Battle of Port Republic The Battle of Port Republic was fought on June 9 , 1862 , in Rockingham County , Virginia , as part of Confederate Army Maj . Gen . Thomas J . " Stonewall " Jackson ' s campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War . Port Republic was a fierce contest between two equally determined foes and was the most costly battle fought by Jackson ' s Army of the Valley during its campaign . Together , the battles of Cross Keys ( fought the previous day ) and Port Republic were the decisive victories in Jackson ' s Valley Campaign , forcing the Union armies to retreat and leaving Jackson free to reinforce Gen . Robert E . Lee for the Seven Days Battles outside Richmond , Virginia . Background . During the night of June 8 – 9 , 1862 , Brig . Gen . Charles S . Winder ' s Stonewall Brigade was withdrawn from its forward position near Bogota ( a large house owned by Gabriel Jones ) and rejoined Jackson ' s division at Port Republic . Confederate pioneers built a bridge of wagons across the South Fork of the Shenandoah River at Port Republic . Winder ' s brigade was assigned the task of spearheading the assault against Union forces east of the river . Brig . Gen . Isaac R . Trimble ' s brigade and elements of Col . John M . Patton , Jr . ' s , were left to delay Maj . Gen . John C . Frémont ' s forces at Cross Keys , while the rest of Maj . Gen . Richard S . Ewell ' s division marched to Port Republic to be in position to support Winder ' s attack . Brig . Gen . Erastus B . Tyler ' s brigade joined Col . Samuel Carroll ' s brigade north of Lewiston on the Luray Road . The rest of Brig . Gen . James Shields ' s division was strung out along the muddy roads back to Luray . General Tyler , in command on the field , advanced at dawn of June 9 to the vicinity of Lewiston . He anchored the left of his line on a battery positioned on the Lewiston Coaling , extending his infantry west along Lewiston Lane to the South Fork near the site of Lewis ' s Mill . The right and center were supported by artillery , 16 guns in all . Battle . Winder ' s brigade crossed the river by 5 a . m . and deployed to attack east across the bottomland . Winder sent two regiments ( 2nd Virginia and 4th Virginia ) into the woods to flank the Union line and assault the Coaling . When the main Confederate battle line advanced , it came under heavy fire from the Union artillery and was soon pinned down . Confederate batteries were brought forward onto the plain but were outgunned and forced to seek safer positions . Ewell ' s brigades were hurried forward to cross the river . Seeing the strength of the Union artillery at the Coaling , Jackson sent Richard Taylor ' s brigade ( including the famed Louisiana Tigers ) to the right into the woods to support the flanking column that was attempting to advance through the thick underbrush . Winder ' s brigade renewed its assault on the Union right and center , taking heavy casualties . General Tyler moved two regiments from the Coaling to his right and launched a counterattack , driving Confederate forces back nearly half a mile . While this was occurring , the first Confederate regiments probed the defenses of the Coaling , but were repulsed . Finding resistance fiercer than anticipated , Jackson ordered the last of Ewell ' s forces still north of Port Republic to cross the rivers and burn the North Fork bridge . These reinforcements began to reach Winder , strengthening his line and stopping the Union counterattack . Taylor ' s brigade reached a position in the woods across from the Coaling and launched a fierce attack , which carried the hill , capturing five guns . Tyler immediately responded with a counterattack , using his reserves . These regiments , in hand - to - hand fighting , retook the position . Taylor shifted a regiment to the far right to outflank the Union battle line . The Confederate attack again surged forward to capture the Coaling . Five captured guns were turned against the rest of the Union line . With the loss of the Coaling , the Union position along Lewiston Lane became untenable , and Tyler ordered a withdrawal about 10 : 30 a . m . Jackson ordered a general advance . William B . Taliaferro ' s fresh Confederate brigade arrived from Port Republic and pressed the retreating Federals for several miles north along the Luray Road , taking several hundred prisoners . The Confederate army was left in possession of the field . Shortly after noon , Frémont ' s army began to deploy on the west bank of the South Fork , too late to aid Tyler ' s defeated command , and watched helplessly from across the rain - swollen river . Frémont deployed artillery on the high bluffs to harass the Confederate forces . Jackson gradually withdrew along a narrow road through the woods and concentrated his army in the vicinity of Mt . Vernon Furnace . Jackson expected Frémont to cross the river and attack him on the following day , but during the night Frémont withdrew toward Harrisonburg . Aftermath . After the dual defeats at Cross Keys and Port Republic , the Union armies retreated , leaving Jackson in control of the upper and middle Shenandoah Valley and freeing his army to reinforce Robert E . Lee before Richmond in the Seven Days Battles .