Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield
Lower Town • Campground • Union Skirmish Line • Bolivar Heights
Murphy Farm • N Schoolhouse Ridge • S Schoolhouse Ridge • Visitor Center
South of Harpers Ferry and the main Union defensive line on Bolivar Heights, the Murphy Farm was the scene of a decisive flanking movement. Confederate General A.P. Hill moved artillery up a gully, allowing it to fire into the rear of the Union lines on Bolivar Heights.
After the war the farm became the scene of pilgrimage for thousands as John Brown’s Fort was displayed for several years after it was returned to Harpers Ferry from the Columbian Exposition.
A parking area at the end of Murphy Road next to the Murphy farmhouse is the trailhead for the Murphy Farm Trail, which leads to a number of markers:
Battle of Harpers Ferry 1862
Fate of Harpers Ferry Was Sealed wayside marker
Home Becomes a Battlefield wayside marker
Mountains, Men, and Maneuvers wayside marker
The Murphy Farm tablet
Struggle to the Heights
Union Supply Stronghold 1864
Sheridan Dug In
John Brown’s Fort
A Moving Symbol
Holy Ground
Pilgrimage