Stonewall Jackson had succeeded in meeting the primary objective of his 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. His victories over Major General Nathaniel Banks in the Battles of First Winchester and Front Royal had resulted in Lincoln ordering Major General John Frémont‘s Mountain Department in the Alleghenies and Major General Irvin McDowell’s Department of the Rappahannock near Fredericksburg to the valley. As a result, these men would be unavailable to reinforce George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac outside Richmond. Of McDowell’s Department the first men to head west were Brigadier General Nathan Kimball’s Brigade of Brigadier General James Shields’ Division on May 26th. Two days later Kimball and his men were in Rectortown, 18 miles east of Front Royal, where they rested and awaited resupply. On the afternoon of the 29th he was ordered to advance via an overnight march to Front Royal. Kimball was near Front Royal on the morning of the following day, his men having marched 95 miles in only four days.

A small Confederate force guarded Front Royal where Jackson had left about $300,000 worth of supplies that were confiscated from Banks, some Federal prisoners of war, and his own sick and wounded. These were guarded by the 12th GA infantry commanded by Colonel Zephaniah Connor of Brigadier General Arnold Elzey’s Brigade. The brigade of 400 men was under-manned after suffering 182 casualties at the Battle of McDowell on Sitlington Hill a few weeks earlier. In addition, Connor would have 2 guns from Captain William Rice’s Virginia Battery and some cavalry. Connor having received intelligence that a sizeable Union force was approaching put his wagons in motion followed by his men on the morning of the 30th heading north on the Fort Royal-Winchester Pike, see the map below. Before leaving they set fire to the depot and Banks’ supplies.

Shield’s Chief of Artillery, Colonel Philip Daum, opened fire on the town from Chester Gap around noon which served no purpose other than to hasten Connor’s retreat. Kimball and his men entered the town from the southeast while Connor was fleeing to the north. As the 12th GA crossed the bridge on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River they attempted to fire it. Union cavalry commanded by Major David Nelson from Company M of the 1st NH Battalion of the 1st RI Cavalry extinguished the flames and saved the bridge. As the Georgians attempted to cross the next bridge over the North Fork of the river, they were impeded by their own cavalry who crashed into them as they fled in panic. The NH cavalrymen charged them on the peninsula between the two bridges where 8 Federals were killed including Captain William Ainsworth (hit by seven bullets) and 10 wounded. The Confederates crossed the second bridge and regrouped on Guard Hill. They would do so without their commander Colonel Conner who fled on horseback toward Winchester. Connor’s second in command, Major Willis Hawkins, ordered his men to surrender but the majority of them refused. They continued north under Captain William Brown to Cedarville where they scattered in multiple different directions. Kimball and his men captured 128 men from the 12th GA, 30 of the Confederate sick and wounded, eight wagons and a cannon. Twenty Union prisoners of war were recovered. After the incident Jackson placed both Colonel Connor and Major Hawkins under arrest.

Next- The Action at Harrisonburg

Sources

The Luray Valley Campaign of 1862- The Road to Port Republic by Gary Ecelbarger. Volume XXVIII, Issue 2, 2011.

Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign Shenandoah 1862 by Peter Cozzens