Port Republic in Rockingham County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Historic Houses
“Scourged by a Pitiless Storm of Cannon-shot”
| — | The Battle of Port Republic (June 9, 1862) | — |
Photographed by Jay Richardson, August 22, 2026
1. Historic Houses Marker
Like many Civil War battles, the Battle of Port Republic swept around houses and over farmsteads, including three historic homes—Lewiston, Lynnwood, and Bogota. Lewiston, built in 1817, was located across the highway from you, where the current home sits today. A thousand yards north sat Lynnwood, built in 1813; among those at Lynnwood was Maggie Fletcher, mother of a newborn baby. Another thousand yards north, across the river, sat Bogota (built c. 1845–1847), the home of the Strayer family—including young diarist Clara Strayer, who recorded how cannon fire “waked the mountain echos.”
On the morning of the battle, the residents of Lewiston and Lynnwood evacuated to Bogota, taking small boats across the river. Many of them watched the ensuing fight from a balcony.
When the battle began, cannon balls struck the servants’ cookhouse at the Lewiston farm, “tearing it to splinters.” During the fighting, the armies swept back and forth across the farm. Confederate sharpshooters found cover in the Lewiston outbuildings and peppered the Union artillerymen on the Coaling. When the fighting ended, the Lewiston buildings,
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At Lynnwood, the walls were left riddled with holes where cannonballs had crashed through. The house was used as a hospital, marked with “the yellow flag, the sacred badge of suffering”—but when Union Gen. John C. Fremont arrived, belatedly, across the river, his artillery opened fire and “swept the whole field, and the hospital, with a storm of shot.”
At Bogota, Union looters poured into the house. When Clara confronted one, declaring, “This is a lady’s chamber and as such will be respected by gentleman,” he replied, “Yah, yah! If dere be any Dutch gentlemen! Come boys, let’s go to town!” Clara closed her account of the day by writing, “Those were indeed stirring times. May we never see the like again!”
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Bogota. Courtesy Society of Port Republic Preservationists
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Erected 2026 by Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is June 9, 1862.
Location. 38° 18.065′ N, 78° 46.092′ W.
Photographed by Jay Richardson, August 22, 2026
2. Historic Houses Marker
Port Republic Battlefield
Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. 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: Port Republic Battlefield / Visiting the Battlefields / The Battlefields Today (within shouting distance of this marker); Explore. Learn. Remember. (within shouting
Photographed by Jay Richardson, August 22, 2026
3. Historic Houses Marker
River Plains Walking Trail
Another marker is no longer nearby. Port Republic (was about 300 feet away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Credits. This page was last revised on August 31, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 27, 2026, by Jay Richardson of Winchester, Virginia. This page has been viewed 10 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 27, 2026, by Jay Richardson of Winchester, Virginia. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.
