A Murder at the Hedrick House
As Union forces marched through the Shenandoah Valley, civilians hid their belongings and sought refuge behind shuttered windows and locked doors. In addition to carrying out their destructive orders, many soldiers acted with impunity and raided civilian homes of food, supplies, and valuables. The Hedrick House had been visited a number of times by soldiers of both sides. Located where Spader’s Church Road meets the Port Republic Road, Stonewall Jackson’s “Army of the Valley” passed by the Hedrick House during the spring of 1862 just before the Battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic. Most soldiers merely sought food and water, but occasional looters took pillows, blankets, silver, and other valuables.
Minnie Hedrick died in 1956 at the age of 99
The arrival of Sheridan’s Army during the fall of 1864 led Mr. Hedrick to hide the family’s horses from the approaching Union troops. While he was away, a marauding soldier forced his way into the home and ordered Mrs. Hedrick to hand over the family’s gold and silver. When she denied that the family had any valuables, the soldier went into a rage and began tearing the house apart. Mrs. Hedrick fled to the attic with her daughters, Minnie (age 7) and Lizzie (age 5). The soldier became increasingly frustrated and began to shout threats at the Hedrick women as he overturned beds and ripped open pillows. Mrs. Hedrick screamed as the angry soldier began to climb the ladder up to the attic. In an act of desperation she grabbed a gallon-sized crock of apple butter and crashed it down on the soldier’s head. He fell to the floor and blood began to pool around his motionless body. Somehow, Mrs. Hedrick and girls were able to drag his body down the steps and dispose of it in a nearby sinkhole. Mrs. Hedrick quickly drove his horse off the property and cleaned up the blood and the evidence of his ransacking. When Union troops arrived and inquired about the missing soldier, Mrs. Hedrick calmly sent them searching in the direction of his stray horse.
SOURCES:
Heatwole, John L. The Burning: Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. Charlottesville, Virginia: Rockbridge Publishing, 1998.
Heatwole, John L. The Burning: Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. Charlottesville, Virginia: Rockbridge Publishing, 1998.
