Battle of Front Royal 1862
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 May 1862 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1862 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Civil War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 38.9360, -78.1923 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Front Royal, also known as Guard Hill or Cedarville, was fought on May 23, 1862, during the American Civil War, as part of Jackson's Valley campaign. Confederate forces commanded by Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson were trying to keep Union forces engaged in the Shenandoah Valley to prevent them from joining the Peninsula campaign. After defeating Major General John C. Frémont's force in the Battle of McDowell, Jackson turned against the forces of Major General Nathaniel Banks.
Banks had most of his force at Strasburg, Virginia, with smaller detachments at Winchester and Front Royal. Jackson attacked the position at Front Royal on May 23, surprising the Union defenders, who were led by Colonel John Reese Kenly. Kenly's men made a stand on Richardson's Hill and used artillery fire to hold off the Confederates, before their line of escape over the South Fork and North Fork of the Shenandoah River was threatened. The Union troops then withdrew across both forks to Guard Hill, where they made a stand until Confederate troops were able to get across the North Fork. Kenly made one last stand at Cedarville, but an attack by 250 Confederate cavalrymen shattered the Union position.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Front Royal (revision 1370441128), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Guard Hill 1864 · 2 km
- Battle of Manassas Gap 1863 · 7 km
- Battle of Cedar Creek 1864 · 13 km
- Battle of Fisher's Hill 1864 · 18 km
- Battle of Tom's Brook 1864 · 22 km
- Second Battle of Kernstown 1864 · 23 km
Other battles of the American Civil War
- Battle of the Head of Passes 1861
- Bog Wallow Ambush 1861
- First Battle of Mesilla 1861
- Siege of Tubac 1861
- Skirmish at Blackwater Creek 1861
- Battle of Albuquerque 1862
- Battle of Antietam 1862
- Battle of Apache Pass 1862
- Battle of Augusta (1862) 1862
- Battle of Baton Rouge (1862) 1862
All 498 battles of the American Civil War →
Browse more: battles in United States · North America · 19th century battles