Richardson's Hill

Richardson's Hill (HM50R)

Location: Front Royal, VA 22630 Warren County
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 56.198', W 78° 11.679'

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Inscription

Kenly Makes His Stand

— Battle of Front Royal, May 23, 1862 —

Directly in front of you is the "commanding height" where Union Col. John H. Kenly made his last attempt to hold Front Royal. Atop Richardson's Hill—this "cherty" ridge, asGen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jacksoncalled it—Kenly posted the two-gunsection of Knap s Battery E, Pennsylvania Light Artillery. The twoten-pounder Parrott rifled cannons,commanded by Lt. Charles Atwell,pinned down the Confederates on the plain below while Kenly's infantry gathered here to support the guns.

Kenly realized that the Unionoccupation of Front Royal wasessential to protect the left flank ofGen. Nathaniel Banks's main armyat Strasburg. "I prepared to hold the position as long as possible,"Kenly later wrote, "for I was certain that if I did not check Jackson'sadvance ... Banks was lost." In a momentary stroke of good luck, twocompanies of the 5th New York Cavalry arrived from Strasburg to augment Kenly's infantry.

Col. Bradley T. Johnson, comanding the Confederate attackers, soon countered Kenly's deployment.While the 1st Maryland infantry(CSA) and Maj. Chatham Roberdeau Wheat's battalion returned fire from behind the stone wall belowRichardson's Hill, the 6th Louisiana Infantry flanked the Union position to the west. In addition, Lt. Col. Thomas S. Flournoy's 6th VirginiaCavalry threatened the Federal rear.Kenly, about to be surrounded,ordered a retreat north across the forks of the Shenandoah River.
Details
HM NumberHM50R
Series This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByCivil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, September 14th, 2014 at 11:55pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17S E 743157 N 4313487
Decimal Degrees38.93663333, -78.19465000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 56.198', W 78° 11.679'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 56' 11.88" N, 78° 11' 40.74" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)540, 703
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 1500 N Royal Ave, Front Royal VA 22630, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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