Engagement at Great Cacapon

Engagement at Great Cacapon (HM13SQ)

Location: Berkeley Springs, WV 25411 Morgan County
Buy West Virginia State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 39° 37.356', W 78° 15.576'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 1082 views
Inscription

Struggle in the Snow

— Jackson's Bath-Romney Campaign —

(Preface): On January 1, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson led four brigades west from Winchester, Va., to secure Romney in the fertile South Branch Valley on the North Western Turnpike. He attacked and occupied Bath on January 4 and shelled Hancock, Md.; he marched into Romney on January 14. Despite atrocious winter weather, Jackson's men destroyed telegraph lines and 100 miles of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad track. Leaving Gen. William W. Loring's brigades in Romney, Jackson led the Stonewall Brigade back to Winchester on January 23. Loring followed on January 31, and the Federals reoccupied Romney on February 7.

Before you is the village of Great Cacapon. After driving off the Federal garrison in Bath (present day Berkeley Springs) on January 4, 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson sought to tear up the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, including the heavy timber railroad bridge over the Cacapon River. Jackson dispatched Col. Albert Rust to tend to it.

That evening, Capt. William B. Slaughter's Co. G, 39th Illinois Infantry, guarded the bridge. Shortly after dark, part of Co. E arrived as well as the 13th Indiana Infantry, brought by train from Sir Johns Run (down the Potomac River to your right). Slaughter spread his men out along the western (far) bank of the Cacapon River from the bridge to a ford down-stream, as the Indiana men prepared to get off the train to cook dinner.

Just then, Rust led 600 men of the 3rd Arkansas and 37th Virginia Infantry regiments, with two cannons, down this mountain. The Arkansas men attacked the bridge while the Virginians struck the ford. Exploding shells frightened the train engineer, who immediately steamed upriver toward Cumberland, taking the Indiana regiment with him. Alone and outnumbered, the two Illinois companies held their ground, and the Confederates slowly withdrew. When fighting stopped, Slaughter ordered a retreat across the Potomac into Maryland, where his men emerged from the freezing water "encased in sheets of ice." The next morning, the Confederates returned and burned the bridge and depot.

With the railroad destroyed from Great Cacapon to Hancock, and Federal soldiers forced back into Maryland at all points, Jackson began his march west to Romney.
Details
HM NumberHM13SQ
Series This marker is part of the West Virginia Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByWest Virginia Civil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Wednesday, October 15th, 2014 at 12:17pm PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17S E 735219 N 4389459
Decimal Degrees39.62260000, -78.25960000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 39° 37.356', W 78° 15.576'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds39° 37' 21.36" N, 78° 15' 34.56" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)304
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 2934 Cacapon Rd, Berkeley Springs WV 25411, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. What historical period does the marker represent?
  2. What historical place does the marker represent?
  3. What type of marker is it?
  4. What class is the marker?
  5. What style is the marker?
  6. Does the marker have a number?
  7. What year was the marker erected?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?