This October marks the 150 year anniversary of an event that the valley calls "The Burning." General Philip Sheridan, of the Union army, carried out orders from Ulysses S Grant to burn the breadbasket of the confederacy, namely the Shenandoah Valley. The burning stretched from north of Staunton in Augusta County and down the Valley Pike (Rt. 11) into Shenandoah County near Woodstock and Edinburgh.
On October 4, 1864 the Brenneman-Turner Mill (pictured above) was saved by a brave woman named Hannah Shaver. Grandma played her in a reenactment of the event written by Paul Roth. Below are photos of the play with explanatory comments.
In the photos above, Hannah is talking with her neighbor about the Union troops moving through the valley. Hannah's husband is ill and unable to work, so she tends the mill and the farm along with her grandchildren. The neighbor leaves her with a horn and tells her to blow it if there's any trouble. She thanks him and offers to send over an apple pie.
As Hannah sits on the porch folding her laundry, a Union soldier arrives. He tells Hannah of his orders to burn the mill.
Hannah and her grandchildren plead with the soldier not to burn the mill, telling of her husband's illness. Hannah offers him the apple pie. He takes pity on them and says that he will light the fire outside the mill rather than inside.
Once the soldier leaves, they blow the horn for help and begin working to put out the fire. As you may have guessed, they are successful and the mill still stands today (though it is no longer in use).
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| The water wheel that powers the mill using a nearby stream |
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| Grinding corn inside the mill |
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| Two cuties stole part of Grandma's costume |
Stay tuned for The Burning, Part 2, which will tell of our school's History Day event to commemorate the greater burning of the valley and the wagon train that took refugees north to safety.
