Hanging Rocks
Encyclopedia
- This article is about Hanging Rocks, for Hanging Rock see Hanging RockHanging Rock- Australia :* Hanging Rock, New South Wales, a mining village on the Northern Tablelands* Hanging Rock, Victoria, a rock formation**Picnic at Hanging Rock , a 1967 novel by Australian author Joan Lindsay...
.
Hanging Rocks are perpendicular cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s rising nearly 300 feet (91.4 m) above the South Branch Potomac River in Hampshire County
Hampshire County, West Virginia
Hampshire County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,964. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town . Hampshire County was created by the Virginia General Assembly on December 13, 1753, from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties ...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. Hanging Rocks are located four miles (6 km) north of Romney
Romney, West Virginia
Romney is a city in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,940 at the 2000 census, while the area covered by the city's ZIP code had a population of 5,873. It is a city with a very historic background dating back to the 18th century...
at Wappocomo
Wappocomo, West Virginia
Wappocomo is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The community is located south of Springfield on West Virginia Route 28 at Hanging Rocks along the South Branch Potomac River...
on West Virginia Route 28. Hanging Rocks has also been known throughout its history as Painted Rocks and Blue's Rocks. When distinguished from the "Lower Hanging Rocks" along the South Branch at Blues Beach
Blues Beach, West Virginia
Blue Beach is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Blue Beach is a predominantly river camp community located south of Springfield and north of Wappocomo on West Virginia Route 28 along the South Branch Potomac River...
to the north, Hanging Rocks is referred to as Upper Hanging Rocks.
Geology
Hanging Rocks is arranged in the form of three anticlinalAnticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
arches, of which the most eastern spans 250, the second 550, and the third 220 yards in width. Hanging Rocks consists of anticlinal stratified
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
layers. The upper stratum of rocks is Monterey and Oriskany sandstone. Immediately below the Monterey and Oriskany (Ridgeley)
Ridgeley sandstone
The Ridgeley sandstone is a sandstone or quartzite of Devonian age found in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia, USA. The Ridgeley is fine-grained, siliceous, calcareous in its lower strata, sometimes fossiliferous, and sometimes locally pebbly or...
sandstone lies a layer of chert
Chert
Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements...
y limestone known as Lewiston chert-lentil which consists of a conglomeration of brachiopod
Brachiopod
Brachiopods are a phylum of marine animals that have hard "valves" on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection...
s. Atop Hanging Rocks is a level bench of land devoid of stone and containing fine rich soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
.
At the western end of the Hanging Rocks formation lies an exposure of fine black to drab shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
s also containing small concretion
Concretion
A concretion is a volume of sedimentary rock in which a mineral cement fills the porosity . Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin con meaning 'together' and crescere meaning 'to grow'...
s and some fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s. Contained in one of the shale layers are numerous specimens of Phacops cristata
Phacops
Phacops is a genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida, family Phacopidae that lived in Europe and North American in the Silurian and Devonian periods. It was a rounded animal, with a globosa head and large eyes, and probably fed on detritus...
Hall. A volume of The Journal of Geology
The Journal of Geology
The Journal of Geology publishes research on geology, geophysics, geochemistry, sedimentology, geomorphology, petrology, plate tectonics, volcanology, structural geology, mineralogy, and planetary sciences...
published by the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1915 noted the following additional species collected in the layers of Hanging Rocks shale:
- Stropheodonta sp.
- Chonetes cf. lepidus Hall
- Dalmanella lenticularis (Vanuxem)
- Cyrtina hamiltonensis (?) Hall
- Ambocoelia umbonata (Conrad)
- Styliolina fissurella (Hall)
Of the aforementioned fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
, Dalmanella lenticularis (Vanuxem) is confined to the Onondaga formation
Onondaga (geological formation)
The Onondaga Formation is a group of hard limestones and dolostones of Devonian age that form an important geographic feature in some areas in which it outcrops, in others; especially its Southern Ontario portion, the formation can be less prominent as a local surface feature.In upstate New York...
; Cyrtina hamiltonensis Hall occurs in the Onondaga, Hamilton
Hamilton Group
The Devonian Hamilton Group is a mapped bedrock unit in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia. In Virginia, it is known as the laterally equivalent Millboro Shale.The group is named for the village of Hamilton, New York...
, and Portage formations; Ambocoelia umbonata (Conrad) from the Onondaga to the Chemung inclusive; Styliolina fissurella (Hall) in the southern Onondaga shale, Marcellus
Marcellus Formation
The Marcellus Formation is a unit of marine sedimentary rock found in eastern North America...
, Genesee, and Portage black shales; and Phacops cristata Hall elsewhere in the Onondaga. The Journal of Geology
The Journal of Geology
The Journal of Geology publishes research on geology, geophysics, geochemistry, sedimentology, geomorphology, petrology, plate tectonics, volcanology, structural geology, mineralogy, and planetary sciences...
concluded that the Romney shales present at both Hanging Rocks and Mechanicsburg Gap
Mechanicsburg Gap
Mechanicsburg Gap is a water gap mountain pass through Mill Creek Mountain in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia....
represent the southwestern continuation of the Onondaga limestone, Marcellus shale, and Hamilton formation of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
The Hanging Rocks formation lies within a deep and narrow gap
Water gap
A water gap is an opening or notch which flowing water has carved through a mountain range. Water gaps often offer a practical route for road and rail transport to cross mountain ridges.- Geology :...
in Mill Creek Mountain
Mill Creek Mountain
Mill Creek Mountain is a continuous mountain ridge that runs northeast through Hampshire and Hardy counties in the Eastern Panhandle region of the U.S. state of West Virginia. Rising to its greatest elevation of 2,648 feet above sea-level at High Knob, Mill Creek is a folded mountain ridge,...
formed by the South Branch Potomac River. The distance through the gap at Hanging Rocks is five-eighths of a mile. The South Branch flowed in its present course as Mill Creek Mountain formed and slowly cut away at the mountain to expose Hanging Rocks.
The gap at Hanging Rocks is one of four gaps in Mill Creek Mountain, the others being Mechanicsburg Gap
Mechanicsburg Gap
Mechanicsburg Gap is a water gap mountain pass through Mill Creek Mountain in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia....
, the Lower Hanging Rocks gap at Blue Beach
Blues Beach, West Virginia
Blue Beach is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Blue Beach is a predominantly river camp community located south of Springfield and north of Wappocomo on West Virginia Route 28 along the South Branch Potomac River...
, and the gap at the North Branch Potomac River to the west of its confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
with the South Branch to form the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
.
Battle between the Delawares and the Catawbas
Hanging Rocks was originally the site of a Native American village, most likely either Delaware or SenecaSeneca nation
The Seneca are a group of indigenous people native to North America. They were the nation located farthest to the west within the Six Nations or Iroquois League in New York before the American Revolution. While exact population figures are unknown, approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Seneca live in...
. As such, it served as the scene of a fierce battle between Delaware and Catawba
Catawba (tribe)
The Catawba are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. They live in the Southeast United States, along the border between North and South Carolina near the city of Rock Hill...
Native Americans. A large party of Delawares had invaded the territory of the Catawbas, taken several prisoners, and commenced their retreat homewards. The retreating Delawares halted at Hanging Rocks and commenced fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
in the South Branch. The Catawbas, in close pursuit, discovered the Delawares and sent a party across the river to their rear and a party to their front, thus enclosing them. A bloody battle ensued resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Delaware. It is believed very few Delawares escaped the massacre.
Archaeological sites
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
line along the base of Hanging Rocks in the 1880s.
Skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
s of "gigantic size" were exhumed from a purported village and burial site on the farm of Mr. Herriott opposite the South Branch and below Hanging Rocks, providing further evidence of a Native American presence at Hanging Rocks gap. In addition to skeletons, numerous fireplace
Fireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...
s, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
hatchet
Hatchet
A hatchet is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade used to cut and split wood...
s, glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
bead
Bead
A bead is a small, decorative object that is usually pierced for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under to over in diameter. A pair of beads made from Nassarius sea snail shells, approximately 100,000 years old, are thought to be the earliest known examples of jewellery. Beadwork...
s, and brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
ornaments
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
.
Persons well-versed in the history of the region assert that the Native American peoples occupying this village were a branch of the Seneca. There were formerly many stone mound
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
s along the foot of the hill to the rear of this village, however, all of them have now been removed. Some of them were along the hillside a few feet above the margin of the level bottom; others were on the level but nowhere more than 50 or 60 feet (18.3 m) from the foot of the hill. The mounds varied in height from two to eight feet in diameter from 12 or 15 to 40 or 50 feet (15.2 m) and were composed entirely of stone. All except the smallest ones had a depression at the top as if they had contained a vault or pen of logs whose decay had allowed the rocks to settle. Fragmentary bones were found in many of the mounds lying on the original surface. Very few art relics were found at the mounds site. One contained a pipe with a wolf's head carved on it. A cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
on the hillside near the schoolhouse on the Herriott farm contained some decayed bones.
European settlement
The area surrounding Hanging Rocks was settled by EuropeanEuropean American
A European American is a citizen or resident of the United States who has origins in any of the original peoples of Europe...
settlers around the mid-18th century. Trees had been cleared from the rocks before the arrival of settlers. Early residents in its vicinity referred to Hanging Rocks as "Painted Rocks" because of the colorful figures and formations within its strata. The colors and figures, once thought to be Native American, were produced through geologic processes including the seepage of water through the rock. During the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, two frontier stockade
Stockade
A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls made of logs placed side by side vertically with the tops sharpened to provide security.-Stockade as a security fence:...
s were constructed in close proximity to Hanging Rocks for the defense of the South Branch Valley: Fort Williams in 1754 two miles (3 km) to the north and Fort Foreman one mile (1.6 km) to the south.
Francis Asbury
Francis Asbury
Bishop Francis Asbury was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now The United Methodist Church in the United States...
, one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
, passed by Hanging Rocks during his travels in the South Branch Valley, which he described as a country of "mountains and natural curiosities." Asbury gave a description of Hanging Rocks in his journal
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
on 10 June 1781:
Transportation
The Moorefield and North Branch TurnpikeMoorefield and North Branch Turnpike
Moorefield and North Branch Turnpike was a turnpike in the U.S. state of Virginia built to facilitate travel and commerce between the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Green Spring on the North Branch Potomac River and Moorefield...
(later known as the North and South Branches Turnpike) wagon road connecting Romney
Romney, West Virginia
Romney is a city in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,940 at the 2000 census, while the area covered by the city's ZIP code had a population of 5,873. It is a city with a very historic background dating back to the 18th century...
and Cumberland
Cumberland, Maryland
Cumberland is a city in the far western, Appalachian portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
once occupied the narrow space between the South Branch and Hanging Rocks. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...
(currently the South Branch Valley Railroad
South Branch Valley Railroad
The South Branch Valley Railroad consists of a 52.4 mile length of railroad in the U.S. state of West Virginia extending north along the South Branch Potomac River from Petersburg to the CSXT mainline at Green Spring adjacent to the Potomac River...
) later shared the narrow space, which has varied between 40 feet (12.2 m) and 100 feet (30.5 m) in width, along with the pike after its completion to Romney from Green Spring
Green Spring, West Virginia
Green Spring is an unincorporated census-designated place and railroad town in Hampshire County, West Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 218. Green Spring is located north of Springfield on Green Spring Road near the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Potomac...
in 1884. The pike later became West Virginia Route 28 and was rerouted to the east of Mill Creek Mountain. The old Romney and Cumberland Pike span at the base of Hanging Rocks was reclassified as West Virginia Secondary Route 28/15 and is currently named Harriott-Wappocomo Road.
American Civil War
On 19 June 1861, Captain John Q. Winfield wrote from his encampment at Hanging Rocks: Captain Winfield's letter illustrated Hanging Rocks' proximity to some of Hampshire County's wealthiest families and their plantations including George William Washington and his son Robert M. Washington's RidgedaleWashington Bottom Farm
Washington Bottom Farm is a 19th century Greek Revival plantation house and farm on a plateau overlooking the South Branch Potomac River north of Romney, West Virginia, United States. The populated area adjacent to Washington Bottom Farm is known as Ridgedale...
, Colonel Isaac Parsons' Wappocomo
Wappocomo (plantation)
Wappocomo is a late 18th-century Georgian mansion overlooking the South Branch Potomac River north of Romney, West Virginia, United States. Wappocomo lies along West Virginia Route 28 and the South Branch Valley Railroad...
, the Vance family's Ashbrook, and the Parsons and Inskeep families' The Rocks. General Turner Ashby
Turner Ashby
Turner Ashby, Jr. was a Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War. He had achieved prominence as Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's cavalry commander, in the grade of colonel, in the Shenandoah Valley before he was killed in battle in 1862...
and his command occupied the Washington family's Ridgedale to the north of Hanging Rocks.
Battle of Hanging Rocks Pass
A major skirmish, known as the Battle of Hanging Rocks Pass, took place at Hanging Rocks on Tuesday morning 24 September 1861. The skirmish took place between the ConfederateConfederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
Hampshire Militia led by Colonel McDonald and several companies of Union
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
troops under the command of Colonel Cantwell of the 82nd Ohio Infantry
82nd Ohio Infantry
The 82nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Service:The 82nd Ohio Infantry was organized in Kenton, Ohio October through December 1861 and mustered in on December 31, 1861 for three years service under the command of Colonel James...
.
On the evening of 23 September 1861, Colonel McDonald received information that Union forces planned an attempt to pass through the gap at Hanging Rocks early the next morning. Upon learning of this, McDonald and his 26 other men of the Hampshire Militia climbed to the top of Hanging Rocks in the early morning of 24 September in preparation for the arrival of Union troops. McDonald also sent a scouting party down the South Branch on the night of 23 September.
Hanging Rocks was a strategic location during the American Civil War. Troops traveling between Romney and points north, including Cumberland and Green Spring, naturally utilized the Romney and Cumberland Pike at the base of Hanging Rocks. In addition, the shallow nature of the South Branch at Hanging Rocks created a crossing
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
which allowed for a secondary connection of the Romney and Cumberland Pike to the Northwestern Turnpike
Northwestern Turnpike
The Northwestern Turnpike is a historic road in West Virginia , important for being historically one of the major roads crossing the Appalachians, financed by the Virginia Board of Public Works in the 1830s. In modern times, west of Winchester, Virginia, U.S...
at Mechanicsburg
Mechanicsburg, West Virginia
Mechanicsburg is an unincorporated community in Hampshire County, West Virginia, in the United States. It is located on the Northwestern Turnpike west of Romney at Mill Creek Gap . Mechanicsburg is the site of "The Burg" , used as a headquarters by both armies during the American Civil War...
via Fox Hollow.
Upon taking to the summit, McDonald and his men piled boulder
Boulder
In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....
s at the precipice of Hanging Rocks' cliffs to hurl at Union troops marching on the pike below. The Confederates completed their preparations by daybreak. McDonald instructed his men to be careful not to mistake their returning scouting party for the advancing Union troops.
Shortly after daybreak, Union cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
(a company of Ringgold Cavalry) crossed the ford on the South Branch at the north end of Hanging Rocks pass and its columns
Column (formation)
A military column is a formation of soldiers marching together in one or more files in which the file is significantly longer than the width of ranks in the formation...
marched onto the pike below the awaiting Confederate militamen. Initially, the Confederates atop the rocks lied flat trying to ascertain through the fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
whether the approaching cavalry were their returning scouting party. The Union troops at the base of Hanging Rocks were naturally suspicious of the strategic location and were on high alert as they crossed the ford and made their way onto the pike. The Union troops noticed heads of the Confederate militamen peering over the cliffs and fired upon them. The Confederates responded to the firing by hurling the boulders onto the road below causing the Union cavalry to hastily retreat down the pike and across the ford. In their hasty retreat, several the Union cavarly ran over their infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
men forcing them into the river, where at least five drowned.
Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
H. B. Hedge of the Ringgold Cavalry Company made the following record in his journal about the incident:
The bodies of approximately a dozen Union soldiers were interred in the sand of the South Branch's western bank following the skirmish. High water the following Saturday 28 September washed additional bodies down the river which were also retrieved from the South Branch and buried.
The Confederates were unaware, because of the earlier fog and the false report of a Union advance, that the Union troops were actually in retreat upon their arrival at Hanging Rocks. The Confederates left Hanging Rocks gap and pulled back to Romney.