Jennie Chambers

“You will have somebody to shoot besides women and children.”

17-year-old Jennie Chambers stood her ground when held at gun point.

 

Reproduction cannon mark the location of Union positions on Murphy farm

NPS / A Cook

Warning the Union

Jennie Chambers, risked her life for her country in the Civil War. On October 15, 1861, the threat of battle loomed over Harpers Ferry. U.S. troops had been removing wheat from Herr’s flour mill along the Shenandoah River and Confederate soldiers under Col. Turner Ashby were coming to put a stop to it. As the Confederates approached from the west, they wanted to capture the soldiers from the 28th Pennsylvania and 3rd Wisconsin regiments who stood guard on the Chambers Farm, 2 miles west of town. Warned earlier that fighting might break out near their farm, Chambers and her family had been on the way down to Harpers Ferry when she saw the Confederates moving into position. Risking her own safety, she warned the U.S. soldiers of the Confederate advance. Her warning caused Ashby’s men to fire. U.S. troops returned fire and then made their escape to Harpers Ferry. Jennie wasn’t hurt during the shooting, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet.

 

Herr's Island (now Virginius Island) after the Civil War. Newly constructed houses are visible in the foreground along with the Winchester and Potomac Railroad. A large building with no roof and missing windows can be seen to the right side of the image. This is part of the ruins of Herr's Mill.

NPS historic photo HFM 01564

Held at gun point

The Chambers family made it safely to town, but a Confederate officer, Capt. Robert Baylor, followed them. Baylor grabbed Jennie by the shoulder, placed his revolver to her chest, and demanded to know “What did you wave at those d____ Yankees for?” With a loaded revolver inches from her heart and family members begging Baylor for mercy, 17-year-old Jennie stayed calm. She defiantly replied, “Go farther down and you will have somebody to shoot besides women and children.” Baylor did not shoot Jennie. Instead, he arrested the men in her family. They were held in Richmond’s Libby Prison for 51 days.

Battle begins

The next day, Baylor had plenty to shoot at as the two sides fought the Battle of Bolivar Heights. The U. S. troops held off repeated assaults but evacuated to Sandy Hook, MD, soon after. Confederate soldiers disguised as civilians returned after the battle and burned down Herr’s mill.

Sent away

Fearing that the Confederates would arrest Jennie too, her mother Mary sent her to live with a relative near Keep Tryst Furnace in Maryland. Despite being only 4 miles from home, Chambers was completely cut off from her family. The Potomac River bordered the United States and the what some saw as the Confederate States. Only after U.S. troops reoccupied Harpers Ferry three months later could Chambers return home.