Confederate Breastworks Trail

Confederate Breastworks Trail. "Camp fires were blazing brightly on the mountain". , You are standing in the middle of what was once Fort Edward Johnson. Confederate soldiers under the command of Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson built this fort, "cutting timber, ditching, fortifying", in early April 1862 to defend the Shenandoah Valley and the critical city of Staunton from an invasion by Union troops approaching from the west., Look to your right, and then left across the highway, for what remains of the mile of trenches and breastworks. The fort was garrisoned by 3,000 Confederate troops, primarily from the 12th Georgia regiment. Most were stationed four miles behind you at Camp Shenandoah, where there was good drinking water and pasture for their horses., In mid-April, Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy advanced to McDowell, six miles west of here. At the same time, Union troops in the Valley advanced to Harrisonburg in pursuit of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson's army. The converging Union forces threatened both Fort Johnson and Staunton. When Gen. Johnson traveled to confer with Jackson, the officer left in command here, acting on rumors as well as real threats, abandoned the fort and withdrew to West View. By the time Johnson returned, part of Milroy's force had occupied these fortifications., In early May, Stonewall Jackson surprised the Federals by moving his men to Staunton and uniting with Johnson. The combined force advanced up the mountainside, only to find the fort empty, the Union troops having withdrawn. The Confederates continued through the mountains on the winding Staunton-Parkersburg turnpike to McDowell, where they defeated the Federals on May 8, forcing them to retreat and relieving the threat to Staunton.,

"Hundreds of camp fires were blazing brightly on the mountain slopes, revealing the white tents and the forms of soldiers passing and repassing.", Rev. William T. Price, April 13, 1862

, [Captions:] , Capt. James Rodgers, 12th Georgia. , Courtesy Gregory A. Coco Collection, What was it like to be a lonely soldier stationed on this mountain fort in the spring of 1862? Walk the 0.5 mile trail along the remains of the breastworks and relive those days through the letters and diaries of the soldiers who were here.