Lynchburg Defenses

Lynchburg Defenses is a Virginia historical marker in Amherst County, dedicated 2018.

Amherst County · dedicated 2018 · Rte. 210, 350 feet west of intersection with Main Street

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Confederate earthworks and artillery positions, likely built by enslaved African Americans, were established near here late in 1863 to defend Lynchburg against attack from the north. On 12 June 1864, Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis T. Nicholls, commander of the post of Lynchburg, ordered local militia and convalescent soldiers into these works to repel a possible advance by Federal cavalry under Brig. Gen. Alfred Duffié, but the Federals turned away before reaching this point. Soon after, Nicholls's men moved into defensive works in Lynchburg. Reinforced by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early’s corps, they helped repel Union Maj. Gen. David Hunter's assault from the southwest on 17-18 June.

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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