Bridgewater

Bridgewater. "A Beautiful Village". Confederate soldiers appeared to walk on water on May 19, 1862, as they crossed the North River in front of you on a makeshift bridge. The existing span had been burned, and spring rains made the water too deep to ford, so the Confederates pushed large cargo wagons into the waterway to create a footbridge., The soldiers were part of Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's army, which had defeated Federals at McDowell on May 8. They were hurrying north to strike a Union detachment in Front Royal. One of the units was the hometown Bridgewater Grays, now Company D of the 10th Virginia Infantry Regiment., Situated along the Warm Springs Turnpike, Bridgewater as a hub of Civil War activity. Mills lined the river, a Confederate remount center allowed cavalrymen to obtain well-rested mounts, and a two-story log cabin was used as a government storehouse for "tax-in-kind" meats, produce, and grain that had been levied from citizens to support the Confederate war effort. When Federals approached in September 1864, the commissary officer urged townspeople to take whatever they wanted, then burned the remainder to keep it out of Union hands., On October 2, 1864, Confederate cavalry splashed across the river here and attacked Union cavalry under Gen. George A. Custer, routing U.S. pickets before the Federals counterattacked and drove them back., (captions) , Gen. George Custer's cavalry division occupied Bridgewater on September 30, 1864. On October 2m Confederate troopers rattled down Main Street and attacked Custer's picket line. They were soon driven back, but Custer withdrew his division on October 5., Main Street (Warm Springs Turnpike). A Confederate soldier described Bridgewater as a "beautiful village...buried in trees and flowers." Image by E.G. Furry from Bridgewater. Sesquicentennial Edition, 1835-1985.