Battle of Cool Spring
Sharp Action at the Shenandoah River
To draw Union troops from Petersburg to Washington, Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early attacked the capital’s defenses on July 11, 1864. He then withdrew to the Shenandoah Valley, where he had left Gen. John C. Breckinridge’s division to hold the Shenandoah River fords. Union Gen. George Crook, pursuing Early, decided to make a reconnaissance in force across the river near hear on July 18 after his cavalry was repulsed the previous day, a Sunday.
Guided by a Confederate deserter well acquainted with the area, three brigades forded the river about a mile north of Castleman’s Ferry concealed by woodlands and virtually undetected by Early’s pickets. Federal skirmishers moved forward while the brigades formed a line of battle in the woods behind a stone fence on Cool Spring Farm (present-day Holy Cross Monastery).
Breckinridge, who was attending services at Grace Episcopal Church in Berryville when he was informed of the Federal cavalry probes, dispatched Gens. John B. Gordon’s and Gabriel C. Wharton’s divisions to positions in front of the Union line. While Confederate skirmishers engaged the Federals, Gen. Robert E. Rodes led his division behind the Southern lines to strike the Union right flank and rear. An attack by all three divisions threw the Federals into confusion, and they retreated across the river to the safety of their artillery on the east bank. Losing 422 killed, wounded, and missing (some drowned). Confederate casualties totaled about 295. Early continued his withdrawal to Winchester, where his army regrouped for the next phase of the Valley Campaign.
Marker is at the intersection of Castleman’s Road (Virginia Route 603) and Harry Byrd Highway (Virginia Route 7), on the right when traveling east on Castleman’s Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
