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Signs Point to Cavalry Charge
Center Unveils Civil War Markers At Site of 3rd Battle of Winchester By Stephanie M. Mangino
The Winchester Star
Four signs tell the tale of the largest cavalry charge on American soil.
And those four signs stand on a patch of once-heavily fortified ground just north of Winchester.
The Fort Collier Civil War Center unveiled the signs Saturday afternoon, before a group from Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute, wrapping up four days of Civil War tours and lectures around the state.
The interpretive signs were produced by the university’s Historical and Tourism Center, known as The Knowledge Point, with text written by history professor Brandon Beck, director of the institute and vice president of Fort Collier.
They were installed for free by neighboring McGrane Fence Co., 135 Brick Kiln Road.
Beck said his main contribution to the effort was making the decisions on where to place the signs at the 922 Martinsburg Pike site. And on Saturday, he seemed excited as he described the charge while standing on a mowed patch of land that gave the best view of the points from which wave after wave of horsemen would have advanced on Sept. 19, 1864.
The signs must help people understand what happened there, and location is key, he said.
Beck compared the relationship between signs and their setting to art. “If you don’t get the painting in the right frame, you diminish it.”
Nothing seemed diminished as people stopped at the signs and wandered around the grounds of the fort created in 1861, and likely imagined what it looked like in September 1864, when 6,000 Federal cavalrymen eventually washed over and isolated Confederate soldiers using the fort’s earthworks as their last defense in the Third Battle of Winchester.
Civil War enthusiast and horse farm owner Todd Kern of Frederick County was part of the institute group at the unveiling. He said the preservation and interpretation of Fort Collier is significant, especially since the fact that it’s the site of the largest charge “is pretty impressive and really unknown.”
It’s also a place where military innovation began to show, with the construction of earthworks, or deep trenches, in the earliest days of the war, before any significant battles had been waged, Beck said.
Even though events like the charge at Fort Collier occurred 140 years ago, interest in the Civil War hasn’t waned, because its the one subject in which historians still talk to the public, and the public responds in kind, Beck said.
It hasn’t been specialized or revised beyond recognition, he said. “It still speaks loud and clear.”
Fort Collier Civil War Center President Katherine Whitesell said now that the signs are up, the public is invited to visit the fort’s grounds every day.
“We’re open from dawn to dusk,” she said.
And one more sign has yet to arrive, from the Civil War Trails organization. Beck said that sign will feature a painting of the charge.
Now that the most basic interpretation work is done, Whitesell said the center’s attention will turn to creating an overall preservation plan for the site.
Center Unveils Civil War Markers At Site of 3rd Battle of Winchester By Stephanie M. Mangino
The Winchester Star
Four signs tell the tale of the largest cavalry charge on American soil.
And those four signs stand on a patch of once-heavily fortified ground just north of Winchester.
 One of the four new signs unveiled at Fort Collier Saturday stands in front of a home on the property. The house was built following the Third Battle of Winchester on Sept. 19, 1864. (Photo by Rick Foster) |
The interpretive signs were produced by the university’s Historical and Tourism Center, known as The Knowledge Point, with text written by history professor Brandon Beck, director of the institute and vice president of Fort Collier.
They were installed for free by neighboring McGrane Fence Co., 135 Brick Kiln Road.
Beck said his main contribution to the effort was making the decisions on where to place the signs at the 922 Martinsburg Pike site. And on Saturday, he seemed excited as he described the charge while standing on a mowed patch of land that gave the best view of the points from which wave after wave of horsemen would have advanced on Sept. 19, 1864.
The signs must help people understand what happened there, and location is key, he said.
Beck compared the relationship between signs and their setting to art. “If you don’t get the painting in the right frame, you diminish it.”
Nothing seemed diminished as people stopped at the signs and wandered around the grounds of the fort created in 1861, and likely imagined what it looked like in September 1864, when 6,000 Federal cavalrymen eventually washed over and isolated Confederate soldiers using the fort’s earthworks as their last defense in the Third Battle of Winchester.
Civil War enthusiast and horse farm owner Todd Kern of Frederick County was part of the institute group at the unveiling. He said the preservation and interpretation of Fort Collier is significant, especially since the fact that it’s the site of the largest charge “is pretty impressive and really unknown.”
It’s also a place where military innovation began to show, with the construction of earthworks, or deep trenches, in the earliest days of the war, before any significant battles had been waged, Beck said.
Even though events like the charge at Fort Collier occurred 140 years ago, interest in the Civil War hasn’t waned, because its the one subject in which historians still talk to the public, and the public responds in kind, Beck said.
It hasn’t been specialized or revised beyond recognition, he said. “It still speaks loud and clear.”
Fort Collier Civil War Center President Katherine Whitesell said now that the signs are up, the public is invited to visit the fort’s grounds every day.
“We’re open from dawn to dusk,” she said.
And one more sign has yet to arrive, from the Civil War Trails organization. Beck said that sign will feature a painting of the charge.
Now that the most basic interpretation work is done, Whitesell said the center’s attention will turn to creating an overall preservation plan for the site.