Group Aims To Save Jackson's First Valley Action Site
By Deborah Fitts

FALLING WATERS, W.Va. — A log house that witnessed the first blast of artillery in the Shenandoah Valley is the focus of a preservation effort by a fledgling organization with high ambitions.

The nonprofit Falling Waters Battlefield Foundation wants to purchase the house, built in 1763 by Davy Crockett’s grandfather John Crockett, and the surrounding 14 acres. A battle here on July 2, 1861, kicked off the wartime careers of two of the Confederacy’s most celebrated commanders, Thomas J. Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart.

“Development is rampant in Berkeley County,” said foundation president Tom Ressler, a retired Maryland prison guard who has headed the 42-member organization since March. “If we can’t come up with the money, the property will be lost.”

The parcel, adjacent to the old Valley Pike (Route 11), is about three miles north of Martinsburg.

The Catholic Diocese of Wheeling purchased the property in 1996 with the intention of building a church, Ressler said, but they have since changed their minds. The diocese is offering it for sale for $1.6 million, which Ressler said was about twice the amount of an appraisal procured in July by the foundation.

“We’re in the early steps of trying to work out a deal,” he said. By Sept. 1, “We will go to them to present a bid.”
The foundation’s effort got a boost in May when county commissioners pledged $100,000 toward the purchase. Ressler is also hoping that the county’s farmland-protection program may buy an easement on the land surrounding the house.

If the foundation is successful, Ressler envisions rebuilding the farm to its likely 1861 appearance, with outbuildings, a stable, smokehouse and the like, and creating a farm museum with period implements, gardens, and demonstrations of farming life.

The log house would be restored, and modern siding removed to expose the logs that Ressler has been told still bear the marks of battle. An early-1900s addition to the house would be used to display battle artifacts gleaned from the property.

At the time of the war the farm was owned by the Porterfield family. It became the epicenter of the fight as Jackson moved to block a Union advance southward from Williamsport, Md. When the Federals crossed the Potomac in the direction of Martinsburg, Stuart alerted Jackson at his camp to the south, and Jackson marched north to meet them.

Jackson set up his battle line at the Porterfield farm, with sharpshooters in the windows of the house, and cannon, which he brought with him from the Virginia Military Institute, in the yard. But his force of 400 was outnumbered by about 3,500 Union soldiers, and after two hours of fighting, Jackson pulled back.

Stuart distinguished himself by nearly single-handedly capturing four dozen men of the 15th Pennsylvania Infantry, whom he surprised in nearby Stumpy Hollow when he rode up to them, still in his blue Union uniform, and pulled his pistol. Of 48 Pennsylvanians three were killed, including two at the hands of “negro cavalrymen” under Stuart’s command, according to Jackson’s official report.

Anyone wishing to donate towards purchase of the Falling Waters battlefield, or wishing to join the foundation, may contact the group at FWBA, P.O. Box 339, Falling Waters, WV 25419. Members will receive a quarterly newsletter. Information is also available on the group’s Web site, www.battleoffallingwaters.com.