Overview
The Battle of Fisher’s Hill took place near Strasburg, Virginia, on September 21-22, 1864, during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864. Two days earlier, General Philip Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah defeated General Jubal A. Early’s Army of the Valley at the Third Battle of Winchester, also known as the Battle of Opequon. Early retreated south and established a defensive line at Fisher’s Hill on September 20.
The Shenandoah Valley narrowed to about four miles at Fisher’s Hill, with mountains protecting both sides. Early believed the position would help his smaller army stop Sheridan. However, Early had only about 9,500 soldiers and could not adequately defend the entire front.
Sheridan and General George Crook developed a plan to take advantage of the weakness. Most of Sheridan’s army moved toward the Confederate center, making Early expect a direct attack. Meanwhile, Crook secretly moved two divisions, totaling about 5,000 soldiers, around the Confederate left flank.
At about 4:00 p.m. on September 22, Crook attacked the Confederate flank. Early’s left collapsed, and Sheridan ordered the rest of his army forward. The Confederates retreated in confusion. Early withdrew nearly 100 miles to Rockfish Gap. The Union victory gave Sheridan control of the central Shenandoah Valley and opened the region to “The Burning.”
Essential Facts
- Date: September 21-22, 1864.
- Location: Shenandoah County, Virginia, near Strasburg.
- Participants: The United States of America (USA) and the Confederate States of America (CSA).
- USA Commanders: Philip Sheridan and George Crook.
- CSA Commanders: Jubal A. Early.
- Who Won: The United States won the Battle of Fisher’s Hill.
- Campaign: Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864 and Sheridan’s Valley Campaign.
- Era: Civil War, September–December, 1864.
Statistics
United States of America
- Casualties: 528, including 51 killed and 477 wounded.
- Forces Engaged: Army of the Shenandoah.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 29,444 soldiers.
Confederate States of America
- Casualties: 1,235, including 30 killed, 300 wounded, and roughly 1,000 captured.
- Forces Engaged: Army of the Valley.
- Troop Strength: Roughly 9,500 soldiers.
Significance
The Battle of Fisher’s Hill is important to American History because it weakened Confederate control of the Shenandoah Valley. General George Crook’s attack on the Confederate left flank broke General Jubal A. Early’s defensive line and forced the Army of the Valley to retreat nearly 100 miles. The victory gave General Philip Sheridan control of the central Shenandoah Valley. Starting on September 26, 1864, Sheridan launched “The Burning,” a 13-day operation that destroyed barns, mills, crops, and livestock. This destruction prevented the Confederacy from using the valley to supply its armies on other fronts.
History
Grant’s Umbrella Strategy
On March 12, 1864, President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant as General-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States. Upon his arrival in Washington, Grant drafted a plan to have the various Union armies in the field work together and strike the Confederacy from several directions. Grant would travel with Major General George Meade and the Army of the Potomac in pursuit of General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia in the Richmond, Virginia area; Major General William T. Sherman would march three Federal armies south from Chattanooga, Tennessee to capture Atlanta, Georgia; and Major General Franz Sigel would invade western Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley to cut off supplies to Lee’s army and to prevent any Confederate attempts to attack Meade’s flank.
Early Invades the Shenandoah Valley
As Grant pressed Lee in Eastern Virginia during the spring and summer, the Confederate general devised a plan to divert Union forces away from his army. Lee designated Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s corps as the Army of the Valley. Then, in June, he ordered Early to redeploy his army from Petersburg to the Shenandoah Valley. On June 17–18, Early’s army defeated Major General David Hunter’s Union forces at the Battle of Lynchburg, leaving control of the valley in Confederate hands. Early then launched his own offensive, invading Maryland and eventually threatening Washington, D.C., before being forced to retreat to the Shenandoah Valley.
Early’s successes in Maryland threatened President Lincoln’s re-election bid in November. Coupled with Grant’s mounting casualty totals in Eastern Virginia, Southerners had good reason to hope that the Northern electorate might opt for a peace candidate and a negotiated settlement with the Confederacy to end the war.
Grant Sends Sheridan into the Valley
On August 1, Grant sent Major General Philip Sheridan to the Shenandoah Valley to deal with Early. A week later, on August 8, Grant placed Sheridan in charge of the newly created Army of the Shenandoah. Grant ordered Sheridan to destroy Early’s army and to:
Do all the damage to railroads and crops you can. Carry off stock of all descriptions… so as to prevent further planting. If the war is to last another year, we want the Shenandoah Valley to remain a barren waste.
Sheridan succeeded at both.
Battle of Opequon, The Third Battle of Winchester
Initially, Sheridan was slow to act because false intelligence reports led him to believe that Early’s army was much larger than it really was. After receiving more accurate information regarding the size and deployment of Early’s army, Sheridan attacked the Confederates near Winchester, Virginia. On September 19, Sheridan’s army dealt the Confederates a severe blow at the Third Battle of Winchester, which is also known as the Battle of Opequon, forcing Early to retreat south.
Confederate Defenses at Fisher’s Hill
Early halted his retreat on September 20 and established a defensive line at Fisher’s Hill, south of Strasburg. At Fisher’s Hill, the Shenandoah Valley narrows to a width of about four miles. Protected on each side by mountains, the hill features a high slope that faces north. Early believed that the site’s natural features gave his small army the best chance to check Sheridan’s movement up the valley. With enough soldiers, Early may have been correct, but his army was not large enough to defend a four-mile front. As one Confederate defender later reminisced, “The position was a very strong one, but our army was too small to man it.”
Union Forces Attack Fisher’s Hill
Sheridan grasped Early’s dilemma and was determined to move against the Confederates while they were vulnerable. On the night of September 20, Sheridan and Major General George Crook devised a plan to crush Early’s army. The next day, most of Sheridan’s army advanced on the Confederate center, feinting a frontal attack.
With Early’s attention focused on the center, Crook marched two divisions (5,000 soldiers) undetected around the Confederate left flank. At about 4 p.m. on September 22, Crook’s soldiers smashed into the Confederates, who quickly fell back in confusion. As the left end of Early’s line collapsed, Sheridan advanced the rest of his army, spurring a general Confederate retreat.
Confederates Withdraw from Fisher’s Hill
With his army now decimated and demoralized by two overwhelming defeats within three days, Early had no choice but to get his army away from Sheridan or face annihilation. He retreated south nearly 100 miles to Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Outcome
The result of the Battle of Fisher’s Hill was a Union victory, and the defeat was a crushing blow to the Confederacy. Early’s small army suffered over 1,200 casualties (killed, wounded, and captured/missing), which it could ill afford. The Federals suffered just over 500 casualties.
The Burning of the Shenandoah Valley
After Early’s army retreated, Sheridan had control of the Shenandoah Valley. Starting on September 26, 1864, Sheridan conducted an operation that laid waste to the valley for 13 days. Known as “The Burning,” Sheridan claimed to have slaughtered thousands of sheep, hogs, and cattle and to have burned “2,000 barns filled with wheat, hay, and farming implements [and] over seventy mills filled with flour and wheat.” Sheridan’s campaign denied the Confederacy of supplies that were much needed on other fronts. However, it was brutal, and even shocked some of Sheridan’s men. Colonel James H. Kill, who was in the brigade under the command of George A. Custer, wrote:
What I saw there is burned into my memory. The anguish pictured in their faces would have melted any heart not seared by the horrors and ‘necessities’ of war. It was too much for me and at the first moment that duty would permit I hurried from the scene.
Timeline
- 1864, March 12 — President Abraham Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant General-in-Chief of the United States Armies.
- 1864, June — Lee ordered Early to leave Petersburg and move his army to the Shenandoah Valley.
- 1864, June 17–18 — Early defeated David Hunter at the Battle of Lynchburg.
- 1864, August 1 — Grant sent Philip Sheridan to the Shenandoah Valley.
- 1864, August 8 — Grant placed Sheridan in command of the Army of the Shenandoah.
- 1864, September 19 — Union forces won the Third Battle of Winchester, also known as the Battle of Opequon.
- 1864, September 20
- Early stopped his retreat and established a defensive line at Fisher’s Hill.
- Sheridan and George Crook developed a plan to attack Early’s army.
- 1864, September 21
- The Battle of Fisher’s Hill started near Strasburg, Virginia.
- Most of Sheridan’s army moved toward the Confederate center to suggest a direct attack.
- 1864, September 22
- Crook secretly moved two divisions around the Confederate left flank.
- Crook attacked the Confederate left flank at about 4 p.m.
- Sheridan advanced the rest of his army and forced the Confederates to retreat.
- The Battle of Fisher’s Hill ended with a Union victory.
- Early retreated south toward Rockfish Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
AP US History
Definition
Battle of Fisher’s Hill (1864) — The Battle of Fisher’s Hill was fought near Strasburg, Virginia, on September 21–22, 1864. After losing the Third Battle of Winchester, General Jubal A. Early established a defensive line at Fisher’s Hill. General Philip Sheridan threatened the Confederate center while General George Crook secretly moved around Early’s left flank. Crook’s attack broke the Confederate line, forced Early to retreat, and opened the Shenandoah Valley to “The Burning.”
Alignment
The Battle of Fisher’s Hill is part of the following AP US History sections:
