Battle of Cross Keys

Contributed by Michael P. Gray

The Battle of Cross Keys, while not a full-fledged battle, was, nevertheless, an important Confederate strategic victory that came near the end of Confederate general Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 during the American Civil War (1861–1865). On June 8, 1862, three Confederate brigades under the command of Richard S. Ewell held off a much larger Union force under John C. Frémont in order that they might then unite with the rest of Jackson's army seven miles to the southeast at Port Republic. There on the following day, Jackson successfully attacked another Union force under James Shields, marking the end of what had been a remarkable campaign. After initial setbacks in western Virginia, Jackson had temporarily secured the valley for the Confederacy, confused and demoralized the politicians in Washington, D.C., and freed himself to reinforce General Robert E. Lee ahead of the Seven Days' Battles in front of the Confederate capital at Richmond. MORE...

 

Background

Beginning in March 1862, Jackson had marched his 17,000-man "foot cavalry" up and down, even in and out of, the Shenandoah Valley, covering large distances with unexpected speed and managing to elude a Union force double his size. Cross Keys was the fifth battle in this campaign. After a defeat at Kernstown on March 23—in which faulty intelligence had lured Jackson into the teeth of a much larger force—there had been only victories: at McDowell to the southwest on May 8, then at Front Royal to the northeast on May 23, and at Winchester north of that on May 25.

As Union forces under the Irish-born Shields and the famous California Republican Frémont descended on the Confederates—Shields from the northeast, Frémont from the northwest—Jackson and Ewell rendezvoused in Harrisonburg. Anticipating that the Union commands would dangerously converge at Port Republic, they determined to attack them individually before that. Jackson sent Ewell to intercept Frémont at Cross Keys, a tiny Rockingham County village that consisted of little more than a tavern. In the meantime, Jackson moved to Port Republic to await Shields. He also presciently took control of North Bridge, the last bridge that spanned the Shenandoah River.

The Battle

Early on Sunday morning, June 8, Frémont's men marched down Port Republic Road by the Cross Keys tavern and there made contact with the Confederates' advance guard. Ewell had three brigades—headed by the generals Isaac R. Trimble, George Steuart, and Arnold Elzey—along with four artillery batteries, or about six thousand men total. They readied for a hard fight. What they received, however, was a very cautious approach by Frémont. The Union general commanded 11,000 soldiers, but he mistakenly understood the force in his front to be Jackson's entire army and not just half of it. Rather than attack, he allowed his long-range artillery to duel with the Confederates. Ewell, meanwhile, took advantage of the delay to fortify his position.

Eventually, Frémont concluded that his enemy's right flank was vulnerable and ordered forward a brigade of German emigrants from Louis Blenker's division. They were abruptly halted by the men of Trimble's brigade, who hid along a fence line, waiting until the Germans were close before unleashing a series of deadly volleys. Sensing that the Union troops had been caught off guard, Trimble counterattacked and had Blenker's men scurrying northwest to Keezletown Road. As night fell, he petitioned Ewell to continue the attack, but Ewell refused. Night attacks were notoriously risky, and Ewell, well aware that he was outnumbered, worried about extending his line too far from Jackson's support. With Ewell's permission, Trimble—a Marylander born in Virginia who has been described by the historian Douglas Southall Freeman as "perhaps disposed to be contentious and certainly a dandy in dress, but of the most conspicuous courage and a furious, insatiable fighter"—rode to Port Republic and made his case to Jackson personally. The general was noncommittal. "Consult General Ewell and be guided by him," he told Trimble. When Ewell repeated his first refusal, the battle ended.

Aftermath

Confederate casualties were light: 288 men, forty-one of whom were dead. In Frémont's command, as many as half of the 684 casualties were dead or mortally wounded. The Confederate cavalry general Turner Ashby—a dark-complected, myth-encumbered figure who, at the age of thirty-three was known as the "Black Knight of the Confederacy"—had been killed as Ewell's forces moved from Harrisonburg on June 6. Jackson, meanwhile, was busy becoming a myth himself, both before and after the battle. Newspapers throughout the South were hailing him as a hero, with the Charleston Mercury predicting he would lead "his unconquerable battalions through Maryland and Pennsylvania."

Jackson did not go north, however, but summoned Ewell and his three brigades south to Port Republic. There, they helped chase Shields's soldiers from the field, resulting in another, even more important victory. Frémont was noticeably absent from the fighting on June 9; when Ewell's men set North Bridge afire, he was unable to cross the Shenandoah and join Shields.

Time Line

  • May 26–June 5, 1862 - Confederate troops under Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson are pursued by separate Union forces under John C. Frémont and James Shields. The Confederates decide to attack Frémont and Shields individually before the two Union generals can converge. Jackson sends Richard S. Ewell to intercept Frémont at the Rockingham County town of Cross Keys.
  • June 6, 1862 - Confederate forces under Richard S. Ewell move from Harrisonburg south toward Cross Keys. In a skirmish with Union troops under John C. Frémont, the thirty-three-year-old Confederate cavalry general Turner Ashby—a dark-complected, myth-encumbered figure who is known as the "Black Knight of the Confederacy"—is killed.
  • June 8, 1862 - Confederate forces under Richard S. Ewell intercept Union troops under John C. Frémont at the Rockingham County town of Cross Keys in the Shenandoah Valley. Ewell's heavily outnumbered troops hold off Frémont's men long enough to reunite the next day with the rest of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's Confederate army.
Further Reading
Anderson, Paul Christopher. Blood Image: Turner Ashby in the Civil War and the Southern Mind. Louisiana State University Press, 2006.
Cozzens, Peter. Shenandoah 1862: Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Gallagher, Gary W., ed. The Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2003.
Krick, Robert K. Conquering the Valley: Stonewall Jackson at Port Republic. Louisiana State University Press, 2002.
Pfanz, Donald. Richard S. Ewell: A Soldier's Life. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.
Robertson, Jr., James. Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend. New York: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1997.
Cite This Entry
APA Citation:
Gray, M. P. Battle of Cross Keys. (2011, April 5). In Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Cross_Keys_Battle_of.

MLA Citation:
Gray, M. P. "Battle of Cross Keys." Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, 5 Apr. 2011. Web. READ_DATE.

First published: April 8, 2009 | Last modified: April 5, 2011


Contributed by Michael P. Gray, is an assistant professor at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. His first book, The Business of Captivity: Elmira and Its Civil War Prison, received honorable mention for the Seaborg Award. His next project is examining the Johnson's Island Prison in Ohio.