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“The Attack of the Eighth Corps” wayside marker is about half a mile south of the Redbud Road trailhead on the walking tour of the Civil War Trust’s Third Winchester battlefield site. (see map below)
The marker looks north over Red Bud Run. Duval’s Union Second Division, under future President Rutherford B. Hayes after Duval was wounded, charged across the Run here under heavy fire. A shaded bench lets visitors pause to enjoy the view, which is about half a mile from the trailhead.
From the marker:
The Third Battle of Winchester
The Attack of the Eighth Corps
“The order was to walk fast, keep silent, until within about one hundred yards of the guns, and then with a yell to charge at full speed.”
Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, U.S.A.
At noon on September 19, Union General Sheridan’s Sixth and Nineteenth Corps met Early’s Confederate force in attacks on the south side of Red Bud Run. Union Gen. George Crook’s Army of West Virginia, the Eighth Corps, waited in reserve two miles east of here as the battle raged. When it became clear that the Confederate force would not break, Sheridan called for his reserves. After a hurried march, Crook’s men arrived on the battlefield around 1:30 p.m.
Crook’s First Division under Col. Joseph Thoburn moved into position in the woods on the south side of Red Bud Run. Crook ordered Col. Isaac Duval’s Second Division and Capt. Henry A. DuPont’s artillery brigade to move around the Confederate left flank. Duval’s and DuPont’s men crossed north over Red Bud Run near an old mill called “The Factory,” about a mile east of here. They continued west along the creek through the fields behind you, before pivoting left and preparing to charge. Crook sent word to Sheridan that he would attack immediately, and requested that the entire Union line advance in support. Crook’s men straddled Red Bud Run – Thoburn on the south bank, Duval on the north, with DuPont’s artillery in support.
Moving forward, Duval’s men arrived at this steep northern bank of Red Bud Run just after 3:00 in the afternoon. They immediately came under Confederate fire from soldiers near the Hackwood House. Duval was shot in the thigh during the charge. Future President Rutherford B. Hayes assumed command of the division. Upon reaching the banks of Red Bud Run, Hayes halted briefly to reform before charging across the stream under enemy fire.
The Attack of the Eighth Corps wayside marker is on the walking tour on the Civil War Trust’s Third Winchester battlefield site about 0.5 mile from the Redbud Road trailhead. The trailhead can be reached from the Interstate 81 interchange with U.S. 11 north of Winchester. At the light immediately to the east of the interchange take Redbud Road (County Road 661) south 0.85 mile. Parking for the trailhead is on the south side of Redbud Road. (39°12’11.9″N 78°07’35.7″W)