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Fairview: Kenly's Last Stand:
Battle of Front Royal -- May 23, 1862:
This stone structure, known as Fairview, was the home of Thomas McKay. On this site, Union Col. John R. Kenly rallied the 1st Maryland Infantry (USA) for a last stand as the Confederates approached. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson had ordered Col. Thomas S. Flournoy's 6th Virginia Cavalry in pursuit as Kenly's troops retreated from Guard Hill north on the Front Royal Turnpike toward Winchester. While Kenly strove in vain to deploy his men in the fields and orchards here, Flournoy's cavalry were on them before they could fix bayonets or form a front.
Kenly ordered the 5th New York Cavalry to countercharge, but it was too late. The troopers instead raced north in a panic, running over Kenly's men as they struggled to form a battle line. In the confusion, some of the Marylanders fired at the New Yorkers and many fell.
The charge of the 6th Virginia, which Jackson afterwards declared was the most gallant and effective he had ever seen, overwhelmed Kenly's force, which grounded its weapons and surrendered. Kenly himself was severely wounded and captured.
The Federal loss in the Battle of Front Royal was 904 killed, wounded, and captured out of Kenly's 1,000-man garrison. The Confederates suffered fewer than 100 casualties. At the end of the engagement, they had not only occupied Front Royal, but also had seized some $300,000 worth of U.S. quartermaster and commissary stores. Jackson had flanked Gen. Nathaniel Banks's main force at Strasburg and the way was clear to Winchester.
After Front Royal, Jackson moved to Winchester where he won a decisive victory May 25, 1862, forcing the Federals to withdraw across the Potomac River.
Many wounded soldiers were cared for at the McKay house, where blood stained the floors for years. Dabney Eastham, of Co. B, 6th Virginia Cavalry, was believed to be mortally wounded and was left lying in the yard. The next morning, when his father arrived from Rappahannock County to claim his son's body, he found that the grass and mud had clotted his wound, and son was taken up with him when he was carried into the house. Eastham survived and left descendants in Rappahannock and Warren Counties. |