Winchester is the northernmost independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. As of 2020 United States census, the city's population was 28,120. It is the principal city of the Winchester metropolitan area with a population of just over 145,000 extending into West Virginia, which is a part of the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. Winchester is home to Shenandoah University and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.
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👉 Winchester, Virginia in the context of Gettysburg campaign
The Gettysburg campaign was a military invasion of Pennsylvania by the main Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee in summer 1863. It was the first time during the war the Confederate Army attempted a full-scale invasion of a free state. The Union won a decisive victory at Gettysburg, July 1–3, with heavy casualties on both sides. Lee managed to escape back to Virginia with most of his army. It was a turning point in the American Civil War, with Lee increasingly pushed back toward Richmond until his surrender in April 1865. The Union Army of the Potomac was commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and then (from June 28) by Maj. Gen. George Meade.
After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for a massive raid designed to obtain desperately needed supplies, to undermine civilian morale in the North, and to encourage anti-war elements. Lee's army slipped away from Federal contact at Fredericksburg, Virginia, on June 3, 1863. The largest predominantly cavalry battle of the war was fought at Brandy Station on June 9. The Confederates crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains and moved north through the Shenandoah Valley, capturing the Union garrison at Winchester, in the Second Battle of Winchester, June 13–15. Crossing the Potomac River, Lee's Second Corps advanced through Maryland and Pennsylvania, reaching the Susquehanna River and threatening the state capital of Harrisburg. However, the Army of the Potomac was in pursuit and had reached Frederick, Maryland, before Lee realized his opponent had crossed the Potomac. Lee moved swiftly to concentrate his army around the crossroads town of Gettysburg.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Winchester, Virginia
- 👉 Winchester, Virginia in the context of Gettysburg campaign
- Winchester, Virginia in the context of Winchester, VA–WV MSA
- Winchester, Virginia in the context of U.S. Route 522
- Winchester, Virginia in the context of Hampshire County, West Virginia
- Winchester, Virginia in the context of Interstate 81 in Virginia
- Winchester, Virginia in the context of U.S. Route 11 in Virginia
Winchester, Virginia in the context of Winchester, VA–WV MSA
Winchester, VA–WV MSA is a U.S. metropolitan statistical area (MSA) as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of June 2003. This should not be confused with the City of Winchester, Virginia, the most populous community within this MSA. The population of the MSA as the 2015 U.S. Census Bureau estimates is 133,836.
Winchester, Virginia in the context of U.S. Route 522
U.S. Route 522 (US 522) is a spur route of US 22 in the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The U.S. Highway travels in a north-south direction, and runs 308.59 miles (496.63 km) from US 60 near Powhatan, Virginia, to its northern terminus at US 11 and US 15 near Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. US 522 serves many small cities and towns in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, and northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The highway serves the Virginia communities of Goochland, Mineral, Culpeper, the town of Washington, and Front Royal and the independent city of Winchester. US 522 then follows the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians north and then east through the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, a 2-mile-wide (3.2 km) stretch of Western Maryland, and South Central Pennsylvania to its terminus in the Susquehanna Valley. The highway serves Berkeley Springs, West Virginia; Hancock, Maryland; and the Pennsylvania communities of McConnellsburg, Mount Union, Lewistown, and Middleburg.
Winchester, Virginia in the context of Hampshire County, West Virginia
Hampshire County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,093. Its county seat is Romney, West Virginia's oldest town (1762). The county was created by the Virginia General Assembly in 1754, from parts of Frederick and Augusta Counties (Virginia) and is the state's oldest county. The county lies in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands region.
Hampshire County is part of the Winchester, VA-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Winchester, Virginia in the context of Interstate 81 in Virginia
Interstate 81 (I-81) is an 855.02-mile-long (1,376.02 km) Interstate Highway. In the US state of Virginia, I-81 runs for 324.92 miles (522.91 km), making the portion in Virginia longer than any other state's portion of the route. It is also the longest Interstate Highway within the borders of Virginia. It stretches from the Tennessee state line near Bristol to the West Virginia state line near Winchester. It enters Virginia from Bristol, Tennessee, and leaves Virginia into Berkeley County, West Virginia. The route passes through the cities of Bristol, Roanoke, Salem, Lexington, Staunton, and Harrisonburg.
Winchester, Virginia in the context of U.S. Route 11 in Virginia
U.S. Route 11 (US 11) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in western Virginia. At 339 miles (546 km), it is the second longest numbered route (after US 58) and longest primarily north–south route in the state. It enters the state from Tennessee as the divided routes US 11E and US 11W at Bristol, roughly follows the West Virginia border through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley, and enters the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia from Frederick County. Most of the route closely parallels I-81. From south to north, US 11 serves the cities and towns of Bristol, Abingdon, Wytheville, Pulaski, Radford, Christiansburg, Roanoke, Lexington, Staunton, Harrisonburg, Strasburg, and Winchester. As one of the original U.S. Highways, it was first designated through Virginia in 1926 and has largely followed the same route since. Prior to the construction of the Interstate Highway System, it was the primary long-distance route for traversing the western part of the state. Much of it roughly follows the Great Wagon Road, a colonial-era road that followed the Appalachian Mountains from Georgia to Pennsylvania.