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Town History
^ ROYAL, From p. 4 Chapel, an Academy, a mill and several stores.”
In 1836, Front Royal became the cgunty seat of the newly created Warren County. At that time, the town was prospering as a wagon manufacturing center, gaining such reputation that her shops found it difficult to meet the demand.
In those ane-bellum days, the first railroad was built into the Shenandoah Valley, making its grand entrance by way of Manassas Gap and Front Royal. When the first train puffed into town on October 10,1854, crowds of jubilant citizens heard the president of the railroad proudly proclaim that, “The iron horse of Manassas today takes its first draught of limestone water.”
In the war-tom 1860’s, Front Royal was a crossroads town of strategic military importance, making contact with Luray and the upper valley on the south; with Winchester and Harper’s Ferry to the north; and with eastern Virginia by way of roads through Chester and Manassas Gaps, and especially the vital Manassas Gap railroad.
The town saw much of the armies contending for the valley, and General Robert E. Lee and part of his forces passed through enroute to and from Gettysburg. On their return, General Lee and his staff stopped by Bel Air to rest.
The Battle of Front Royal, May 23, 1862, is distinguished in history as the opening battle of General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson’s famous Valley Campaign.
As part of McClellan’s plan to capture Richmond in 1862, General Banks and 10,000 men distributed in this section. His left wing, under Col. John Kenly, was stations! at Front Royal to protect large military stores, the strategic railroad, and the Riverton Bridge.
General Jackson, determined to capture Kenly, cut Banks off from Winchester, then attacked him from the rear. By a forced and circuitous march, he reached Front Royal on May 23, and from the present site of Prospect Hill Cemetery, opened fire on the surprised Federals below.
After a temporary rally, the Federals were driven across the two branches
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