“A Witness To and A Participant In The War Between The States”
The Old Stone Church was built using local limestone in 1845. Sixteen years later it stood witness to the Civil War that raged up and down the Valley Pike. We have identified four specific activities that happened in and around the church during this time.
First, in March of 1862, 18 Mennonite and Brethren men from the Linville-Broadway area of the valley left their homes and attempted to travel west to escape serving in the war which their faith gave them cause to object. They were captured by Confederate soldiers in Mooresfield, W.VA. And returned to Woodstock, VA where they were kept over night. On March 29, 1862 they began a march to Harrisonburg to be imprisoned They stayed that night in the Old Stone Church. There is still writing on a beam, in the area where there once was a balcony, by one of these men.
The second activity relates to the Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign of May-June 1862. On the night of May 20, 1862 Stonewall Jackson and his 10 Company Brigade accompanied by a Brigade from Ewell’s Di- vision camped just south of the church. Two days later Turner Ashby’s Cavalry masked their movements as they marched to New Market and then over the Massanutten Mountain to Luray.
Our third activity is the identification and use of the church as a hospital during much of the war itself.
On the afternoon of September 24, 1864 four infantry units of the Confederate Army moved into the area of Tenth Legion. During that day these units had been moving south from Fishers Hill and had made defensive stops in Mt, Jackson, Rude’s Hill, and New Market before arriving at Tenth Legion. These units were commanded by Generals John Pegram, John Brown Gordon, Stephen Dodson Ramseur and Gabriel C. Wharton. They were lined up with two units on either side of the Valley Pike. They were battle weary and had fought in a number of important battles in- cluding Gettysburg. They may well have stopped here because there was a field hospital in the Old Stone Church and amongst their wounded was a Capt. John L. Massie who headed the Fluvanna Artillery unit from Fluvanna County , Va. A plaque honoring this unit stands in the fields of Gettysburg. He died in the church on September 24th.
These four units set up formations facing the north. They had Union Soldiers coming from the north, Union Calvary on the hills to the west and Union Artillery on the hills to the southwest, now on the other side of I-81 on what is known as Cannon Hill. It is possible that cannon fire from the hills to the southwest was responsible for the damage that happened to the church structure and in particular the roof and gables.
There was no major battle here but there was no doubt shelling and firing back and forth between the armies. That is why this is considered a skirmish rather then a battle. During the night of September 24th these infantry units may have moved east along the Keezletown Road and on towards Port Rep ublic. To have continued to travel along the Valley Pike would have put them in the sights of the northern artillery and other forces.
First, in March of 1862, 18 Mennonite and Brethren men from the Linville-Broadway area of the valley left their homes and attempted to travel west to escape serving in the war which their faith gave them cause to object. They were captured by Confederate soldiers in Mooresfield, W.VA. And returned to Woodstock, VA where they were kept over night. On March 29, 1862 they began a march to Harrisonburg to be imprisoned They stayed that night in the Old Stone Church. There is still writing on a beam, in the area where there once was a balcony, by one of these men.
The second activity relates to the Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign of May-June 1862. On the night of May 20, 1862 Stonewall Jackson and his 10 Company Brigade accompanied by a Brigade from Ewell’s Di- vision camped just south of the church. Two days later Turner Ashby’s Cavalry masked their movements as they marched to New Market and then over the Massanutten Mountain to Luray.
Our third activity is the identification and use of the church as a hospital during much of the war itself.
On the afternoon of September 24, 1864 four infantry units of the Confederate Army moved into the area of Tenth Legion. During that day these units had been moving south from Fishers Hill and had made defensive stops in Mt, Jackson, Rude’s Hill, and New Market before arriving at Tenth Legion. These units were commanded by Generals John Pegram, John Brown Gordon, Stephen Dodson Ramseur and Gabriel C. Wharton. They were lined up with two units on either side of the Valley Pike. They were battle weary and had fought in a number of important battles in- cluding Gettysburg. They may well have stopped here because there was a field hospital in the Old Stone Church and amongst their wounded was a Capt. John L. Massie who headed the Fluvanna Artillery unit from Fluvanna County , Va. A plaque honoring this unit stands in the fields of Gettysburg. He died in the church on September 24th.
These four units set up formations facing the north. They had Union Soldiers coming from the north, Union Calvary on the hills to the west and Union Artillery on the hills to the southwest, now on the other side of I-81 on what is known as Cannon Hill. It is possible that cannon fire from the hills to the southwest was responsible for the damage that happened to the church structure and in particular the roof and gables.
There was no major battle here but there was no doubt shelling and firing back and forth between the armies. That is why this is considered a skirmish rather then a battle. During the night of September 24th these infantry units may have moved east along the Keezletown Road and on towards Port Rep ublic. To have continued to travel along the Valley Pike would have put them in the sights of the northern artillery and other forces.