Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield • Union Skirmish Line
The Confederate Perspective wayside marker is west of Harpers Ferry on the west side of Bolivar Heights on the Union Skirmish Line Trail.
Looking west across the valley between the Union position on Bolivar Heights and the Confederate position on North Schoolhouse Ridge, with Bakerton Road and the location of the Union skirmish line at the bottom of the valley.
From the marker
The Confederate Perspective
“General J.R. Jones was directed to make a demonstration against the enemy’s right.”
Jackson’s official report
Confederate Colonel Edmund Pendleton wrote about the night of September 14, 1862, from his perspective across the road on School House Ridge. Pendleton and his men were facing this direction, holding the Union forces in check on Bolivar Heights behind you.
“We lay upon our arms till nearly daylight, the quietude of the night being unbroken, save by a sharp musketry fire of a few minutes duration in front of our right and a few hundred yards distant, which proved to have occurred between two regiments of the enemy on picket duty, who had mutually mistaken each other for foes.”
Colonel Pendleton was mistaken. The gunfire he heard was exactly what General “Stonewall” Jackson wanted. Jackson intended to outflank the enemy stronghold on Bolivar Heights by moving artillery and infantry to the far left of the Union position. To cover this maneuver and distract the Union troops, Jackson ordered some of his forces on School House Ridge to stage a feint attack against the Union skirmish line near the road below. Confederate victory was inevitable now.
Even though the attack here lasted only a short time, it was a critical part of the Confederate strategy, and a life and death situation for the soldiers who were involved.
Location of the marker
The marker is west of Harpers Ferry on the Union Skirmish Line Trail about 270 yards east of Bakerton Road or about 285 yards west of Whitman Avenue on Bolivar Heights. (39°19’31.0″N 77°45’47.9″W) The trails connect with both locations.