Last updated: August 15, 2022
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Civil War Forts of Winchester
A key junction of roads and railroads during the Civil War, Winchester, Virginia, was also the hub for virtually all business and agriculture in the northern Shenandoah Valley. Since it was almost certain that Winchester would be strategically important, the Confederacy built ten forts and smaller fortified positions to block any United States Army attempts to seize the town and the region’s transportation network.
Four Forts
Of the ten defensive positions, four were actual forts that could accommodate at least one artillery battery (normally four guns for the Confederates, six for the Federals) and over 1,000 soldiers. The other six placements were smaller works normally built for one artillery section (two guns) and crews. Most of the positions were originally built, or started, by Confederates in 1861-1862 under the command of Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson; most occupied high ground overlooking the northern road and rail approaches into Winchester.
“Every man of us stood with fixed bayonet, gun at half-cock, and resolute face…almost at the close of the day (June 14th, 1863), the Rebels made three unsuccessful charges on our works. We were surrounded by an unbroken line of battle which, like a wave, was coming upon us.”
Cpl. John Keses, 87th Pennsylvania
Originally begun by Confederates in 1861, Federal occupying forces in 1862 under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks called the facility on Winchester’s north end Fort Garibaldi. When Maj. Gen. Robert Milroy took control of Winchester, the fort was renamed again, Fort Milroy.
Although having no experience as an engineer, Gen. Milroy took the expansion and improvement of the Winchester-area forts seriously. Federal military engineer officer Captain W. Alonzo Powell spent much of late 1862 and early 1863 strengthening Fort Milroy by adding artillery placements to support 14 guns and digging infantry entrenchments along its flanks. It could eventually accommodate over 2,000 soldiers. At the very southern end of Fort Milroy, Battery No. 1 was improved to become a battery-sized (six-gun) lunette.
The most significant combat action at Fort Milroy occurred during the Second Battle of Winchester, June 13 through 15, 1863. Armed with four 20-pounder Parrott rifled guns and two 24-pounder smoothbore howitzers, Fort Milroy was the central Federal defensive position in the area. As panicked Federal soldiers retreated from nearby West Fort in the afternoon of June 14th, many took refuge at Fort Milroy.
Confederate artillery pounded the fort until around 9 p.m. when gray and butternut infantry attacked. Sergeant Major James Dalzell of the 116th Ohio wrote, “Our rifle pits were filled with determined, picked men…I was not in them. The rest of us hugged the fort.” Although the Confederate attack on the Main Fort was repulsed, Gen. Milroy evacuated Winchester early the next morning, June 15th. The fort was left to the victorious Confederates who renamed it Fort Jackson, after Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson, and used it to temporarily gather approximately 3,000 prisoners.
“I was watching one of the enemy’s batteries trying to cross a ravine… when Captain Alexander trained a gun on the point of crossing… he fired, filling the air with the debris of the demolished machine, while our troops rent the air with shouts of triumph.”
Cpt. James Stevenson, 1st New York
Built on high ground north of Winchester by Confederates in 1861-1862, the site was originally a series of cannon emplacements named Fort Alabama for an Alabama regiment then in the area.
The site was greatly improved by Gen. Milroy in late 1862 and early 1863. Milroy favored the concept of a star-shaped earthen structure that could cover all directions, thus the new name, Star Fort. Because it took a lot of work to build and supply the eight-sided structure, Federal soldiers often referred to it as “Fort Forage Sack.”
Star Fort could accommodate around 1,500 soldiers and eight cannons in small lunettes featuring limestone and wooden gun platforms. Around its perimeter, the fort was flanked by rifle entrenchments.
During the Second Battle of Winchester, June 13 to 15, 1863, Star Fort housed a battery of six 3-inch Ordnance Rifles under the command of Captain Frederick Alexander. On the evening of June 14th, Alexander’s Baltimore Light Battery kept up a hot fire on Confederates who had captured nearby West Fort, returning fire on those Confederates and infantry closing in on Star Fort.
One Confederate wrote, ‘toward dark the cannonading commenced again and was quite fierce…countless shells flew in every direction, with long fiery tails like comets.” By about 9 p.m., however, Gen. Milroy decided to evacuate Winchester, spiking all cannons (literally hammering a spike into a gun’s firing vent) and fleeing without noise from rumbling wagons and cannons. Captain Alexander pleaded with Gen. Milroy to save his remaining four guns, to no avail. Like Fort Milroy, Star Fort thus fell to the Confederates.
Over a year later, toward the end of the huge Federal victory at the Battle of Third Winchester on September 19th, 1864, Star Fort again saw significant combat. While pressuring retreating Confederates, a Federal cavalry brigade under Colonel James Schoonmaker overran Confederate defenders in the fort on Lt. Gen. Jubal Early’s far left flank. Schoonmaker didn’t stay long at Star Fort, however, as he continued south to attack Fort Jackson (previously called Fort Milroy).
“The order to charge was given, and so rapidly did this brigade push forward that the enemy had time to give us but a few volleys of musketry and only four or five rounds…from their field pieces before the position was reached and carried.”
Brig. Gen. Harry Hays, 1st Louisiana “Tiger” Brigade
The first trenches and rifle pits that became the West Fort were dug by Confederates in 1861 and 1862. It was actually a large lunette with redans on high ground less than a mile west of the Main Fort (Fort Milroy). These earthworks were unfinished and open to the rear but effectively covered the western road approaches into Winchester.
By 1863, West Fort could accommodate around 2,000 soldiers in its extensive rifle pits, along with six artillery pieces between itself and its very close neighbor just north on the same ridge, Battery No. 6. Federal work parties dug ditches around West Fort’s perimeter, and also erected abatis, obstacles of downed trees with sharpened ends facing outward toward an enemy.
West Fort’s most significant combat action occurred on June 14th, 1863, during the Second Battle of Winchester. Late in the afternoon, the Confederate division under Maj. Gen. Jubal Early attacked West Fort and Battery No. 6.
After a long flanking march, Early unleashed his twenty cannons to pound the Federals for approximately 45 minutes. One Federal soldier recalled, “such hissing, seething, breaking and bursting of shells was scarcely ever heard.”Following the shelling, at about 6 p.m., Early launched an infantry assault led by the Louisiana “Tiger” Brigade under Brig. Gen. Harry Hays. Although armed with six 3-inch Ordnance Rifled cannons and some Henry repeating rifles, the Federals inside West Fort and Battery No. 6 were no match for the charging Confederates. Once the Confederates cleared the ditches, rifle pits, and abatis, the fight inside the works often became hand-to-hand.
Private Alonzo Barnhart of the 110th Ohio wrote, “we were clubbing with the butts of guns, and thrusting the bayonet at and through each other.” Overwhelmed, the Federal defenders were killed, captured, or escaped to nearby Fort Milroy. Gen. Early later used the high ground around West Fort to strike both the Main Fort and Star Fort with artillery fire. Under great pressure, Federal commander Maj. Gen. Robert Milroy evacuated Winchester.
“I have this day visited the breastworks or fortifications on the Martinsburg Pike… There were four cannons planted and much ammunition there. They have several rifle ports… There is a high embankment… covered with dirt, part sodded over… It is something to be remembered, but I hope it will never be used.”
Harriet Griffith, Winchester resident
Started in July 1861, by Confederate militiamen and Federal prisoners under Maj. William Whiting and Lt. Collier, this earthen redoubt guarded the north end of Winchester along a key avenue of approach, the Martinsburg Pike. Built to support about 1,000 soldiers and a battery of 4-6 cannons, Fort Collier was occupied by Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson’s troops until they evacuated Winchester in March 1862. The fort’s vulnerability was that it was built on low ground along the Pike and had to be covered by Fort Milroy and Star Fort, each about one-half mile west and northwest.
Although Fort Collier saw limited action in June 1863 when Union forces under Gen. Milroy evacuated Winchester and were shelled by Confederates, most of the fort’s combat occurred on September 19th, 1864, during the Third Battle of Winchester.
Late that afternoon, Federal cavalry overwhelmed Confederate troops trying desperately to hold their left flank around Fort Collier. Federal Brig. Gen. Wesley Merritt’s cavalry division and a horse artillery battery bore down on the defenders, gunning, attacking, and slashing.
Col. Charles R. Lowell’s brigade charged over ditches and into the fort, capturing two cannons and killing and scattering the remaining Confederates. “Charge and get the guns,” Lowell screamed, “Forward, Forward!” The furious cavalry attacks cleared the northern end of town and ensured Federal victory at Third Winchester.
Also, near the end of the battle, not far from Fort Collier, the Confederates lost a dedicated officer, Col. George S. Patton, who was mortally wounded by shrapnel during the Federal cavalry attacks. The grandfather of Gen. George S. Patton III of World War II fame, Col. Patton was highly respected by his soldiers and fellow officers.
Only two of the Winchester forts, Star Fort and Fort Collier, are currently preserved and open to the public. Admission is free, and earthworks with embankments are readily visible in both locations. The Main Fort (Fort Milroy) and West Fort are on private property and have been largely lost to development and agriculture. Most of the other, smaller battery sites, earthworks, and entrenchments around Winchester’s perimeter are also gone or barely visible.