Battle of Guard Hill

Coordinates: 38°57′11″N 78°12′0.5″W / 38.95306°N 78.200139°W / 38.95306; -78.200139

Battle of Guard Hill
Part of the American Civil War
Date August 16, 1864 (1864-08-16) Location Warren County, Virginia Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Thomas C. Devin	William Wofford
Strength
Brigades	Brigades
Casualties and losses
71	480

The Battle of Guard Hill or Battle of Crooked Run took place on August 16, 1864, in Warren County, Virginia as part of Philip H. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of the American Civil War. According to Pachan, the Union's superior numbers and quality leadership routed the Confederate infantry, and the battle proved a watershed event in the Shenandoah Valley campaign.^[1]

On the morning of August 16, Confederate troopers scattered the Federal pickets at the Shenandoah River crossing at Front Royal. The troopers pursued them down the Front Royal Pike, eventually coming to Guard Hill, a prominent landmark. There, they were hit by Union Brig. Gen. Thomas C. Devin's dismounted cavalry brigade and sustained heavy losses. Confederate Brig. Gen. William T. Wofford's brigade attempted a flanking movement by wading across Crooked Run. There, they were attacked by two New York brigades, who took 300 of them captive. Union Brig. Gen. George A. Custer's Michigan Brigade rode toward the battle and sustained Devin's line along Crooked Run until they were forced to withdraw to Cedarville by Confederate artillery now on Guard Hill.^[2]

References

Further Reading

• Kennedy, Frances H., ed., The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
• Patchan, Scott C. "The Battle of Crooked Run: George Custer's Opening Act in the Shenandoah Valley," North & South: The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, (Dec 2008), 11#2 pp 76–82

External Links

• National Park Service battle summary
• CWSAC Report Update