Fisher's Hill was a Civil War engagement fought in Virginia, 1864. It was a Union victory.
Early's army, bloodied by its defeat at Opequon (Third Winchester) on September 19, took up a strong defensive position at Fisher's Hill, south of Strasburg. On September 21, the Union army advanced, driving back the skirmishers and capturing important high ground. On the 22nd, Crook's Corps moved along North Mountain to outflank Early and attacked about 4 pm. The Confederate cavalry offered little resistance, and the startled infantry were unable to face the attacking force. The Confederate defense collapsed from west to east as Sheridan's other corps join in the assault. Early retreated to Rockfish Gap near Waynesboro, opening the Valley to a Union "scorched earth" invasion. Mills and barns from Staunton to Strasburg were burned in what became known as the "Burning" or "Red October."
Near Strasburg, Virginia, Union and Confederate forces clashed on September 21 and 22, 1864, in an engagement known as the Battle of Fisher's Hill, one of the actions belonging to the Valley Campaigns of 1864 fought during the American Civil War. Although Lt. Gen. Jubal Early's Confederate army held ground that offered considerable defensive advantages, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's Union Army of the Shenandoah managed to overcome those obstacles and hand Early's forces a defeat.
In the Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan commanded nearly 35,000 troops against Early's force, which numbered just under 10,000. After the Third Battle of Winchester, Early settled his army into a formidable defensive line. His right flank anchored on the North Branch of the Shenandoah River, while his infantry's left flank held Fisher's Hill. Confederate horsemen were counted on to extend that line across to Little North Mountain. Maj. Gen. George Crook proposed to Sheridan that this arrangement could be outflanked. Crook's men received orders to push through the timbered mountainside and strike the Confederate cavalry there.
Around 4 p.m. on September 22, 1864, Crook launched his assault, and the advancing infantry brushed aside the Confederate cavalry blocking their path. In response, Maj. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur attempted to pull back his division's left flank to shield it from the onslaught. That effort failed to hold, as Crook's men, joined by Brig. Gen. James B. Ricketts's division from Horatio G. Wright's VI Corps, drove into Ramseur's position and forced it to buckle. The collapse spread further when Wright's other divisions, together with the XIX Corps, shattered what remained of the Confederate line.
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