A Rich Prize 7:00 a.m. wayside marker

Cedar Creek • Tour the Battlefield • Battle Maps • The Armies

The A Rich Prize wayside marker is on Stop Five of the Cedar Creek Battlefield auto tour. (see map below)

A Rich Prize wayside marker at Cedar Creek

Text from the marker

Belle Grove was Union headquarters, and thus was surrounded by hundreds of supply wagons, ambulances and tents. As the Confederate advance neared the plantation manor house there was a scramble to evacuate them to safely. Most escaped capture. The fighting around Belle Grove was intense as every effort was made to slow the Confederate advance and bring up the 6th Corps, which up to this point had not been engaged. But as the 6th Corps advanced, fleeing men of the 19th Corps, along the with dense fog, disrupted their battle lines.

Caption to the illustrations

These two James Taylor sketches capture different aspects of this struggle. The image below, with Massanutton to the left rear, looks south as the Union trrops (foreground) withdraw ahead of pursuing confederates. The smaller image, right, looks north toward the front of Belle Grove, and captures the intensity of the fighting that swirled around the manor house.

A Rich Prize wayside marker

Location of the marker

The A Rich Prize wayside marker is at Stop Five. It is just south of the parking area, on the left side of the walkway leading to the manor house.