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Winchester (City and county-seat)

a city and county-seat of Frederick co., Va.; on the Cumberland Valley and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads; 88 miles W. by N. of Washington, D. C. It is in a beautiful and fertile country, which is part of the great Shenandoah valley of Virginia.

The houses are built in a compact and substantial manner, mostly of brick and stone. Here are numerous churches, National and other banks, Fairfax Hall for Girls, the Valley Female College, the Shenandoah Valley Academy, and several weekly newspapers. The city has glove factories, paper mill, flour mills, broom factory, foundries, and cigar factories. The city is the key to the Shenandoah valley. During the Civil War it was many times taken and retaken by the opposing armies, and several battles were fought near it. Pop. (1910) 5,864; (1920) 6,883. tant were: (1) A battle fought at Kernstown, Va., near Winchester, March 23, 1862, between the Federals under General Shields and the Confederates under General Jackson, in which the former were victorious. This battle is sometimes called the battle of Kernstown. (2) A victory gained by the Confederates, under General Early, over the Federals under General Crook, July 24, 1864. (3) A battle fought by the Federals under General Sheridan and the Confederates under General Early, at Winchester, Va., Sept. 19, 1864. The latter were defeated with a loss of 5,000 men.