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Winchester > Star Fort

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The Second Battle of Winchester –  “A scene… I shall never forget” wayside marker is at Star Fort on the northwest side of Winchester, Virginia. It was erected by Virginia Civi War Trails.

From the marker:

Second Battle of Winchester

“A scene … I shall never forget”

While Union artillery from Star Fort dueled with Confederate gunners in West Fort on June 14, 1863, Winchester’s civilians fretted for their safety. Some wondered if Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy would destroy Winchester by either burning or bombarding it. The threat seemed credible. The Federal gunners who manned the fortifications, including this one, used the town for target practice, firing wooden rounds with no regard for civilian safety. Staunch Confederate supported Mary Greenhow Lee, whose house shook “from the concussion” of the Union artillery firing from Star Fort, wondered if Milroy would make good on this threat “to burn us up.”

Although concerned for her safety and that of the town, Lee and other civilians could not resist climbing onto rooftops to view the exchange of fire between Star Fort and West Fort. Lee wrote, “It was a magnificent sight … [and] presented a scene and aroused feelings I shall never forget.” Another civilian resident, Cornelia McDonald, noted, “All the while the batteries thundered, the booming of the cannon, the screaming of the shells (who that has ever heard that scream can ever forget it?).” Fortunately for the civilians, the town survived the battle. Winchester’s pro-Confederate population reveled in Gen. Richard S. Ewell’s success and the scene of corralled Union prisoners of war, including some held here at Star Fort, after the Second Battle of Winchester. The euphoria, however, was short lived. Several weeks later the Army of Northern Virginia suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg.

From the caption to the photo on the left:
Mary Greenhow Lee 

From the caption to the middle photo:
Cornelia McDonald

From the caption to the photo on the right:
Star Fort with captured Union cannons

All images courtesy Handley Regional Library