Battle of Hoke's Run
1861 battle of the American Civil War

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.
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.
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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.
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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.