Cavalry Engagement

Cavalry Engagement is a Virginia historical marker in Rockingham County, dedicated 2016.

Rte. 11, south of Martz Road

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Union Brig. Gen. George Custer and Confederate Brig. Gen. Thomas Rosser, classmates and close friends at West Point, led their cavalry divisions against one another several times during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1864. Custer bested Rosser at Tom's Brook on 9 Oct. and again at Cedar Creek on 19 Oct. On the night of 20 Dec., Custer’s division camped here at Lacey Spring while on its way to Staunton. Rosser, by then a major general, launched a surprise attack early the next morning. Following a sharp skirmish, Custer withdrew to the north. In 1873 Custer, commanding the 7th U.S. Cavalry, and Rosser, a railroad engineer, renewed their friendship in the Dakota Territory.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1859 · Virginia (Herman Boye, 1859) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1864 · Central Virginia showing Lieut. Gen'l. U.S. Grant's Campaign and marches of the armies… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1865 · Central Virginia showing Lieut Gen'l U.S. Grant's Campaign and Marches. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1869 · Colton's West Virginia (1869) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1892 · Woodstock, Virginia (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Central Virginia showing Lieut Gen'l U.S. Grant's Campaign and Marches, 1865, covering the location of Cavalry Engagement, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Central Virginia showing Lieut Gen'l U.S. Grant's Campaign and Marches, 1865, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Cavalry Engagement

Historical maps covering this location

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