Dublin in Pulaski County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Rearguard Action

Battle of Cloyd's Mountain

— Virginia Civil War Trails —

Reaguard Action Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Doda, May 20, 2018

1. Reaguard Action Marker

Inscription.

Rearguard Action. Battle of Cloyd's Mountain. (preface) , Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commander of all Union armies, ordered advances throughout the Confederacy in May 1864. In Virginia, Gen. George C. Meade led the Army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock River and south toward Richmond against Confederate Gen. Robert E Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James moved west toward Petersburg from Fort Monroe. Gen. David Hunter led Union forces south through the Shenandoah Valley while Gen. George Crook's command marched east from the Appalachian Mountains to join him. These advances implemented Grant's strategy in Virginia.

(main text) , You are standing where a rearguard action took place at the end of the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain on May 9, 1864. The main action occurred three miles in front of you at the base of the mountain as Union Gen. George Crook's force of 6,555 men and 12 artillery pieces headed toward Dublin to destroy the New River Bridge on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. As Crook's men marched down the slope, however, they encountered Confederate Gen. Albert G. Jenkins with three infantry regiments, the local home guard, and ten cannons. After an hour of intense fighting and hand-to-hand combat, the Confederates retreated down the turnpike (present-day Cleburne Boulevard) toward Dublin, leaving Jenkins mortally wounded and in Federal hands.

Confederate cavalry reinforcements, fighting dismounted, made a stiff rearguard stand here and stalled Crook's advance. The Confederates retreated through Dublin and by nightfall had set up defenses on the eastern side of the New River. After an artillery duel over the river the next day, Crook's men destroyed the bridge and headed back to West Virginia before Confederate reinforcements could arrive.

There were more than 1,200 casualties on both sides, including Confederate Gen. Patrick Cleburne's brother, Capt. Christopher Cleburne, who was mortally wounded in the rearguard action here and asked to be buried where he fell. In 1968, his body was reinterred just to your left, to make way for the modern road. Gen. Cleburne was killed at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, on November 30, 1864.

(preface)
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, commander of all Union armies, ordered advances throughout the Confederacy in May 1864. In Virginia, Gen. George C. Meade led the Army of the Potomac across the Rappahannock River and south toward Richmond against Confederate Gen. Robert E Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Gen. Benjamin F. Butler's Army of the James moved west toward Petersburg from Fort Monroe. Gen. David Hunter led Union forces south through the Shenandoah Valley while Gen. George Crook's command marched east from the Appalachian Mountains to join him. These advances implemented Grant's strategy in Virginia.

(main text)
You are standing where a rearguard action took place at the end of the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain on May 9, 1864. The main action occurred three miles in front of you at the base of the mountain as Union Gen. George Crook's force of 6,555 men and 12 artillery pieces headed toward Dublin to destroy the New River Bridge on the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. As Crook's men marched down the slope, however, they encountered Confederate Gen. Albert G. Jenkins with three infantry regiments, the local home guard, and ten cannons. After an hour of intense fighting and hand-to-hand combat, the Confederates retreated down the turnpike (present-day Cleburne Boulevard) toward Dublin, leaving Jenkins mortally wounded and in Federal hands.

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Civil War Trails.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical date for this entry is May 9, 1864.

Location. 37° 7.729′ N, 80° 41.671′ W. Marker is in Dublin, Virginia, in Pulaski County. It can be reached from the intersection of Cleburne Boulevard (Virginia Route 100) and International Boulevard, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Dublin VA 24084, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southwest Virginia,

in the Blue Ridge Highlands,

and in the New River Gorge.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

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

Rearguard Action Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 17, 2023

2. Rearguard Action Marker

of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Battle of Cloyd's Farm (a few steps from this marker); Battle of Cloyd's Mountain (within shouting distance of this marker); Trollingers' Cave (within shouting distance of this marker); New Dublin Presbyterian Church (approx. 0.4 miles away); Dublin Presbyterian Church (approx. 1.6 miles away); New River Ordnance Plant (approx. 2 miles away); American Veterans (approx. 2.2 miles away); World War II Home Front (approx. 2½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Dublin.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 14, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 20, 2020, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 695 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on December 20, 2020, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. 2. submitted on July 14, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.