There has never been a more wretched hive of murder and villainy than existed in the vicinity of Front Royal in the fall of 1864.
Union Brig. General Wesley Merritt described the area as a “…paradise of bushwhackers and guerrillas.” Soldiers and civilians were murdered everywhere in cold blood while either traveling along the roads or in their homes.
From August through October of 1864 a host of demons descended upon the Front Royal community. Federal and Confederate Raiders roamed the countryside, essentially operating under the black flag of anarchy, giving no quarter. Each side executed prisoners and dragged them through the streets. Meanwhile, deserters and marauding bands of outlaws flourished in the mass disorder, and rape and looting went unchecked for months. Refugee women and children trudging northward from burning farms with all their belongings were easy prey for bushwhacking outlaws.
More....
The Scarecrow of Hazard Mill
This was my town/area in 1864.....The opening sentence is not too far off the mark.......The town also had a well-known nickname by the 1790s, "Helltown," due to the many livestock wranglers and boatmen on the Shenandoah coming through the area, who came into town looking for alcohol.
Union Brig. General Wesley Merritt described the area as a “…paradise of bushwhackers and guerrillas.” Soldiers and civilians were murdered everywhere in cold blood while either traveling along the roads or in their homes.
From August through October of 1864 a host of demons descended upon the Front Royal community. Federal and Confederate Raiders roamed the countryside, essentially operating under the black flag of anarchy, giving no quarter. Each side executed prisoners and dragged them through the streets. Meanwhile, deserters and marauding bands of outlaws flourished in the mass disorder, and rape and looting went unchecked for months. Refugee women and children trudging northward from burning farms with all their belongings were easy prey for bushwhacking outlaws.
More....
The Scarecrow of Hazard Mill
This was my town/area in 1864.....The opening sentence is not too far off the mark.......The town also had a well-known nickname by the 1790s, "Helltown," due to the many livestock wranglers and boatmen on the Shenandoah coming through the area, who came into town looking for alcohol.
