Inscription reads: "Near this site on April 17, 1861,
approximately one hundred local citizens, many of whom had just
enlisted in The Staunton Artillery, met to board trains for
Harper's Ferry. They were led by prominent local citizen John D.
Imboden, who would remain an active figure throughout the war
during which he served as a Confederate General." This
neighborhood was the commercial heart of Staunton, with numerous
warehouses and factories located close to the railroad station
of the Virginia Central Railroad. Staunton served as an
important supply center, providing a vital link between the
Shenandoah Valley - "The Breadbasket of the Confederacy" - and
Richmond, the Capital of the Confederate States, and other
points east. In June 1864, Union Gen. David H. Hunter's troops
destroyed the station and area factories, foundries, stables,
warehouses and mills as well as one of two newspaper offices.
The newspaper which survived did so because the publisher had
hidden the presses, which he was able to use to p