Winchester, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

The Second Battle of Kernstown

Confederate Sharpshooters Lead the Way

— Kernstown Battlefield —

The Second Battle of Kernstown Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark P Brock-Cancellieri, July 4, 2025

1. The Second Battle of Kernstown Marker

Inscription.

The Second Battle of Kernstown. Confederate Sharpshooters Lead the Way. Sharpshooters were the elite troops of both armies. They were used to screen flank marches, lead the army in their advance, and cover its retreat. Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's army, operating in the Valley in 1864, had an organized corps of sharpshooters made up of the best riflemen of each regiment. These designated sharpshooters formed into separate units when combat was expected., At the Second Battle of Kernstown, sharpshooters were used effectively to lead the Confederate advance. Maj. Gen. Stephen Ramsuer's North Carolina and Virginia sharpshooters maneuvered across the field and hills west of here to engage Union forces under Col. Joseph Thoburn who recorded in his journal "our pickets were suffering severely from enemy sharpshooters." At about the same time, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's Georgia sharpshooters were pressuring Col. James Mulligan's men defending the center of the Union line around the Opequon Church on your right. Eventually, Mulligan's men were forced back to Pritchard's Lane where they saw an approaching force wearing blue uniforms moving towards them from the right. When alerted to this movement by the 10th WV Commander, Mulligan ordered the Mountaineer soldiers to hold their fire as he thought this force was part of Col. Thoburn's Division on his right flank. Mulligan soon realized his mistake as these approaching soldiers turned out to be Gen. Ramseur's sharpshooters who quickly initiated a withering flanking fire into his men fighting behind the stone fencing lining Pritchard's Lane., By this time, Gordon's sharpshooters had reached Hoge Run to your front right and there, along with Ramseur's sharpshooters, inflicted heavy casualties on the Union, mortally wounding Mulligan and killing several troops as they attempted to carry him off the battlefield. , Early's use of sharpshooters was a key factor in this overwhelming Confederate victory and directly contributed to Gen. Early's army's surprisingly low causality rate of just a few hundred soldiers in a battle with over 20,000 engaged troops. , Donated to the People of the United States by Laurie Burgett of California, (caption) Confederate Sharpshooters in action. Osprey Publishing

Sharpshooters were the elite troops of both armies. They were used to screen flank marches, lead the army in their advance, and cover its retreat. Confederate Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's army, operating in the Valley in 1864, had an organized corps of sharpshooters made up of the best riflemen of each regiment. These designated sharpshooters formed into separate units when combat was expected.

At the Second Battle of Kernstown, sharpshooters were used effectively to lead the Confederate advance. Maj. Gen. Stephen Ramsuer's North Carolina and Virginia sharpshooters maneuvered across the field and hills west of here to engage Union forces under Col. Joseph Thoburn who recorded in his journal "our pickets were suffering severely from enemy sharpshooters." At about the same time, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's Georgia sharpshooters were pressuring Col. James Mulligan's men defending the center of the Union line around the Opequon Church on your right. Eventually, Mulligan's men were forced back to Pritchard's Lane where they saw an approaching force wearing blue uniforms moving towards them from the right. When alerted to this movement

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by the 10th WV Commander, Mulligan ordered the Mountaineer soldiers to hold their fire as he thought this force was part of Col. Thoburn's Division on his right flank. Mulligan soon realized his mistake as these approaching soldiers turned out to be Gen. Ramseur's sharpshooters who quickly initiated a withering flanking fire into his men fighting behind the stone fencing lining Pritchard's Lane.

By this time, Gordon's sharpshooters had reached Hoge Run to your front right and there, along with Ramseur's sharpshooters, inflicted heavy casualties on the Union, mortally wounding Mulligan and killing several troops as they attempted to carry him off the battlefield.

Early's use of sharpshooters was a key factor in this overwhelming Confederate victory and directly contributed to Gen. Early's army's surprisingly low causality rate of just a few hundred soldiers in a battle with over 20,000 engaged troops.

Donated to the People of the United States by Laurie Burgett of California

(caption) Confederate Sharpshooters in action. Osprey Publishing

Erected by Blue and Grey Education Society.

Topics. This historical marker

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is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical year for this entry is 1864.

Location. 39° 8.508′ N, 78° 11.843′ W. Marker is in Winchester, Virginia. It can be reached from Quail Run Road half a mile west of Valley Pike (U.S. 11), on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3075 Quail Run Rd, Winchester VA 22602, United States of America. Touch for directions.

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

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

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 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A different marker also named Second Battle of Kernstown (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); a different marker also named The Second Battle of Kernstown (about 500 feet away); The First Battle of Kernstown (about 500 feet away); Enslaved Labor in the Shenandoah Valley (about 600 feet away); Agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley (about 600 feet away); The Pritchard House (about 600 feet away); Site of the Original Pritchard Barn (about 600 feet away); a different marker also named The First Battle of Kernstown (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Winchester.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 27, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 21, 2025, by Mark P. Brock-Cancellieri of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 117 times since then and 29 times this year. Photo 1. submitted on July 21, 2025, by Mark P. Brock-Cancellieri of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.