Near West Augusta in Augusta County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Fort Edward Johnson

Photographed by Robert H. Moore, II, circa 2003

1. Fort Edward Johnson Marker

Inscription. Confederate troops, the remnant of the Army of the Northwest commanded by Brig. Gen. Edward “Allegheny” Johnson, constructed this fortification about 1 Apr. 1862 to protect the Shenandoah Valley, the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy.” Federal troops briefly occupied the fort after he withdrew to West View near Staunton later that month. With Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s Army of the Shenandoah, Johnson’s command confronted Union forces under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy and Brig. Gen. John C. Fremont at the Battle of McDowell on 8 May. Johnson’s ankle was shattered during this first victory in Jackson’s famous Valley campaign.

Erected 1999 by Virginia Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number W-149.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical date for this entry is April 1, 1862.

Location. 38° 18.678′ N, 79° 23.04′ W. Marker is near West Augusta, Virginia, in Augusta County. It is on Shenandoah

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Mountain Drive (Route 250), on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: West Augusta VA 24485, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 13 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Highland County / Augusta County (within shouting distance of this marker); Confederate Breastworks Trail (within shouting distance of this marker); “The Shenandoah Mountain Pass is grand indeed…” (within shouting distance of this marker); Welcome to Fort Johnson (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Fort Edward Johnson (within shouting distance of this marker); “It was cold business…”

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), May 8, 2021

2. Fort Edward Johnson Marker

(within shouting distance of this marker); “Wee are faring badly…” (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Healing the Wounds (about 600 feet away); “… tolerable well fortified” (about 700 feet away); “We had a hardscramble up…” (approx. 0.2 miles away); "…to go wee did not know where" (approx. 0.2 miles away); “Wee are now looking out for a fight…” (approx. 0.2 miles away); Mountain House (approx. 1.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in West Augusta.

Another marker is no longer nearby. Confederate Breastworks Interpretive Trail (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Some of the reconstructed earthworks in Fort Johnson image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Robert H. Moore, II, circa 2003

3. Some of the reconstructed earthworks in Fort Johnson

View to the West From Fort Edward Johnson image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bradley Owen, October 14, 2017

4. View to the West From Fort Edward Johnson

Credits. This page was last revised on May 8, 2021. It was originally submitted on February 2, 2009, by Robert H. Moore, II of Winchester, Virginia. This page has been viewed 3,159 times since then and 47 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on February 2, 2009, by Robert H. Moore, II of Winchester, Virginia. 2. submitted on May 8, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on February 2, 2009, by Robert H. Moore, II of Winchester, Virginia. 4. submitted on January 29, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. • Craig Swain was the editor who published this page.