Part of a series of articles titled If This Valley is Lost, Virginia is Lost.
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Battle of Port Republic
Library of Congress
"At Port Republic, when the Federal battery was; decimating the Confederate ranks, Stonewall Jackson said to Gen. Taylor in his stern, curt tone: 'General, can you take that battery? It must be taken.' Gen. Taylor turned to his men, his voice ringing out clear and distinct through the battle's roar, and said: 'Louisianians, can you take those guns?' The answer was a Rebel yell, and three hundred and eighty Louisianians rushed to the top of that hill and at the bayonet's point took the battery. The noble Jackson, seeing it, turned to Taylor and said: Who could not win with such men as these?'
— A. J. Murff in Confederate Veteran, Vol 12
“Aim low, men, and at every shot let a traitor fall!”
— Hamilton SeCheverell, 29th Ohio
The Battle of Port Republic was the last in Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign. After his victory there the Federal army withdrew farther north. On June 18th, Jackson’s troops marched out of the Valley and across the Blue Ridge Mountains. They joined Gen. Robert E. Lee to defend Richmond against US Gen. George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.
Jackson Follows Up His Victory at Cross Keys
Early on the morning of June 9, 1862, the Stonewall Brigade moved out from Cross Keys. Commanded by Gen. Charles Winder, the troops moved towards the Federal lines north of Port Republic. The Federal forces consisted of about 3,500 men and three artillery batteries under Gen. Erastus Tyler. Unfortunately for the Federals, Gen. Shields had not been able to reach Port Republic with his entire division. Many of the troops were still marching south on muddy roads and Shields himself was not present at the battle.
Gen. Tyler had done an excellent job of selecting the field of battle. The Federal line stretched across the flat bottomland next to the Shenandoah River. The right of the line anchored on the river and the Federal left was protected by a commanding hill known as “The Coaling.” The name referred to the use of the hill for making charcoal. Tyler placed twelve cannons, many of them rifled guns, on top of the Coaling to dominate the landscape. “An artillery duel ensured, greatly to our advantage, for although our guns were on higher ground, most of the enemy’s shot passed over us, while our shells exploded among them with deadly effect,” remembered Maj. James Huntington, commander of Battery H, 1st Ohio Light Artillery.
On the opposite side of the field, was Confederate gunner George Neese. He wrote,
“Shields had his forces strongly posted about one mile below Port Republic, his right on the river and his left butted up against a spur of the Blue Ridge that jutted boldly out into the plain. A little way up the side of the spur was a coaling which commanded the whole front of his line from the mountain to the river. Gen. Shields quickly availed himself of the utility of this vantage ground on the extreme left of his line, by placing an eight-gun battery on the apparently invulnerable shelf up the mountain side, from which his batteries could sweep the whole field.”
Confederates Attack on the Left
Stonewall Jackson pushed his troops into battle, piecemeal, instead of waiting for his entire army to form. Many of his troops slowed while crossing a makeshift bridge over the Shenandoah River. They became disorganized in the streets of Port Republic. Not wanting to wait, Jackson ordered two Confederate cannon to shell the Coaling, while half of Winder’s men moved to flank the position on the right. Winder’s left two regiments halted in muddy bottomland and his right two regiments stopped in front of the Coaling. The 7th Louisiana arrived on the field and joined Winder’s left for an attack. Leading this attack was Colonel of the 7th Louisiana, Harry Hays, who was soon wounded in the shoulder. These three Confederate units attacked five Federal regiments. The Confederates also faced plunging crossfire from the Coaling.
Two Ohio soldiers in adjoining regiments remembered the attack from their point of view. Hamilton SeCheverell, 29th Ohio wrote,
“When in close range the rebels charged. Reserving our fire until they were almost upon us, the order was given, and with a yell the entire line poured its leaden hail into the gray clad columns of the chivalry, producing fearful slaughter, and following with a charge so impetuous that they were forced to retire.”
George Wood of the 7th Ohio, who was severely wounded at Port Republic, recalled,
“When arriving within range of the guns, the enemy charged. The regiment reserved its fire until the rebel column approached within easy range, when, by order of Colonel Creighton, the regiment, which had hitherto been concealed by the tall spires of wheat, rose to its feet, and delivered its fire. This shower of lead made a fearful gap in the lines of the advancing column. It staggered, and finally halted. The Seventh [Ohio] now plunged into the midst of the foe, when an awful scene of carnage followed. After a short struggle, the enemy was pressed back, followed by the exultant victors.”
As the Ohio soldiers stated, the Confederate attack stopped. The Federals troops counterattacked, driving back the Confederate left and capturing a cannon. Two more Virginia regiments soon arrived to stabilize the Confederate line. They drove the Federal troops back to their defensive positions. The Confederates remained in an open position, exposed on the bottomland. They held the Federals attention and attracted cannon fire. According to one Confederate officer, “This small force was suffering cruelly.”
Attack on the Coaling
Jackson realized the strength of the Federal artillery at the Coaling. He called for the Louisiana Brigade led by Gen. Richard “Dick” Taylor. The Louisianans repeated charged the Coaling with the Rebel Yell. But the position was strongly defended by the Federal gunners and infantry support. “With a rush and shout the gorge was passed and we were in the battery. Surprise had aided us, but the enemy's infantry rallied in a moment and drove us out. We returned, to be driven a second time,” remembered Gen. Taylor.
Confederate gunner George Neese watched the attack of the Louisianans. He said,
“The crest of the coaling was one sheet of fire as the Federal batteries poured round after round of grape and canister into the faces of the charging Louisianians. The hand-to-hand conflict raged frightfully, resembling more the onslaught of maddened savages than the fighting of civilized men.”
Soon, extra reinforcements arrived from Cross Keys. Taylor launched a final attack that overwhelmed the Federal defense. According to Taylor, “The fighting in and around the battery was hand to hand, and many fell from bayonet wounds. Even the artillerymen used their rammers in a way not laid down in the manual and died at their guns.”
Maj. Huntington remembered the attack from his position. “From the woods on our left rushed forth the Tigers, taking the line in reverse and swarming among [the] guns.”
Once the Coaling fell, the Federal line on the bottomland needed to withdraw. Confederate troops and cavalry pursued the retreating Federals down the Valley. They captured almost 150 prisoners.
Aftermath
That afternoon, Gen. Fremont’s Army arrived from Cross Keys. They took position on the North Bank of the Shenandoah. As Jackson’s men burned all the bridges across the river, Fremont was unable to reach the battlefield. Frustrated, Fremont ordered his artillery to fire at the Confederates across the river. The guns targeted the ambulances and stretcher bearers. “His impotent rage was so great that his artillery was turned upon our ambulances and parties engaged in the humane labors of attending to the dead and wounded of both sides,” wrote Alabama Captain William Oates.
References
Operations in the Shenandoah Valley from Winchester to Port Republic, 1862 by Major James F. Huntington. In Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts, The Shenandoah Campaigns of 1862 and 1864 and the Appomattox Campaign 1865, Vol. VI.
Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign by Jonathon Noyalas.
Conquering the Valley: Stonewall Jackson at Port Republic by Robert Krick.
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District website: shenandoahatwar.org
Journal History of the Twenty-Ninth Ohio by J. Hamilton SeCheverell
The Seventh Regiment: A Record by Major George Wood, 7th Ohio
Three Years in the Confederate Horse Artillery by George Neese
The War Between the Union and the Confederacy by William C. Oates
Destruction and Reconstruction by Richard Taylor
Last updated: August 20, 2023