Battle of Cameron's Depot

Today I circled back on a pet project I started a number of years ago that's sparking my interest once more.  While I was a student at Shepherd University I had the good fortune to meet a local Jefferson County land owner who has been a great friend of mine for the past five years or so.  He owns 200+ acres of some very scenic farmland, and although you'd never know it passing through, battlefield land as well.

The Battle of Cameron's Depot, or Summit Point as it's often called, was one of the opening engagements of the 1864 Valley Campaign.  It was the first sizeable confrontation of Jubal Early's Confederate Army of the Valley and Phil Sheridan's Union Army of the Shenandoah.  The bulk of both armies were within a few miles of one another, and if either commander wanted to really pitch in, it could have gotten very messy.  Early and Sheridan both held back, however, and the day saw a brief but sharp Confederate assault mid-morning, following by a day of brisk skirmishing all up and down the front.

A pretty generic representation of the Battle of Cameron's Depot/Summit Point.

The reason I came across this little known engagement again is I was asked to help out someone looking to interpret the battle for a symposium this summer.  It made me realize I have a lot of unfinished work when it comes to forming a complete picture of the battle, which has hardly anything published about it.  That said, I have a hankering to dive back in.

So, it's to the OR's for me!  It's been too long since I rolled up my sleeves and did some real research.