Combat in the Front Yard

— Battle of Front Royal May 23, 1862 —

Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Maryland and Louisiana troops had steadily pushed Col. John R. Kenly's 1st Maryland Infantry (US) north, despite occasionally fierce street fighting, until they reached this point. The Confederates halted abruptly when Union artillery and infantry on Richardson's Hill opened fire.

Col. Bradley T. Johnson quickly reorganized his battle line, posting the 1st Maryland Infantry (CSA) on the right and Maj. Chatham Roberdeau Wheat's battalion on the left. As the Confederates entered this meadow, they saw a stone wall running from east to west near the foot of Richardson's Hill. They flattened themselves behind it while Union shells raked the open ground in front.

The cannon balls arced over Rose Hill, the home of the widow Richardson and her three daughters directly ahead of you. According to young Sue Richardson's diary, the cannon fire so frightened her mother that she became ill: "We carried her to the cellar. Our yard was full of our soldiers. Major Wheat gave orders from the yard.... We all worked hard that night feeding hundreds of soldiers."

The Southern artillery, positioned on the Randolph Macon Academy ridge west of Front Royal, was too far away to neutralize the Union guns. For the moment, the Confederate advance had stopped.

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Show me all markers in:  Front Royal, VA  |  Warren County  |  22630  |  Virginia  |  United States of America

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