The Kernstown Battlefield Association (KBA) is hosting two free tours this month, the first to commemorate the 162nd anniversary of the Second Battle of Kernstown and the second to celebrate the opening of a new walking trail.
The Second Battle of Kernstown was fought on July 24, 1864, and was the last major Civil War victory for the Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley. Author Scott Patchan, known for his books "Shenandoah Summer" and "Last Battle of Winchester," will lead a July 25 tour detailing the battle that Confederate Sgt. John Worsham would later call the "most easily won victory" of the war.
The anniversary tour will begin at the KBA's Conference Room, located on the Kernstown Battlefield at 610 Battle Park Drive in Winchester, where Patchan will provide an overview of the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign that focuses on the strategies of Confederate Gen. Jubal Early and Union Gen. George Crook. Patchan will also explore how Crook completely misread the situation and brought on a devastating defeat to his recently reorganized force.
During the tour, participants will walk in the footsteps of two future U.S. presidents (Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley), a former U.S. vice president (John C. Breckinridge) and the grandfather of a very famous World War II general (Confederate Col. George S. Patton), all of whom fought in the Second Battle of Kernstown.
Sign-in for the July 25 tour will start at 8:30 a.m. and the event will kick off promptly at 9 a.m. The initial part of the tour will include a strategic overview of the battle, followed by a short walking tour in the vicinity of the center of the Union line. The tour, which can accommodate people with mobility issues, is expected to conclude no later than noon.
The second tour, scheduled for July 31, will celebrate the grand opening of a rustic connector trail from Rose Hill Park to the KBA's Sandy Ridge property and will be led by author and historian Gary Ecelbarger.
The new Sandy Ridge Connector Trail largely follows the retreat route of the Confederates during the First Battle of Kernstown on March 23, 1862. Once on Sandy Ridge, tour takers will see the location of a mass gravesite where over 80 Confederate soldiers were hastily buried by Union forces from the 84th Pennsylvania, as well as the death site of the regiment's Col. William Murray.
Also featured on the tour will be the location of a stone wall that once stood alongside the old Apple Valley Road atop Sandy Ridge. From this stone wall, Confederate soldiers from the 21st Virginia took position to fire on Union forces as they charged up the ridge from Pritchards Hill in an attempt to take one of the three Confederate artillery batteries placed on the ridge by Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
The connector trail tour will begin promptly at noon on July 31. Participants will meet in the parking lot of Rose Hill Park, located at 1871 Jones Road in Winchester. Even though the new trail has been cleared, it is through woods and you will be walking over rocks and roots so please wear sturdy shoes. Tour takers should also bring their own water because they'll be walking a total distance of about two miles.
Anyone taking either or both of the free KBA tours is asked to register in advance at kernstownbattle.org. Click on the "Events" link on the website's home page and then scroll down until you see information for the tour you want to take.
Questions about the tours can be emailed to info@kernstownbattle.org, or you can call 540-450-3785 and leave a message.
While there are no fees for the tours, the KBA is a nonprofit agency and donations would be appreciated to help support future history programs at Kernstown Battlefield.