Welcome to the Winchester-Frederick County Civil War Trail sponsored by the Winchester-Frederick County Convention and Visitors Bureau (WFCCVB)
What better way to commemorate our area’s Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Civil War than with a Civil War geo-trail! Come learn about our area’s involvement in the Civil War and explore all that the Winchester-Frederick County area has to offer.
This trail is comprised of 20 cache sites that are part of the Virginia Civil War Trails Program. Learn more about Civil War Trails by visiting www.CivilWarTrails.org. The Winchester-Frederick County Visitors Center is located at 1400 S. Pleasant Valley Road, Winchester, VA 22601. The Visitors Center is open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed on major holidays.
Update 2017: This trail is now comprised of 28 caches. :)
The cache you are searching for is a daylight hours only cache.
Thanks to TheStineTrio for hiding this cache.
PLEASE DO NOT DROP ANY TRACKABLES HERE: This cache is known to the neighborhood muggles and they will steal TB's and swag.
Star Fort
Star Fort is a star shaped earthen fortification built during the Civil War in 1862 by a Confederate regiment from Alabama. At that time the fort was called Fort Alabama. After being captured by Union troops the fort was renamed Star Fort. The star shaped design made defending Star Fort easier than other shapes. The interior of the fort covers nearly 3 acres and includes a bomb-proof area where soldiers would huddle together when under attack. Surrounding the exterior of the fort are trenches. Harpers Ferry lies approximately 25 miles north east of Star Fort and is one of the many panoramic views that can be seen from the fort. Star Fort like Winchester changed hands many times during the Civil War.
Three times during the Civil War, Star Fort played a major role in the defense of Winchester. Union Gen. Robert H. Milroy’s troops began constructing the fort in January 1863 on the site of artillery emplacements Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s men had built in 1861. Milroy, a fervent abolitionist, used stone from the nearby home of U.S. Senator James Mason, author of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. Star Fort commanded the Martinsville Turnpike and the Pughtown Road.
In June 1863, Gen. Robert E. Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia here in his second invasion of the North. On June 14, in the Second Battle of Winchester, Confederate Gen. Richard S. Ewell’s corps spearheaded Lee’s advance, forcing Milroy into the Winchester forts. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s division captured West Fort and shelled Star Fort, which fired in return. “The guns in the Star Fort greeted them,” wrote one of Milroy’s soldiers, “with shell after shell planted among them with astonishing precision.” Milroy withdrew that night. Most of his men surrendered at Stephenson’s Depot the next day, and then were held temporarily at Star Fort.
A year later, on July 24, 1864, Union Gen. George Cook fought a delaying action here while retreating north after the Second Battle of Kernstown.
Star Fort figured prominently in the Third Battle of Winchester on September 19, 1864, when detachments of Early’s cavalry and horse artillery held it to guard his army’s left flank. Union Col. James M. Schoonmaker’s cavalry brigade twice charged the fort, then dismounted and stormed it. Schoonmaker received the Medal of Honor for his actions.