Romney In The Civil War
Strategic Location on the Turnpike
Romney experienced many troop movements and skirmishes during the course of the war because of its location on the vitally important North Western Turnpike The road linked Winchester, near the northern end of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, with Parkersburg on the Ohio River. The earliest engagement fought here occurred on June 13, 1861, when a Federal force under Col. Lewis Wallace stormed the covered bridge and briefly occupied the town. Romney allegedly changed hands about sixty times during the war, sometimes more than once within a twenty-four hour period.
The proximity of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Cumberland, Maryland, and at New Creek Station (present-day Keyser, West Virginia) magnified Romney’s importance. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal also ran near the northern border of Hampshire County across the Potomac River. In addition, the South Branch River Valley’s numerous farms made tempting targets as Union and Confederate forces sought to replenish supplies.
Many residents of Romney and Hampshire County sympathized with the Confederacy during the war because of the county’s strong agricultural ties to the Shenandoah Valley. There also were large farms in the area that utilized slave labor. Romney was caught in the middle: to the north lay Cumberland, a stronghold of Union sympathy, and to the east was Winchester, one of the Confederacy’s northernmost cities. Each city was within a short march of Romney, making the town a target of many scouting actions, foraging expeditions, and positioning maneuvers on the part of both parties.
Marker is on Main Street (U.S. 50).
Courtesy hmdb.org
