Hupp’s Hill
Part of a 1,000 acre estate begun by George F. Hupp in the 1750s. Hupp's Hill and buildings further south were used as a headquarters by federal generals Nathaniel Banks and James Shields during Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign. The site was first fortified by confederate forces in 1863.
The federal VIIIth Corps used the hill to conceal its movement on the night of 21-22 September 1864 preliminary to the federal victory at Fisher's Hill.
Also in 1864, elements of Kershaw's confederate division fought a sharp skirmish just to the north with part of the VIIIth Corps on 13 October. The hill sheltered Wharton's Division of Early's army just prior to the confederate 19 October attack on Cedar Creek. Later that morning it was the site from which Early's artillery opened fire on withdrawing federals. These positions were the point of the last organized resistance on the night of 19 October. The Hill was fortified by the 2nd Division VI U.S. Corps which remained here from 20 October to 9 November 1864.
(Sidebar Quote): "I have kept pretty busy lately in consequence of this move. First I selected the Camps of the Brigades, then laid out, with stakes a line of intrenchments, and then posted a line of pickets. This picket line is four miles long and required a great deal of riding to arrange the details and get the best line."
Hazard Stevens in a letter to his mother written Oct. 24, 1864.
Marker can be reached from Old Valley Pike (U.S. 11), on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
