The Second Battle of Winchester from June 13-15, 1863 was part of Robert E. Lee’s Gettysburg Campaign. Lee took his army into the Shenandoah Valley in a wide sweep around Union positions on the Rappahannock River and on the way north to Pennsylvania. Union Major General Robert Milroy’s garrison at Winchester was directly in his path. Milroy intended to defend the town, unaware that the force heading toward him, twice his strength, was Lieutenant General Richard Ewell’s Second Corps, the late “Stonewall” Jackson’s battle-hardened veterans.
Ewell sent one of his three divisions under Jubal Early on a movement which flanked Milroy’s strong points at West Fort and Star Fort. Milroy then decided on a nightime withdrawal. But Ewell had also sent part of another division around Winchester to the east, and they were laying in wait for Milroy’s retreating men in a night attack northeast of town at Stephenson’s Depot. Milroy’s army was almost completely destroyed, losing 4,450 men, of whom 4,000 were captured. Most of his stores and ammunition captured as well. Ewell lost less than 300 men. He – and Lee – would have a clear path through the Shenandoah all the way to Pennsylvania.
Cick an area of interest on the map or from the list below
Second Winchester Monument
Second Winchester Circle Tour Marker and Map
Milroy’s Headquarters
Second Battle of Winchester (at Pritchard’s Hill)
Historical Markers and places of interest following the action in chronological order:
2nd Winchester (A8) Early Moves West
2nd Winchester (B19) Early Moves East
Louisiana Tigers Capture West Fort
Star Fort
In the Path of the Battle (Rutherford Farm)
Winchester National Cemetery
Stonewall Confederate Cemetery