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Rude's Hill

Hills of VirginiaLandforms of Shenandoah County, Virginia
Rude's hill
Rude's hill

Rude's Hill is a 981-foot hill just outside of the town of Mt. Jackson in Shenandoah County, Virginia, United States, primarily known because it was a strategically placed elevation on which many Civil War events occurred. It was named after the Danish Lutheran minister Anders Rudolph Rude, who arrived in the US in 1836 and married the widow of the Steenbergen plantation. They inhabited a house on the hill called "Locust Grove" which dates to 1792, according to county records. As of July 2014 when the property was for sale, "Locust Grove" was in severely neglected condition with several ungainly exterior modifications over the years, but was still standing. Rude's Hill was an important site in the American Civil War, occupying a commanding high point overlooking the key Valley Turnpike where is passes through a point between Smith Creek on the east and the North Fork of the Shenandoah River on the western side. Rude's Hill is the first elevation on that route beyond the flat Meems bottomland on the south end of the town of Mt. Jackson. It was a particularly defensible high ground because the only practical enemy approach to Rude's Hill was from the north was via single bridges spanning Mill Creek and the Shenandoah's north fork, after which an enemy would need to cross the broad, flat Meems Bottom, commanded by Rude's Hill beyond. And also because if required to retreat, a force could withdraw from Rude's Hill through mountain passes of the Massanutten Range. Because of its strategic placement and high ground location on the Valley Pike and the fact the area had so much action between 1862 and 1865, Rude's Hill figured prominently in the Civil War history of the Shenandoah Valley.

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Rude's Hill
Old Valley Pike,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 38.702222222222 ° E -78.644722222222 °
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Old Valley Pike

Old Valley Pike
22842
Virginia, United States
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Rude's hill
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Mount Jackson Historic District
Mount Jackson Historic District

Mount Jackson Historic District is a national historic district located at Mount Jackson, Shenandoah County, Virginia. Mount Jackson became relatively wealthy because of its location, at the intersection of a major north–south road across the Shenandoah Valley and an east–west creek, with a mill and later a railroad line fostering development. The town saw significant fighting in the American Civil War, and was occupied by soldiers of both armies at various times. Historic buildings range from the historic nondenominational Union Church (built 1825) and cemetery (which contains the grave of Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Gray and others to modern times), to the site of a former Confederate Hospital north of town (on the historic road to Winchester and later Frederick, Maryland) and Union encampment at Rude's Hill about three miles south of town. The district encompasses 125 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 2 contributing structures in the town of Mount Jackson. It includes a variety of commercial, residential, and institutional buildings dating primarily from the late-19th to the early-20th century, the era of the town's greatest prosperity. They are in a variety of popular architectural styles including Gothic Revival, Federal, and Queen Anne. Other notable buildings include the Stoneburner House, Tisinger House, S. P. Lonas House, Brill Building, Lonas Store, former Peoples Bank (c. 1904), Mt. Jackson Volunteer Fire Department (1936), Mt. Jackson Theatre Building (1938), St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (1876), Mt. Jackson Methodist Episcopal Church (1884), and Triplett Middle School (1925).The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Jackson's Valley campaign
Jackson's Valley campaign

Jackson's Valley campaign, also known as the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862, was Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's spring 1862 campaign through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia during the American Civil War. Employing audacity and rapid, unpredictable movements on interior lines, Jackson's 17,000 men marched 646 miles (1,040 km) in 48 days and won several minor battles as they successfully engaged three Union armies (52,000 men), preventing them from reinforcing the Union offensive against Richmond.Jackson suffered an initial tactical defeat (his second defeat of the war) at the First Battle of Kernstown (March 23, 1862) against Col. Nathan Kimball (part of Union Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks's army), but it proved to be a strategic Confederate victory because President Abraham Lincoln reinforced the Union's Valley forces with troops that had originally been designated for the Peninsula campaign against Richmond. Following Kernstown, Jackson retreated to form a line at Stony Creek south of Woodstock, making his headquarters at Narrow Passage on Stony Creek. It was there he summoned a local cartographer, Jedediah Hotchkiss, who recommended he withdraw from the indefensible Stony Creek to Rude's Hill, a strategic small promontory but a commanding defensive position astride the Valley Turnpike south of Mt. Jackson. It was at Rude's Hill, which was Jackson's headquarters from April 2–17, that Jackson reorganized his command. Jackson had instructed Hotckiss to "make me a map of the Valley, from Harper's Ferry to Lexington, showing all the points of offence and defence [sic] in those places." The Shenandoah Valley had never been comprehensively mapped before, and Hotchkiss' maps and knowledge of the terrain proved to be a decisive tactical advantage for Jackson throughout the rest of the campaign. On May 8, after more than a month of skirmishing with Banks, Jackson moved deceptively to the west of the Valley and drove back elements of Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont's army in the Battle of McDowell, preventing a potential combination of the two Union armies against him. Jackson then headed down the Valley once again to confront Banks. Concealing his movement in the Luray Valley, Jackson joined forces with Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell and captured the Federal garrison at Front Royal on May 23, causing Banks to retreat to the north. On May 25, in the First Battle of Winchester, Jackson defeated Banks and pursued him until the Union Army crossed the Potomac River into Maryland. Bringing in Union reinforcements from eastern Virginia, Brig. Gen. James Shields recaptured Front Royal and planned to link up with Frémont in Strasburg. Jackson was now threatened by three small Union armies. Withdrawing up the Valley from Winchester, Jackson was pursued by Frémont and Shields. On June 8, Ewell defeated Frémont in the Battle of Cross Keys and on the following day, crossed the North River to join forces with Jackson to defeat Shields in the Battle of Port Republic, bringing the campaign to a close. Jackson followed up his successful campaign by forced marches to join Gen. Robert E. Lee for the Seven Days Battles outside Richmond. His audacious campaign elevated him to the position of the most famous general in the Confederacy (until this reputation was later supplanted by Lee) and has been studied ever since by military organizations around the world.