Last updated: February 1, 2023
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Battle of Piedmont
After their defeat at New Market, Federal troops in the Shenandoah Valley got a new commander and renewed their offensive. Intense fighting at Piedmont on June 5, 1864 peaked with a flanking movement and ended with a Confederate retreat turned to a rout. Federals occupied the key Valley town of Staunton on June 6 and got ready to march on Lynchburg.
Piedmont Battlefield
Virginia historical highway marker A-111 commemorates the battle. It is on the southbound side of Battlefield Road (Virginia State Route 603) in Augusta County, just south of the junction with Piedmont Road.
Hunter Renews the Federal Offensive
On May 21, 1864 Gen. David "Black Dave" Hunter replaced Gen. Franz Sigel as commander of the Federal army that had pulled back to Middletown. Hunter’s objectives were the same as Sigel’s— to clear the Shenandoah Valley of Confederate forces; stop the use of Staunton as a logistical and supply center; and link with Gen. George Crook’s Army of West Virginia and then cross the Blue Ridge Mountains to Charlottesville and Gordonsville, destroying more of the Virginia Central Railroad.
Before starting south, Hunter ordered his army of perhaps 8,500 to lighten their loads. Soldiers were to carry only what was absolutely necessary, and as Col. George Wells, commander of the 34th Massachusetts Infantry, wrote, “the Valley is abundantly supplied with food for the Southern army and he [Hunter] is resolved to subsist this army on a portion of it and destroy the rest.”
Facing Hunter initially was a token force of perhaps 2,000 cavalrymen under the command of Gen. John Imboden. Most of the Confederate troops who fought at New Market under Gen. John C. Breckinridge had traveled east and joined Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia outside of Richmond. When reports reached Lee that Hunter started south on May 26, 1864, Lee ordered Gen. William “Grumble” Jones, commanding Confederate forces in eastern Tennessee and southwest Virginia, to quickly “…[g]et all the available forces you can and move at once to Imboden’s assistance.”
Jones’s task would not be easy, but he was able to gather about 3,600 troops, including some 1,000 Tennesseans under Gen. John C. Vaughn, to link with Imboden’s troopers.
Hunter’s march south was difficult; the weather was hot and humid, and some of his men had no shoes. But they wanted to erase the stain of their New Market defeat, although most blamed Sigel, not themselves, so they were motivated. But would that be enough?
Finding Imboden’s cavalry blocking passage of the North River at Mount Crawford on June 4th, Hunter ordered his cavalry, commanded by Gen. Julius Stahel, to keep Imboden occupied while Hunter led his main column southeast from Harrisonburg to Port Republic. From there he planned to march around Imboden’s right flank, then on to Staunton.
In the early morning that same day Jones arrived at Mount Crawford and assumed command of the Army of the Valley District. When he learned from his cavalry that Hunter was slipping around his right via Port Republic, he ordered the troops to move as well—Imboden’s cavalry to Mount Meridian, and the rest of his force to Piedmont.
Around 5 a.m. on June 5, 1864, the advance units of Stahel’s cavalry division started south from Port Republic, and about an hour later, they ran into the 18th Virginia Cavalry, part of Imboden’s command. Cavalry from both sides entered the fight, but by 7 a.m., the outnumbered Confederate troopers were retreating south, towards the main Confederate force arrayed just north of Piedmont.
Jones established his main line on a ridge at the edge of a woods, with Walker’s Lane immediately in front. His right rested on the Staunton Road; and to his rear was the Middle River. In front he placed some 500 dismounted cavalrymen under Major Richard Brewer. About 600 yards to his right rear, on the other side of the road, were posted Vaughn’s Tennesseans. He had four artillery batteries, sixteen guns, to shore up his lines.
Hunter positioned his army on both sides of the Staunton Road. Included in his force were four artillery batteries, 22 guns, under the command of Chief of Artillery, Captain Henry Dupont. As usual, the Federals enjoyed an advantage in artillery, both with the number of pieces, and because most of their guns were rifled.
The first Federal attack was launched by Col. Augustus Moor’s brigade – the 18th Connecticut, 5th New York Heavy Artillery, and 116th Ohio. Moor forced Brewer to fall back to the main Confederate line, but his attack on that line was repulsed with heavy casualties.
Following Moor’s attack, Hunter ordered DuPont to silence the enemy artillery. DuPont wisely had all four of his batteries fire on one Confederate battery at a time, and as he wrote later, “the precision of fire was wonderful.” The Southern guns were forced to withdraw, leaving Jones’s main line without any artillery support. DuPont’s guns then focused their attention to the Confederate infantry, with deadly effect.
A second Federal attack on Jones’s main line had no more success than the first, leading Jones to consider a counterattack. Hunter beat Jones to the punch, however, ordering Col. Joseph Thoburn to attack the right flank of the main Confederate line.
Because of the heavy Federal artillery fire, and the direction of Thoburn’s advance—up a hill towards the unsuspecting Confederate right flank—Thoburn’s attack went unnoticed until his three regiments were less than one hundred yards away. When Jones learned of the Federal attack, he rushed troops to face Thoburn, and a vicious fight broke out. At one point the opposing lines stood a mere 20 yards apart, but when Jones rode into this melee, he was shot dead, and the Confederate line began to crumble.
Moor now urged his line forward, and with this added pressure, the entire main Southern line collapsed. There was some hand-to-hand fighting, but the Confederates withdrew, some fleeing down the hill behind them, to the Middle River, where many were captured.
Casualties were heavy. The Confederates had over 600 killed or wounded, with another 1,000 or so captured, while the Federals suffered some 850 killed or wounded. The Federals also captured three Confederate battle flags, and nearly 2,000 small arms. It was the costliest day of battle in the Shenandoah Valley up to that time.
Gen. Vaughn, now in command, pulled what remained of the Confederate force back to Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the next day, June 6, 1864, Hunter marched into Staunton. Because of Hunter’s victory at Piedmont, Robert E. Lee had to send Breckinridge’s troops back to the Valley, and soon after, Gen. Jubal Early’s Second Corps. The Shenandoah Valley was soon to experience the very worst of this war.