Help Save Our History at Cross Keys and Port Republic

 We are rushing to the defense of history at Cross Keys and Port Republic!

I’m writing from the battle line here in the Valley to inform you that we are rushing to the defense of history at Cross Keys and Port Republic! We have committed to major preservation efforts on both of these battlefields, and on battlefields throughout the Shenandoah Valley, and I’m asking you to help us continue this work by contributing to our campaign to raise $160,0000 before June 8 and 9 – the 160th anniversary of the last battles of Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign. 160 years after the guns fell silent at Cross Keys (fought on June 8, 1862) and Port Republic (June 9, 1862), we are in the midst of a new battle at both sites and, like always, we won’t win the day without you.

So, what are we working on? Well, we were approached by our friends in Port Republic, the Society of Port Republic Preservationists, who for decades have owned the historic Kemper House which they have operated as the Port Republic Museum. This small group of extremely dedicated preservationists, who have volunteered their time for years, simply can’t do it any longer and they are concerned that the property and collections won’t be preserved and this significant wartime property won’t remain open to the public. It was in the Kemper house (built in the 1830s) where the body of Confederate Gen. Turner Ashby was brought following his death in the fighting at Harrisonburg on June 6, 1862. The women of Port Republic prepared him for burial in the house, cutting a rose from the yard and placing it on his coat where the fatal bullet had pierced his body.

The property was also in the midst of fighting on June 8, 1862. That morning – shortly before the Battle of Cross Keys broke out a short distance to the north – Union troops under Col. Samuel Carroll, the vanguard of General James Shields’ column, came crashing into town and almost captured Stonewall Jackson. As the Union raiders attempted to reach the North River Bridge, a brief but sharp action ensued with cannon and small arms fire erupting throughout the lower town – with the Kemper House caught in the middle. The following day, June 9, 1862, Confederate troops swirled around the Kemper property as they struggled across a makeshift bridge over the South River before being rushed into the fighting in what would become the Battle of Port Republic. We are rushing to the defense of history at Cross Keys and Port Republic! Today, the former Kemper home now houses a museum, the only visitor site open to the public on the Port Republic battlefield. Our work to save the property from an uncertain fate will allow us to preserve the property with protective easements and deed restrictions, preserve the museum as the community resource and visitor service destination that it is, and establish the first parcel of preserved ground within the village of Port Republic. It is our hope that gaining a foothold for preservation at the Kemper property will result in the preservation of more of this wartime streetscape. If you haven’t visited Port Republic, you can’t adequately understand how important it is to save this battlefield and the town in its center. The handful of streets that make up the community are some of the last examples of largely intact prewar streetscapes in the Valley. Chickens freely roam from yard to yard, and pigs and horses are housed behind early 19th century homes, much as they would have been in 1862. You can really get a sense of place in Port Republic. Being there strips away the years and allows you to imagine the war as it played out in front of terrified civilians. In recent years, an increasing number of people from outside the area have moved into Port Republic and onto the battlefield. Many have brought with them a different opinion of the Civil War than the one traditionally held by families that had called Port Republic home. As local memory fades, a less favorable view of Civil War history is threatening our battlefields from within. By preserving the Kemper property, you and I are ensuring that there will forever be a place to learn about the battle and the Civil War in Port Republic, while also continuing the outstanding work of the Society of Port Republic Preservationists.

While we have been working to preserve the Kemper property, we have also been engaged in a separate effort to negotiate for the preservation of a Confederate monument. The monument has been moved to our property along Mill Creek Ridge on the Cross Keys Battlefield. Originally constructed to honor the Confederate soldiers from Talbot County, Maryland, the monument was taken down from in front of the county courthouse in Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The SVBF had hoped that it would be allowed to remain in its original location, and when it was determined that it was coming down, we worked behind the scenes to find an option for the monument to be relocated within Talbot County. But in the end, elected county officials would not agree to any arrangement that would keep the monument in the county, and we agreed to re-erect it as a monument to the Maryland troops who fought at the Battle of Cross Keys.

The monument was moved at the county’s expense (they raised private funds to pay for it) and now rests in the Valley, on the same ridge where Maryland troops – the 1st Maryland Infantry regiment and the Baltimore Light Artillery – fought during the battle. Today, the bronze soldier peers intently across the battlefield, forever ready, forever watchful, and now, because of you and I, forever protected. These two initiatives, saving the Kemper property and saving the Maryland monument, are just the latest example of what is becoming a major part of our work – holding the line for history by taking on the tough projects while others fade to the rear, head for cover, or fold under the weight of repeated attacks. And make no mistake, history IS under attack. Whether it’s the ravages of time; the pressures of development; the focus of public education or destructive political policies, the results are the same – vestiges of our American History, especially those related to the Civil War, are vanishing every day. And what’s worse is that it’s now becoming less shocking, more commonplace, and almost acceptable in America. The same people who were outraged just a year ago now seem almost resigned to the eventuality of defeat and to the loss of our national treasures. Well, not here. Not in this office. And not in this Valley. The Battlefields Foundation has been embracing the responsibility of its total mission and doing all that it can on multiple fronts to save as much as we can before it’s too late. While other organizations have watched from a safe distance or made lukewarm efforts, the Battlefields Foundation – ON YOUR BEHALF – has surged forward into the fight. With the stakes so high, there is no time for indecision and no room for timidity. We are continually bombarded with requests for assistance because very few others are willing or able to help. But all of this comes at a very real cost, and we don’t have the room in our budget to continue without your help. We are doing all that we can to increase our donor base – the number of people who support our work on a regular basis – and it’s working. But no matter how many join our fight, we’ll never win without you – our grizzled veterans of preservation. It’s you and I who have fought battle after battle together, and I need you in the center of the line for this fight. I need you to help me save the Port Republic Museum and protect forever the Maryland Monument at Cross Keys. I need you to contribute today to help us do more of this type of work while at the same time preserving acre after acre of battlefield. Our task gets broader with every passing day. We’re faced with saving massive swaths of battleground while at the same time propping up struggling Civil War sites, protecting monuments, working with educators and policy makers, advocating for the importance of continued state and federal investment in history and battlefield preservation, and on and on and on. But here is the good news, and the amazing truth that keeps us charging forward: the impact that you and I are having on the preservation of battlefields and of American memory itself is absolutely enormous. We are holding the line. Like Jackson’s small army deployed across the battlefields at Cross Keys and Port Republic 160 years ago, we’re outnumbered, defending on multiple fronts and from threats from all sides. We’re worn thin by hard marching and hard fighting, but in the end, we, too, will protect this Valley, preserving forever the lessons these fields can teach and the memory of those who fought here. I’m asking you to come in strong with your contribution and help us reach our goal of $160,000 before the 160th anniversary. All this work stops without you; with you, we can continue to preserve and protect these irreplaceable parts of American History.

See you at the front,

Keven M. Walker
Chief Executive Office

To donate to our mission to save this important history at Cross Keys and Port Republic, simply fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation is a registered Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and contributions are tax-deductible.

The Kemper House (Port Republic)

The (Frank) Kemper House was built as a home for Benjamin Franklin Kemper and his wife, Eliza Holbrook Kemper, about 1835. Originally a one room building with a side hall, the larger part of the structure was added over the next 10 years. In addition to being the Kempers’ residence, it also used as an inn and tavern for travelers, primarily for river boatmen. When Confederate Gen. Turner Ashby was killed near Harrisonburg on June 6, 1862, his body was brought to Port Republic, where Stonewall Jackson had made his headquarters at Madison Hall. (Madison Hall was the home of Frank Kemper’s father, Dr. George Whitefield Kemper, Sr.) Ashby’s body was taken to the Frank Kemper House, where the women of the village prepared his body for burial, placing a red rose over his fatal wound. The body was laid in the front corner room of the house, under a window, where Confederate troops passed to pay their respects. Jackson himself, who had a sometimes-rocky relationship with Ashby, reportedly told one young boy, “Son, there lies the best General a man ever had.” When Federal troops surprised Jackson’s rearguard by storming into Port Republic on the morning of June 8, 1862 (the same day as the Battle of Cross Keys to the north), the chaotic action swarmed around the village – and the Frank Kemper House – with cavalry galloping through town, attacks and counterattacks, opposing cannon trading fire down main street, and Jackson himself narrowly escaping capture. Port Republic would be visited by war again two years later when Union troops under Gen. David H. Hunter marched into the village on June 4, 1864, burning the woolen mills in the community and capturing Confederate troops and supplies. The next day Hunter would continue south and win a decisive victory at Piedmont.

After the war, the Frank Kemper House was used for various purposes, including as a tea room and a boarding house. The Society of Port Republic Preservationists purchased the building in 1992 and then converted it into the Port Republic Museum, a museum and visitor center that tells the story of the historic river town, including the years when the Civil War descended on the village. The Battlefields Foundation – which has helped support the museum’s work with over $48,000 in grant funds over the years – is proud to take up the responsibility of protecting this historic building and telling the remarkable history of Port Republic.

The Talbot Monument and the 1st Maryland (Cross Keys)

The “Talbot Boys Monument” was erected in front of the Talbot County Courthouse in Easton, Maryland, in 1916 to honor the men from Talbot County who fought in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. When the county voted in 2021 to take down the monument, and no alternate local site could be agreed upon, the SVBF agreed to accept the monument to use as a battlefield memorial to Maryland troops on the Cross Keys battlefield. Today, the monument has been re-erected on the SVBF’s “Artillery Ridge” property on Mill Creek Ridge, which was the main Confederate defensive position during the Battle of Cross Keys (June 8, 1862).

The 1st Maryland (CSA) had fought against the Union 1st Maryland in a “brother vs. brother” action at the Battle of Front Royal two weeks earlier. The Confederate Marylanders were also in the thick of the fighting where Turner Ashby was killed at Chestnut Ridge near Harrisonburg on June 6, 1862. Among the troops defending the ridgeline during the battle were the 1st Maryland Infantry Regiment (CSA) and the Baltimore Light Artillery, both positioned on what was initially the far left of the Confederate line.

To donate to our mission to save this important history at Cross Keys and Port Republic, simply fill out the form below.

The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation is a registered Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and contributions are tax-deductible.