Temporary Prison Camp
During the Civil War, a road (Market Street) ran east and west through the courthouse square, dividing it roughly in half. The courthouse occupied the northern portion while the jail, clerk's office, and springhouse were in the southern section. Plank fences surrounded both yards. These enclosures occasionally were used as holding pens for prisoners during the conflict. After the First Battle of Winchester on May 25, 1862, Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson confined about 2,000 Union prisoners of war in the yards briefly before they were marched to Richmond. Civilians and soldiers alike quenched their thirsts at the springhouse (later reconstructed) in the southwestern corner of the square. Artist J.E. Taylor sketched the original springhouse while traveling with Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's Federal army in the fall of 1864.HM Number | HMAQY |
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Series | This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series |
Tags | |
Placed By | Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation & Virginia Civil War Trails |
Marker Condition | No reports yet |
Date Added | Sunday, October 5th, 2014 at 8:24am PDT -07:00 |
UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 17S E 685950 N 4257840 |
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Decimal Degrees | 38.44950000, -78.86908333 |
Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 38° 26.97', W 78° 52.145' |
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 38° 26' 58.20" N, 78° 52' 8.70" W |
Driving Directions | Google Maps |
Area Code(s) | 540 |
Closest Postal Address | At or near 80 Court Square, Harrisonburg VA 22802, US |
Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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