Battle of Cross Keys
Historical highway marker D-6 · Rockingham County
Early in June 1862, Union forces under Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont and Brig. Gen. James Shields pursued Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson up the Shenandoah Valley. About three miles south of here, on Mill Creek near the village of Cross Keys, Frémont attacked Jackson's advance guard under Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell on 8 June. The outnumbered Confederates counterattacked and drove the Federals from the field. The next day, Jackson defeated Shields at Port Republic, about six miles south of here, ending the 1862 Shenandoah Valley campaign.
Department of Historic Resources, 2017