Summit Point

In early August, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan took command of all Union forces in the Shenandoah Valley. As Sheridan concentrated his forces near Charles Town, West Virginia, Maj. Gen. Jubal Early attacked the Federals with two columns on August 21. Early moved east against the Union VI Corps with Brig. Gen. Robert E. Rodes’s infantry division at Cameron's Depot on the Winchester and Potomac Railroad, while Brig. Gen. Richard Anderson struck Union cavalry at Summit Point further south. Early placed artillery at the Richwood Hall plantation and extended his lines north and south. Confederates fired artillery at Sheridan's headquarters at Locust Point, the John and Lucy Packette family home. Some civilians had not yet evacuated the structure, but none were injured. Early's inability to coordinate his separate attacking columns enabled Sheridan to regroup and withdraw his troops to Halltown. Sheridan's campaign was off to a rough start, but by mid-September his victory over Early at Winchester would begin to turn the tide in the Shenandoah Valley.