Editing Luray, Virginia (section)

== Civil War ==
[[File:Luray and New Market Gap 060312.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|View westward of Luray and New Market Gap from Skyline Drive on the Blue Ridge]]
Luray is often cited as the location (as is Yager's Mill, on the north side of town, near Furnace Hill) of an engagement between [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] cavalry on September 24, 1864, though it actually took place approximately three miles north of the town, and even to the north of Yager's Mill.

Following his victory at the [[Battle of Fisher's Hill]] Union general [[Philip Sheridan]] sent approximately 6,000 troopers under Brigadier General [[Alfred Torbert]] into the Luray Valley. Torbert's men engaged approximately 1,200 Confederate cavalry under Brigadier General [[Williams Wickham]]. Despite victory in this affair and moving toward [[New Market Gap]] following the engagement, Torbert halted his command that night on the Page County side of the Massanutten, thereby missing an opportunity to cut off Confederate General [[Jubal Early]]'s retreat from Fisher's Hill. Private [[Philip Baybutt]] of the [[2nd Regiment of Cavalry, Massachusetts Volunteers|2nd Massachusetts Cavalry]] received the [[Medal of Honor]] for capturing a [[Flags of the Confederate States of America|Confederate flag]] during the engagement. This action was part of Sheridan's portion of the [[Valley Campaigns of 1864]].

''Aunt Betty's Story: The Narrative of Bethany Veney, A Slave Woman''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Veney |first1=Bethany |title=The Narrative of Bethany Veney, A Slave Woman |date=1889 |location=Worcester, Mass. |url=https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/veney/veney.html |access-date=August 17, 2020}}</ref> (the book's cover reads merely "Aunt Betty's Story") is the 1889 autobiography of [[Bethany Veney|Bethany Veney's]] life in Luray.

[[File:2019-08-16 15 01 36 View west along U.S. Route 211 (Lee Highway-Luray Bypass) from the overpass for Virginia State Route 731 (Collins Avenue) in Luray, Page County, Virginia.jpg|thumb|right|US 211 in Luray]]