DuPont at Rude's Hill

DuPont at Rude's Hill (HM59S)

Location: New Market, VA 22844 Shenandoah County
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 41.567', W 78° 39'

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Inscription

"I had to depend entirely upon myself ... "

— 1864 Valley Campaign —

Here Capt. Henry DuPont, commanding B Battery, 5th U.S.Artillery, protected Union Gen. Franz Sigel's defeated army as it retreated after the Battle ofNew Market on May 15, 1864.Confederate Gen. John C. Breckinridge had routed Sigel's forcethat afternoon in an engagement made famous by the participation of 247 cadets from Virginia Military Institute. Arriving on the battlefield abouttwo miles south of this location as the Federals began to withdraw, DuPont immediatelydeployed his six-gun battery to cover the infantry, placing his cannons across the Valley Turnpike (present-day U.S. Rte. 11). He positioned them in sections of two guns each, then "leap-frogged" each section north to cover the others as well as the army. DuPont shifted hisbattery several times, and hisfinal combat position was north of the ridge above this site. He then moved the guns two miles farther north along the turnpike to Meems Bottom and burned the bridge across the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.

Without DuPont's artillery to cover the Federal retreat, Sigel would have suffered more casualties and endured a more disorganizedwithdrawal. Since Civil War commanders seldom planned for defeat, retreats often becamedisastrous routs. DuPont's bold leadership typified the seasoned veteran that both sides developed during the war. As DuPont himself laterwrote, "I had to depend entirely upon myself and did not receive a single order, either directly orindirectly, from any military superior."
Details
HM NumberHM59S
Series This marker is part of the Virginia Civil War Trails series
Tags
Placed ByCivil War Trails
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Sunday, October 5th, 2014 at 4:28pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17S E 704380 N 4285306
Decimal Degrees38.69278333, -78.65000000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 41.567', W 78° 39'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 41' 34.02" N, 78° 39' 0.00" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)540
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 4601-5167 US-11, New Market VA 22844, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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