Tour of The Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley

Begin the Tour

Middle Valley

Continuing south on US 11, the Stonewall Jackson Museum at Hupp's Hill retains its original battle trenches, and, at Strasburg, a train station museum tells the story of how the Confederate general stole Yankee locomotives. Nearby, at Fisher's Hill, a 195-acre tract of preserved battlefield recalls a Confederate defeat in September 1864. The rout continued in October at Tom's Brook, where a county park interprets the battle.

The old courthouse at Woodstock saw the tramping back and forth of thousands of soldiers from sides many of whom sought shelter within its think stone walls while Stonewall Jackson made his headquarters next door in lawyer’s row. A few miles south lies the old log home, now a bed and breakfast, where Jackson called Jed Hotchkiss and made his famous request, ”Make Me a Map of the Valley”.

Mt. Jackson and Rude's Hill offer interpreted sites that recall events of both 1862 and 1864. But of all the Shenandoah Valley's war-haunted locations, the most compelling is probably New Market. On a hillside here in 1864, the young cadets of Virginia Military Institute (VMI) charged into battle and helped win one of the last great Southern victories. Much of the battlefield is permanently preserved in a 280-acre state historical park, where Bushong Farm beckons the visitors to contemplative walks past the Field of Lost Shoes - where the muddy acreage hindered soldiers from both sides - and along the limestone-cliffed Shenandoah River. The site's excellent museum, The Hall of Valor, covers not just the Battle of New Market, but the entire war. Additional information and collections of artifacts are available at the nearby Museum of American Cavalry and the New Market Battlefield Military Museum.

To the east on US 211 near Luray, where the famous caverns were discovered after the war, Confederate cavalry hero Turner Ashby burned White House Bridge as a prelude to the 1862 battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic. Those clashes occurred east of US 11, on country roads between Harrisonburg and Staunton. Between Harrisonburg and Port Republic lies Chestnut Ridge where General Ashby was killed. Today, these battlefields are little changed. In Port Republic stands the house, now with interpretive displays, where the dashing Ashby lay in state after his death in battle. Just outside of Harrisonburg in the town of Dayton, known best for its large Mennonite population, the Shenandoah Valley Folk Art and Heritage Center reveals an electronic map outlining the 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

Lower Valley
Front Royal
Upper Valley