Battle of Guard Hill

Warbox
conflict=Battle of Guard Hill
partof=the American Civil War
date=August 16, 1864
place=Warren County, Virginia
result=Inconclusive
combatant1= flagicon|USA|1863 United States (Union)
combatant2= flagicon|CSA|1863 CSA (Confederacy)
commander1=Thomas C. Devin
commander2=William Wofford
strength1=Brigades
strength2=brigades
casualties1=71
casualties2=480|The Battle of Guard Hill took place on August 16, 1864, in Warren County, Virginia as part of Philip H. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of the American Civil War.

On the morning of August 16, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's troopers scattered the Federal pickets at the Shenandoah River crossing at Front Royal. The troopers pursued them down the Front Royal Pike, eventually coming to Guard Hill, a prominent landmark. There, they were hit by Union Brig. Gen. Thomas C. Devin's dismounted cavalry brigade and sustained heavy losses. Confederate Brig. Gen. William T. Wofford's brigade attempted a flanking movement by wading across Crooked Run. There, they were attacked by two New York brigades, who took 300 of them captive. Union Brig. Gen. George A. Custer's Michigan Brigade rode toward the battle and sustained Devin's line along Crooked Run until they were forced to withdraw to Cedarville by Confederate artillery now on Guard Hill.

References

* Kennedy, Frances H., ed., "The Civil War Battlefield Guide", 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, ISBN 0-395-74012-6.
* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/va117.htm National Park Service battle description]