Fountain Rock Marker

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Shepherdstown in Jefferson County, West Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Fountain Rock
"Crows..,will have to carry their provender with them"
— 1864 Valley Campaign —

Fountain Rock Marker Photo, Click for full size

By Don Morfe, July 29, 2012

1. Fountain Rock Marker

Inscription. (Preface): The Federal offensive in the Shenandoah Valley begun in May 1864 faltered in the summer with Confederate victories and Gen. Jubal A. Early's Washington Raid in July. Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan took command in August, defeated Early at Winchester in September and Cedar Creek in October, burned mills and barns, and crushed the remnants of Early's force at Waynesboro on March 2, 1865. Sheridan's victories contributed to President Abraham Lincoln's reelection in November 1864 and denied Gen. Robert E. Lee's army much-needed provisions from the "Breadbasket of the Confederacy."

In 1864, the conduct of the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley, the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy” and an avenue of invasion, underwent significant change. Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was determined to eliminate the Valley as a source of food for the Confederate Army. He ordered Gen. David Hunter, commanding the Federal army in the Valley, “to eat out Virginia clear and clean as far as they go, so that crows flying over it for the balance of this season will to carry their provender with them.” Unfortunately for the Valley’s resident, farm fields and livestock were not the only objects of Hunter’s attention.

On July 19, 1864, Capt. Franklin Martindale and a detachment of the 1st New York Cavalry rode from

By Don Morfe, July 29, 2012

2. Fountain Rock Marker

Harpers Ferry to this spot. Martindale had come to burn Fountain Rock, a beautiful native limestone house built in 1834 for Dr. Henry Boteler, in partial retaliation for Gen. Jubal A. Early’s burning of the Maryland governor’s house. By 1864, Fountain Rock was the home of Boteler’s son, Alexander Robinson Boteler, who served as an aide on the staff of Gen J.E.B. Stuart and also was a member of the Confederate Congress.

Boteler’s two daughters were at Fountain Rock when Martindale appeared. He ordered them to leave the house and then set the place ablaze, destroying the house as well as Boteler’s library and his valuable collection of letters that chronicled the early history of the Lower Shenandoah Valley. The only items that were saved were the leather-bound volumes of the Congressional Record.

(Sidebar): In the 1920s, the ruins of Fountain Rock were removed and first a pavilion and then a barn were built here. The Shepherdstown Men's Club acquired the property in 1961. Four years later, the club erected the present picnic pavilion where Fountain Rock once looked out on the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Erected by West Virginia Civil War Trails.

Marker series. This marker is included in the West Virginia Civil War Trails marker series.

Location. 39°

By Don Morfe, July 29, 2012

3. Fountain Rock Marker

25.302′ N, 77° 49.272′ W. Marker is in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in Jefferson County. Marker is at the intersection of Kearneysville Pike (State Highway 480) and Sweaningen Way on Kearneysville Pike. Click for map. Located in Morgan Grove Park. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4196 Kearneysville Pike, Shepherdstown WV 25443, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, as the crow flies. The Spirit of 1775 (approx. half a mile away); Elmwood Cemetery (approx. 0.7 miles away); Confederate Soldiers in Elmwood Cemetery / Colonel Henry Kyd Douglas (approx. 0.7 miles away); Col. Drake (approx. one mile away); Free School (approx. one mile away); Civil War Hospital Site (approx. one mile away); Shepherd State Teachers College (approx. one mile away); Shepherdstown (approx. one mile away). Click for a list of all markers in Shepherdstown.

By Don Morfe, July 29, 2012

4. Fountain Rock Marker

Credits. This page originally submitted on August 23, 2012, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Md 21234. This page has been viewed 57 times since then. Photos: 1. submitted on August 23, 2012, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Md 21234. 2. submitted on September 10, 2012, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Md 21234. 3, 4. submitted on August 23, 2012, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Md 21234. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.