Russell Hastings Marker in Winchester

The Third Battle of Winchester ranged over a wide area and touring the entire battlefield today is best done partly on foot and partly by vehicle. The new battlefield park is east of I-81 but other sites lie about 3 miles away, within the city of Winchester and west of the interstate.

Portions of the battle took place near Fort Collier, whose earthworks still exist. Near there is a large industrial park, and inside a patch of grass surrounded by asphalt is a lone marker. It marks the site where a Union officer named Russell Hastings was wounded.
Hastings survived the bullet, which damaged his knee, and lived until 1904. He commissioned the marker after the war. The top of the marker reads Gen. Russell Hastings 23rd Ohio Inf. The side of the marker reads Wounded 19 Sept. 1864.

Hastings was adjutant general to Lt. Col. Rutherford B. Hayes (later President). After the war, Hastings was elected to the Ohio legislature and served in other public office until 1872. He remained friends with Hayes and also William McKinley. In 1878, Hastings married President Hayes' niece. See Hasting's bio with links to his memoirs.

You may notice that Third Winchester is called Battle of Opequan there, which should be spelled Opequon. The Opequon is a long meandering creek in the area, and locals pronounce it with the accent on the second syllable, uh-PECK-un. (I had thought it would sound like Occoquan, but there's no relationship except that both names were Native American words.) Anyway, the battle can be called either Third Winchester of Opequan.*

On the day we toured the battlefield, strong shadows made it impossible for me to get a clear photo of the marker, although I enjoy the odd appearance of this picture. You can see a conventional photograph of the marker along with location specifics on the HMDB page.

* For more about battles with alternate names, read this.