The site of Fort Collier is on the north side of Winchester, Virginia, next to the Martinsburg Pike (U.S. 11). The fort was begun in 1861, shortly after Harpers Ferry was evacuated and Winchester became the Confederacy’s forward line of defence in the Shenandoah Valley. The earthworks were placed to guard against Union attacks down the main road and railroad coming into town from the north. They played little role in the campaigns of 1862 and 1863, when Confederate forces took the city from the south and west from its Union defenders.
In 1864 Fort Collier served as the anchor for Confederate General Jubal Early’s left flank in the Third Battle of Winchester. It was overrun at the end of the battle in one of the great cavalry charges of the Civil War.
In 2002 the Fort Collier Civil War Center was created on ten acres surrounding the earthworks. Interpretive markers tell the story of the fort and the events around it.
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Historical markers at Fort Collier
Cavalry Charge at Fort Collier
Fort Collier/George Washington in Winchester
Fort Collier 1861-1864
Fort Collier – I never saw such a sight
Lt. Collier’s Earthworks
Second Battle of Winchester
Third Battle of Winchester