Harpers Ferry Main • Tour the Battlefield > Union Skirmish Line • Timeline
The “First Line of Defense: The Union Skirmish Line” wayside marker is on the west side of Harpers Ferry at foot of the the western slope of Bolivar Heights. It is next to the marker A Position Strong By Nature.
The marker is next to the parking area on the east side of Bakerton Road (County Route 27) on the Union Skirmish Line Trail.
Text from the marker:
The First Line of Defense: The Union Skirmish Line
After sunset on September 14, 1862, the Confederate cannons across the road on School House Ridge vanished in the darkness. The features of the landscape began to blur as the shell-shocked Union soldiers on Bolivar Heights wondered if they could survive another day of artillery bombardment. The Union troops could not rest until tomorrow, however, because General “Stonewall” Jackson’s Confederate Army might charge over School House Ridge at any moment. To guard against such an attack, the Union command established a human alarm system on this field in the form of a skirmish line. It was the first line of defense. If the Confederates advanced, the gunfire from the Union soldiers on the skirmish line would reveal the location of the attack. “Stonewall” Jackson was counting on it.
Map to the “Position Strong By Nature” and “The First Line of Defense” markers
The markers are west of Harpers Ferry just south of the Union Skirmish Line Trail parking lot on the east side of Bakerton Road. (39°19’22.2″N 77°45’59.5″W)