Battle of Cross Keys

Battle of Cross Keys. The Civilians of Cross Keys. During the Civil War, this battlefield contained some of the most productive farmland in the Shenandoah Valley and Virginia, as it does today. At the time of the battle, these fields were in stands of wheat, buckwheat, rye, corn, and clover., Almost all the farmers here were German Baptist Brethren, also called Dunkers or Dunkards because of their belief in adult baptism. Because they were pacifists who abhorred the taking of human life, many young Brethren men left the South or paid heavy exemption fees to avoid conscription into Confederate service. A few, however, left the church and joined the armies. , The Brethren were prodigious farmers, and the produce of their farms supplied Confederate forces in Virginia and other states. During the Battle of Cross Keys on June 8, 1862, they saw their fields trampled, livestock driven off, homes looted, and farm buildings damaged. Mill Creek Church was used as a hospital during the battle, and when the fighting ceased, local Dunker houses became hospitals, too. , The violence of war returned on September 30, 1864. Union Gen. Philip Sheridan ordered this area burned out as a war measure, and close to fifty barns were put to the torch. , Today, as during the war, the majority of the area’s farms are owned by members of the Church of the Brethren.