wounded.” Are there two bridges? Was there a coordinated attack? Did the 7th Va Cavalry and McNeill’s Rangers attack the 14th Pa and the 8th Ohio detachments at one bridge? Lastly, are there prison records of Monahan’s detention? Was there a release point at Annapolis? Please point me in the right direction to help solve this mystery of the bridge, capture and detention. Thank you for your work! I just bought “Shenandoah Summer” and can’t wait to read it.
Brian M. Monahan
Easton, PA
Scott:
I’m reading hyour CWRT article on the Second Battle of Kernstown. Some years ago, the Civil War Round Table of Wilmington took a field trip to Winchester. Our guide knew absolutely nothing about Second Kernstown–since I had covered the battle in my Tibbets’ Boys 1997 regimental history of the 21sr New York Cavalry, I was his assistant for the talk on second Kernstown near the monument west oif U.S. 11.
Most of the battlefield has been lost to post World War II development.
Tom Reed
New Castle, DE
Scott,
Enjoyed reading your books “The Battle of Piedmont and Hunter’s Raid on Staunton” and “Shenandoah Summer”. Await revision of Forgotten Fury.
My great-great uncle was Pvt. John Delaney, Company A, 18th Connecticut Volunteers (Infantry) killed by small arms fire as he retreated across the Shenandoah River, July 18, 1864. I have no photo of him, but have stories of his death that came down from my grandmother, which are consistent with the action you described. Pvt. Delaney is buried in the Catholic cemetery in Lisbon, Connecticut.
Bill Gauthier
Trumbull, Connecticut
Hi Scott,
I am preparing a film entitled YANKEE RAIDERS: SECURING THE NEW STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA. The project looks at steps the Confederates took to disrupt, and the Union to control the territory that would become WV.. While your focus is seems generally eastward, I wonder if you would be willing to be interviewed for the production. Please write!