When Winchester was first captured by the Federals in March, 1862, Gen. N. P. Banks selected this building for his headquarters. During the next year it was likewise and by Gen. R. H. Milroy, and again in the fall and winter of 1864-65 it was the headquarters of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan. From it General Sheridan began his ride to the battlefield of Cedar Creek made famous by the poem of Thomas Buchanan Read. For many years after the Civil War the building was known as the Episcopal Female Institute, and is now the home of the local lodge, Order of Elks. |