Road Trip - Shenandoah Valley

The incident occurred where the Back Road crosses Cedar Creek just west of Middletown.  Cedar Creek Church still stands, as well as, a farmhouse which looks as if it may be the same farmhouse annotated on the map from the court-martial.  William Hein captured around 3 a.m. on the morning of October 17^th two days before the Battle of Cedar Creek, a major engagement of the war.  Private Hein remained a prisoner spending most of his confinement in Salisbury Prison in Salisbury, North Carolina. 

Cedar Creek and the course of the roads from the period have changed little over the last 150 years.  The area remains primarily rural; however, there are many more houses and new roads have appeared as one would expect with population growth.

Confederate forces under the command of General Thomas Rosser were seeking revenge for the humiliation they experienced at the Battle of Tom’s Brook on October 9, 1864.  Forces under the command of General George A. Custer routed General Rosser’s Laurel Brigade in one of the biggest cavalry engagements of the war.  On the night of October 16, 1864, General Rosser’s sought revenge by maneuvering to the Union rear to attack Custer’s headquarters and hopefully capture Custer.  Mistakenly, the Confederates attacked the headquarters of the 1^st Connecticut Cavalry capturing William Hein and 37 other enlisted soldiers and 3 officers.  Two of the officers eventually escaped and were court-martialed as a result of their headquarters being overrun.  The map from this court-martial was used to identify the location of the skirmish which resulted in William Hein being captured.