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Battle of Hoke's Run

1861 battle of the American Civil War

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ1497885
Source-derived summary

The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as the Battle of Falling Waters or Battle of Hainesville, took place on July 2, 1861, in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War. Notable as an early engagement of Confederate Colonel Thomas J. Jackson and his Brigade of Virginia Volunteers, nineteen days before their famous nickname would originate, this brief skirmish was hailed by both sides as a stern lesson to the other. Acting precisely upon the orders of a superior officer about how to operate in the face of superior numbers, Jackson's Confederate forces resisted General Robert Patterson's Union forces briefly and then slowly retreated over several miles.

Opposing forces

Union order of battle

The Department of Pennsylvania represented the Union Army at the Battle of Hoke's Run during the outset of the American Civil War. Although the entire force crossed the Potomac River into Virginia, the First and Sixth Brigades were primarily engaged.

Military rank

MG = Major General

BG = Brigadier General

Col = Colonel

Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel

Maj = Major

Cpt = Captain

Other abbreviations

w = wounded

mw = mortally wounded

k = killed

c = captured

Department of Pennsylvania

MG Robert Patterson

Confederate order of battle

The following Confederate Army units and commanders fought in the Battle of Hoke's Run.

Military rank

BG = Brigadier General

Col = Colonel

Ltc = Lieutenant Colonel

Cpt = Captain

Army of the Shenandoah

BG Joseph E. Johnston

Battle

On July 2, Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson's division crossed the Potomac River near Williamsport, Maryland and marched on the main road to Martinsburg. Near Hoke's Run, the Union brigades of Cols.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Battle of Hoke's Run” is 1861 battle of the American Civil War. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Battle, Hoke's and battle, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1861—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Battle, Hoke's and battle is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1861 battle of the American Civil War” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1497885. Authority coordinates are 39.521, -77.913. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Battle of Hoke's Run”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Battle of Hoke's Run primary sources, Battle of Hoke's Run archive and Battle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Battle of Hoke's Run”?
  2. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
  3. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Battle of Hoke's Run” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.