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Virginia Land Conservation Foundation: Boon to Localities and Nonprofits

By Nathan Lott

The stone bridge abutment at the base of Fisher’s Hill where once the Valley Turnpike crossed Tumbling Run.

The author is the public relations specialist for the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Now . . .

Today, shallow trenches still run along the bluff of Fisher’s Hill. Trees rise from a circular depression where once a cannon thundered. Below, the line of the old road is visible against the hillside, a ribbon of white in the winter snow. A stone abutment beside Tumbling Run is all that remains of a bridge that saw pitched hand to hand combat.

John Hutchinson, resource protection manager for the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, walks through the trees, surveying the crest of Fisher’s Hill. “You can see the earthworks running there,” he said, pointing. “That line continues along the edge of the hilltop.” With him was Elizabeth Paradis Stern, the foundation’s manager for public and government relations.

Beaming with pride, they discuss the prospects for interpretive signage and visitor facilities on this battlefield, newly acquired with a $212,000 grant from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation (VLCF). The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) administers the foundation.

“From this perspective, you can see the road and really get a sense of how the battle happened,” Elizabeth Paradis Stern said. “This is the perfect vantage point for interpretation.”

Although the upgrades she envisions are many months away, the hilltop is already more picturesque than when the Battlefields Foundation acquired it last summer. “A former owner had dumped a lot of trash

Then . . .

In the autumn of 1864, two years after Stonewall Jackson famously repulsed Union troops from the Shenandoah Valley, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant determined to seize control of the Confederate Army’s breadbasket. He appointed Gen. Philip Sheridan to lead the assault.

The cavalryman orchestrated a charge that took Winchester on Sept. 19. The retreating Confederates dug in atop Fisher’s Hill, overlooking the Valley Turnpike. But despite the strength of their position, the Confederates were outnumbered and outflanked.

A month later, they mustered a surprise attack in the Battle of Cedar Creek. The advance faltered, however, and the Confederates were beaten back, firing as they fled along the turnpike. The Valley fell to the Union, presaging the fall of Richmond the following year.