Battle of Lynchburg

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v • d • e Lynchburg Campaign New Market – Piedmont – Lynchburg

The Battle of Lynchburg took place on June 17 through June 18, 1864. It was an American Civil War battle in Virginia, part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864.

The battle was fought when Maj. Gen. David Hunter led his Union forces from Lexington in an attempt to take Confederate rail and canal depots, as well as a hospital, located in Lynchburg, Virginia. Upon reaching the outskirts of the town on June 17, Hunter's forces were met by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early's Second Corps vanguard. To create a false impression that the Confederate forces stationed in Lynchburg were much larger than Hunter anticipated, a train was continuously run up and down the tracks while the citizens of Lynchburg cheered as if reinforcements were unloading. Even the local prostitutes took part in the deception, misinforming their Union "clients" of the large number of Confederate reinforcements.^{[citation needed]}

Hunter withdrew the next day after sporadic fighting because of a critical shortage of supplies. His line of retreat through West Virginia took his army out of the war for nearly a month and opened the Shenandoah Valley for a Confederate advance into Maryland.

[edit] References

• National Park Service battle description