Summit Point

In August 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan took command of all Union forces in the valley, designated the Army of the Shenandoah. As Sheridan concentrated his forces near Charles Town, West Virginia at the north end of the valley, Early and Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson attacked the Federals with two converging columns on August 21st. Early moved east via Smithfield against the Union Sixth Corps with Gen. Robert E. Rodes’s infantry division at Cameron's Depot on the Winchester and Potomac Railroad, while Anderson struck against Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson's Union cavalry at Summit Point. Early placed artillery at Richwood Hall and extended his lines north and south. At one point in the battle, Early ordered an artillery battery to open fire on 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. The Federals fought effective delaying actions during their fighting withdrawal northeast to Halltown. Sheridan's Valley 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.