Rude's Hill

Rude's Hill. Jackson at Rude’s Hill. This old house photographed during the early 20th century and still standing about 600 yards north on the west side of the Valley Pike, was occupied at the beginning of the Civil War by a Lutheran minister, Rev. Anders R. Rude. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s small Confederate force went into a defensive position here after retiring from the battle at Kernstown, March 23, 1862. Confederate cavalry, commanded by Col. Turner Ashby, kept the slowly advancing Federals at bay beyond Stony Creek, near Edinburg, about nine miles north of this position. By April 2, 1862, Jackson and his staff occupied the Rude home where they were quartered until April 17. All dispatches from this headquarters bore the dateline, “Rude’s Hill”, a name that has lasted until this day, even though Rev. Rude left the Valley during the fall of 1862. , On April 6, 1862, the Union army, commanded by Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks pierced Ashby’s Stony Creek line, and Jackson gave orders for Ashby to burn the railroad property in Mt. Jackson and the bridge crossing the Shenandoah River if pressed by the enemy. The following morning, the Federal army boldly advanced, forcing the retreat of Ashby’s rearguard. During the withdrawal, Ashby, in person, attempted to aid the burning of the Shenandoah River bridge and was nearly killed. As four Union troopers charged him, his beautiful white horse, Tom Telegraph, received a mortal wound in the lungs. At least three of Ashby’s assailants were wounded by Confederates that had turned back to help extract their commander. As Ashby reached the safety of the Confederate batteries atop Rude’s Hill, his faithful charger was unsaddled and led away to die. , Late in the afternoon of April 17, Jackson sent word for Gen. Richard Ewell to reinforce him at Swift Run Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains east of Harrisonburg. There, Jackson would prepare the Valley army for the next phase of his famous “Valley Campaign of 1862.”