Battle of Piedmont The Battle of Piedmont was fought June 5 , 1864 , in the village of Piedmont , Augusta County , Virginia . Union Maj . Gen . David Hunter engaged Confederates under Brig . Gen . William E . " Grumble " Jones north of Piedmont . After severe fighting , Jones was killed and the Confederates were routed . Hunter occupied Staunton on June 6 and soon began to advance on Lynchburg , destroying military stores and public property in his wake . Background . The Battle of Piedmont resulted from Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant ' s 1864 initiative to keep U . S . forces on the offensive and prevent Confederates from shuttling troops from one region to another . In the Shenandoah Valley , Grant had originally placed German - born General Franz Sigel in command , However , following Sigel ' s defeat at New Market on May 15 , Grant relieved him and placed Maj . Gen . David Hunter in command of the United States Army of the Shenandoah on May 21 . Hunter quickly regrouped his small army and ordered his troops to live off the bountiful farms of the Shenandoah Valley . He advanced up the Valley toward Staunton on May 26 against light opposition from the Confederates . Following New Market , the majority of the Confederate forces in the Valley joined the Army of Northern Virginia , leaving only Brig . Gen . John D . Imboden ' s brigade and the Valley Reserves to confront Hunter . Imboden kept Robert E . Lee informed of Hunter ' s movements , but could do little to slow Hunter with his meager forces . Hunter set his sights on Staunton , an important railroad and logistics center for the Confederacy . The quick Union advance upon the heels of their defeat at New Market caught the Confederates off guard . Closely engaged with the Army of the Potomac , Lee turned to Brig . Gen . William E . " Grumble " Jones , acting - commander of the Confederate Department of Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee for assistance , instructing him to open communications with Imboden . Jones soon went to the Shenandoah with roughly 4 , 000 infantry and dismounted cavalrymen . By June 3 , the Union Army had reached Harrisonburg , Virginia . Imboden had concentrated his forces at Mount Crawford , Virginia on the south bank of the North River , blocking Hunter ' s direct path to Staunton upon the Valley Turnpike . Imboden , a Valley native from Augusta County , Virginia , established his headquarters at the Grattan House where his force grew when the reinforcements began to arrive from Southwest Virginia . On the morning of June 4 , Hunter sent a diversionary force toward Mount Crawford while his main army headed east to Port Republic , Virginia where he camped for the night . General Jones had arrived at the Grattan House and assumed command of the hastily assembled Confederate Army of the Valley District . When Confederate scouts reported Hunter ' s flank march , Imboden suggested that they move to Mowry ' s Hill in eastern Augusta to confront Hunter . According to Imboden , Jones agreed to march his infantry and dismounted cavalry to Mowry ' s Hill in Eastern Augusta where they would confront Hunter on June 5 . Jones ordered Imboden to lead all of the mounted troops toward Mount Meridian , a few miles south of Port Republic on the Staunton or East Road . Jones added that Imboden was to delay Hunter ' s advance but instructed Imboden to avoid any serious confrontation when the Federals approached the next morning . Battle . After spending a rainy night encamped on the southern outskirts of Port Republic , Hunter ' s army marched southward on the Staunton Road toward Mount Meridian through the morning mist . Maj . Gen . Julius Stahel ' s cavalry led the advance , driving back Imboden ' s outposts . When Stahel ' s advance regiment reached Mount Meridian , Imboden successfully counterattacked with the 18th Virginia Cavalry . Stahel fed reinforcements into the fight and quickly overwhelmed the Virginians . Imboden barely escaped capture and only the timely charge from balance of his brigade , which included local reserves , saved the 18th Virginia from disaster . The Confederates then fell back slowly toward the village of Piedmont . Imboden expected to join forces with General Jones at Mowry ' s Hill but was surprised to find him at Piedmont . Jones and Imboden debated the situation , but in the end Jones rank won the argument . Jones advanced a battalion of dismounted cavalry , convalescents and detailed men several hundred yards in front of his left wing , backed by a section of horse artillery , and Stahel ' s advance was stopped . Jones deployed his two brigades of infantry ( his left wing ) along the edge of a woodlot that ran from the Staunton ( or East ) Road to the high bluffs of the Middle River that anchored his left flank . He ordered Imboden to guard his extreme right flank with the cavalry . On Imboden ' s immediate left , Brig . Gen . John C . Vaughn ' s brigade of dismounted Tennessee and Georgia horsemen went into position . Vaughn ' s left flank rested six hundred yards to the rear of Jones ' right wing , creating a gap in the center of his line . There he positioned two batteries , including Captain Marquis ' s reserve artillery manned by 17 - 18 year - olds of Augusta County . Hunter ' s Chief of Staff , Colonel David Hunter Strother , described the battlefield : " The enemy ' s position was strong and well chosen . It was on a conclave of wooded hills commanding an open valley between and open , gentle slopes in front . On our right in advance of the village of Piedmont was a line of log and rail defenses very advantageously located in the edge of a forest and just behind the rise of a smooth , open hill so that troops moving over this hill could be mowed down by musketry from the works at short range and to prevent artillery from being used against them . The left flank of this palisade rested on a steep and impracticable bluff sixty feet high and washed at its base by the Shenandoah [ Middle River ] . " At noon , Hunter ' s infantry under the command of Brig . Gen . Jeremiah C . Sullivan advanced . Colonel Augustus Moor ' s brigade drove in Jones ' advance line on the west side of the Staunton ( East ) Road , halting along the edge of a wooded lot opposite the one Jones ' Confederates were stationed in . Sullivan ordered an advance but Jones well protected infantry repulsed the effort . On the east side of the road , Colonel Joseph Thoburn ' s brigade advanced through a wooded ravine toward Imboden ' s position under a heavy artillery fire . Thoburn withdrew to support the Union artillery when he saw Moor ' s repulse . At this point , Captain Henry DuPont , the Union artillery commander , systematically silenced most of the Confederate guns . Only a few guns with Imboden on the extreme Confederate right remained active . At this point , Jones concluded to withdraw his left wing so that it was online with Vaughn and Imboden , but events soon changed his mind . Sullivan reinforced Moor with two regiments and ordered another attack but was again repulsed . This time the Confederates counterattacked but a stand by the 28th Ohio and some dismounted horsemen armed with Spencer repeating carbines backed by a section of artillery forced the Southerners to fall back to their breastworks . At this point , an emboldened Jones rearranged his forces to launch a concerted attack against Moor ' s battered brigade . Jones ordered Vaughn to advance the greater part of his brigade to the left wing . The 60th Virginia Infantry moved from its position in the edge of the woods covering the large gap in the center of his battle line . The Virginians ended up in a second line of battle behind the main Confederate line , leaving the gap completely undefended . Jones ' concentration of troops against Moor ' s brigade did not go unnoticed . The Federals spotted the gap on the right flank of Jones ' left wing , and Hunter ordered Thoburn ' s brigade to attack the vulnerable Confederate position . Thoburn quickly advanced to within a few yards of the Confederate left before his men were spotted and shattered the Southern flank . At the same time , Moor ' s brigade joined the assault against the Confederate front . Jones attempted to retrieve the situation bringing up the Valley Reserves who slowed Thoburn ' s advance but were unable to throw it back . Jones dashed up to a small group of rallying Confederates and then charged toward the oncoming Union infantry . A Union bullet struck him in the head , killing Jones instantly . The Union forces drove the Confederates toward the bluffs of the Middle River severing the Confederate army in two halves . At the bluffs , the converging forces of Thoburn ' s and Moor ' s brigade , backed by some of Stahel ' s Cavalry captured nearly 1 , 000 unwounded Confederates . Section of Captain John McClanahan ' s Virginia horse artillery slowed the Union drive southward as it stood its ground near the village of Piedmont and barely evaded capture . On the Staunton ( East ) Road , the 1st New York Veteran Cavalry launched a vigorous pursuit of the beaten Confederates . However , another section of McClanahan ' s battery and elements of Vaughn ' s brigade not sent to the left hastily deployed along the road between the villages of Piedmont and New Hope . When the New Yorkers chased up the road after the fleeing Southerners , this Confederate rear guard opened fire devastating the Union cavalry and dampening their enthusiasm for any further pursuit . Although at least 1 , 500 Confederates had been lost , the rear guard action at New Hope allowed the remnants of the army to escape further damage . Vaughn learned that he was now the senior officer as a result of Jones ' death , but he was unfamiliar with the Shenandoah Valley and simply adopted Imboden ' s recommendations . Hunter ' s army rounded up the prisoners and tended to the wounded at Piedmont , where the Army of the Shenandoah camped for the night , having lost nearly 900 men killed and wounded . The next day , it became the first Union army to enter Staunton , Virginia during the Civil War . Medal of Honor recipients . Private Thomas Evans , 54th Pennsylvania Infantry , shot a Confederate officer rallying the Confederates , battled the color bearer of the 45th Virginia and captured the flag from him . Musician James Snedden , 54th Pennsylvania Infantry , picked up a rifle and joined the attack , captured Colonel Beuhring Jones , commander of the 1st Confederate infantry brigade . Major General Julius Stahel , was struck by two bullets as he led his dismounted cavalry into the fight , had the wounds dressed at a field hospital and returned to direct the final cavalry charge .