Avenue of Armies: Civil War Sites and Stories of Luray and Page County, Virginia

AVENUE OF ARMIES: CIVIL WAR SITES AND STORIES OF LURAY AND PAGE COUNTY, VIRGINIA
by Robert H. Moore, II

(Published by The Donning Company Publishers, December 2002)
144 pages including maps, photographs and bibliography
ISBN 1-57864-199-3

For pricing and availability contact the author at:
E-mail: cenantua@yahoo.com

About the Book:

“It is definitely an off the beaten path philosophy” says author Robert Moore when referring to his new book. With over 300 miles of self-guided driving tours to over 94 stops at 70 different historic buildings and sites, Moore’s new book, Avenue of Armies: Civil War Sites and Stories of Luray and Page County, Virginia, guides travelers all over Luray and Page County chronologically following events that took place there. Beginning with a chapter/tour that sets the stage for the war, following stories of personalities and places in the Page Valley, the book begins to literally “follow the armies” as they marched through Page County either on reconnaissance missions or on the advance to several battlefields throughout the Valley and Virginia. While no major battle took place in Page, the veil of cover offered by the Massanutten Mountain was one of the greatest appeals of the region. Several of the book’s tours lead to major battlefields in and out of the Valley such as McDowell, Front Royal, Port Republic, Cedar Mountain, and Bristoe Station. Other tours follow events immediately in the wake of battles such as Gettysburg and Fisher’s Hill. However, all intermesh with various stories of Page County civilians as they observed the ever-moving line of soldiers pass through, Blue and Gray. The last chapter closes the book with reflections upon what is referred to as Reunions, Monuments and Remembrance in Luray and Page.

However, the book isn’t just about the history of a county in a war that is indelibly etched in American memory. Moore has for several years been involved with marking no less than 13 sites to date with Virginia Civil War Trails markers and Virginia Department of Historic Resources markers. Many of the markers were made possible through grants from the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. And, according to him, he still has many sites left for the marking. Additionally, he hopes that the book, through interpretation f so many sites, leads to historic preservation efforts to protect these historically rich buildings and sites. To help fulfill this dream, a significant percentage of the profits from the book will go back to the local non-profit Summers-Koontz Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans. The camp has been very active in preservation work in the county since its reorganization in late 1999. Moore is also commander of the camp as well as a member of the history committee for Virginia Civil War Trails and as a member of the Interpretation and Education Committee for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.

More details of the book . . .

Over 130 photos of people and sites in Luray and Page County as well as six four-color maps (including the Gilmer 1864 maps of Page County and one never before published 1862 Jed Hotchkiss Map of the Page County area), table of contents, acknowledgements, introduction, note to the reader, bibliography, and index.

An outline of the book and different tours is as follows:

Tour 1: 1861: Mobilizing for War: The People and the Industry
Forty-five miles of touring to 22 stops from Luray to Shenandoah.
An overview of the idea of secession in the county following Lincoln’s call for troops; the many of the personalities in the county at the outbreak of the war; the mobilization of troops in the county; and the iron ore industry in the county.
Stops at:
Peter B. Borst House/Aventine, Benjamin F. Grayson House/Cottage on the Cliff, Page Co. CH, Frank & Cornelia Jordan House/Cliff Cottage, Mann Spitler House, Nicholas W. Yager House, Gabriel Jordan House, Macon Jordan House, John Lionberger House, Harrison Strickler House, William T. Young House/Calendine, Daniel Hite House, William A. Chapman/Ruffner House, Samuel Moore House, Reuben Nauman House/Store, Catherine Furnace, Shenandoah Iron Works, Furnace No. 2, Iron Works/Furnace No. 1 Anvil, Col. S.B. Gibbons Birth site, John Welfley House

Tour 2: April 17-19, 1862: The Arrival of the Armies and the Hotchkiss Affair
Twenty-one miles of touring to 6 stops from Shenandoah to Honeyville, Alma and Luray.
In the wake of the Battle of Kernstown, Stonewall Jackson opted to use Conrad’s Store as a reorganization point for his army. In the meantime, he orders Jed Hotchkiss, his mapmaker, to destroy the bridges over the South Fork of the Shenandoah River in Page County. This tour describes the bridge-burning attempt.
Stops at:
Shenandoah Iron Works, Rube Kite House/Dogtown, Site of Red Bridge, Honeyville, Site of Columbia Bridge, Wheat’s Boulder

Tour 3: April 20 – May 12, 1862: The Federal Occupation of Luray and Page County
Thirty-four miles of touring to 6 stops from Luray to Alma, Honeyville, Somerville Heights and back to Luray.
While Jackson and Union forces under Gen. N.P. Banks face-off along the South Fork of the Shenandoah, tense moments come into play as Federals probe toward Conrad’s Store and are frequently countered in severe skirmishes with Confederate forces under Gen. R.S. Ewell in Page County. Ewell effectively screens Jackson’s movements and subsequent victory at the Battle of McDowell.
Stops at:
Aventine Hill (present site of the Mimslyn), Jackson Shuler/Elder Koontz House, Columbia Ford, Somerville Heights, Cave Hill, Mann Spitler House

Tour 4: May 15 – 23, 1862: Stonewall Advances on Front Royal
Twenty-six miles of touring to 7 stops from Shenandoah to New Market Gap, Hamburg and Luray. Optional continuance to Front Royal and the battle tour.
Following McDowell, Jackson moves back down the Valley and quickly uses the cover of the Massanutten, in the Page Valley, as a veil to his advance and subsequent attack on the Union Garrison at Front Royal.
Stops at:
Luray to Staunton Turnpike, New Market Gap, John A. Burner House/Massanutten Heights, White House Marker, Mauck Meeting House Gabriel Jordan House, Luray Road

Tour 5: June 1 – 15, 1862: Shields’ Advance to and Retreat from Port Republic
Forty-one miles of touring to 6 stops from the remains of White House Bridge to Leaksville, Alma, Shenandoah (option to continue on to Port Republic Battlefield) and back to Luray.
With Jackson quickly racing up the Valley to evade entrapment by several Union armies, Gen. James Shields with four Union brigades moves through the Page Valley to attack the hero of Manassas at Port Republic. Following disaster on the field, Shields retreats along the same avenue of attack and returns to fill the streets of Luray with his dead and wounded.
Stops at:
Site of White House Bridge, Leaksville Brethren Church, Luray to Staunton Turnpike Site of Noah Kite’s Columbia Mill, Capt. Joe Price’s Mill, Augustus S. Modesitt Residence

Tour 6: June – August 1862: Reconnaissance Patrols, Reoccupation and Civilians at War
Twenty miles of touring to 5 stops from Milford/Overall to Luray.
Following Jackson’s departure from the Valley, Union forces in the area remain wary and conduct probes into Luray and the Page Valley. Prior to the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Federal forces take extreme measures in dealing with civilians who refuse to take the oath of allegiance in Luray.
Stops at:
Milford/Overall, Cavalry Engagement Marker, Luray, Aventine Hill, White House Marker, Page Co. CH

Tour 7: November 1862: Stonewall’s Last Glimpse of the Valley
Sixteen miles of touring to 7 stops from New Market Gap to Alma, Honeyville, Stanley and Marksville, Mauck and Fisher’s Gap.
Following the Battle of Sharpsburg/Antietam, Jackson’s Valley army rests briefly at Winchester before moving up the Valley and across the Massanutten at New Market Gap enroute to joining Gen. Robert E. Lee just weeks prior to the Battle of Fredericksburg. The Valley Army, now the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, takes days to cross through the Page Valley and across the Blue Ridge at Fishers Gap. Jackson’s last Valley bivouac is spent in the vicinity of the village of Mauck in Page County and takes time on the following day to take a last glimpse of the Shenandoah Valley from Franklin Cliffs near Fishers Gap.
Stops at:
New Market Gap, Blue Ridge/New Market to Gordonsville Turnpike, Columbia Ford, Graves’ Chapel Marker, Mt. Hope Stage Stop, Village of Mauck, Fishers Gap and Franklin Cliffs

Tour 8: February – December 1863: The Passing of Armies
Nineteen miles of touring to 5 stops from near Stanley to Marksville, Luray, Thornton Gap and back to Luray. Minor troop movements and activities in the Page Valley reveal a sad brother against brother story of one Page County family; the passage of some Carolinians and the unraveling of the two grave mystery; Confederate retreat from Gettysburg and Manassas Gap/Wapping Heights, through Page County and across Thornton Gap prior to the Bristoe Campaign; and a December raid upon Borst’s tannery operations in Luray.
Stops at:
Site of Stoneberger Church, Graves’ Chapel, Ensign George W. Hardie Grave, Pass Run Church, Borst Tannery Site

Tour 9: May 1864: New Market
One stop at New Market Gap leading to a tour option to New Market Battlefield. Conscription in the Page Valley on the eve of the Battle of New Market causes Federal forces to probe the area and a Union cavalry detachment enroute to a surprise near New Market.
Stops at:
New Market Gap

Tour 10: September 1864: Early’s Endangered Flank
Eleven + miles of touring to 2 stops from Milford/Overall to Luray.
Union Gen. Phil Sheridan devises a superb plan for the destruction of Confederate forces under Gen. Jubal Early on the eve of the Battle of Fisher’s Hill. Using the cloak of the Massanutten in the Page Valley, Union cavalry probe unsuccessfully to Milford and Confederate cavalry proves defiant enough to perhaps stall the end of the war in the Shenandoah Valley.
Stops at: Milford/Overall, Yager’s Mill Marker

Tour 11: October 2 – 7, 1864: The Burning
Thirty-two miles or touring to 11 stops from Price’s Mill/Verbena/Shenandoah to Alma and several sites around the outskirts of Luray and in the town.
In the wake of Fisher’s Hill, Sheridan sets Federal cavalry loose into the Page Valley to inflict severe damage to barns, mills and other resources vital to the continued Confederate war effort. Guerilla activities, a family on the eve of tragedy and an execution of two Maryland Confederate soldiers near Luray closes this story.
Stops at:
Site of Price’s Mill, Site near Noah Kite’s Columbia Mill, John A. Burner House/Massanutten Heights, Martin Strickler Site, Martin Coffman Site, Widow Kauffman House/River View, Aventine Hill, Aventine, Henry Pendleton Hershberger House, Willow Grove Mill, Aventine Hill

Tour 12: May – June 1865: The Summers-Koontz Incident
Twenty-five miles of touring to 7 stops from the Grove Hill area to Alma, across New Market Gap and to Rude’s Hill, north of New Market, in Shenandoah County.
Local Page County Confederates face an untimely fate, despite reassurances from a Federal colonel.
Stops at:
George W. Summers’ House Site, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, George W. Summers’ House Site (2nd time optional), Summers-Koontz Roadside marker, Jacob D. Koontz House Site, Andrew Jackson Shuler House Site, Smith Creek, Rude’s Hill

Tour 13: Reunions, Monuments and Remembrance
Two miles of touring to 5 stop; all in the town of Luray.
Confederate spirit rang clear in years after the war resulting in two monuments in Luray (1898 and 1918), the establishment of a cemetery by a Confederate Veteran for many of his comrades and a touching reunion between the Blue and Gray in Luray in 1881.
Stops at:
Green Hill Cemetery, Herbert Barbee Confederate Monument, 1918 Confederate Veterans’ Monument, Luray Depot (1881) Site, Inn Lawn Park

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