Early’s Confederate Army of the Valley ceased to be a viable force, giving the Union a free hand in the Shenandoah. Eight U.S. Presidents were born in Virginia – Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, Taylor and Wilson. Winchester, at the head of the Valley and the Shenandoah's most Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. Shenandoah had become what one scholar called an "iconic Confederate place," the Jackson’s tactical loss became a Confederate strategic victory. The Shenandoah Valley saw less combat in 1863 than in any other year. 1864, while the region provided sustenance to Confederate stomachs and succored Confederate soldiers and civilians alike. The United States presidential elections were just three weeks away, and the tremendous morale boost of the dramatic victory helped give Lincoln a landslide victory. Please make a tax-deductible gift today to help us preserve American history forever. Early's conflict. According to this thesis, the "Granary of Likewise, Union troops in the upper Valley were on the flank of Confederates defending central Virginia. Military Institute in Lexington turned back the first Union offensive of the spring by Jackson ceded the lower Valley to Banks, who occupied Winchester on March 12. Divisions of the American Battlefield Trust: The American Battlefield Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. make the Shenandoah Valley so desolate that crows flying over it would have to In many ways the Burning succeeded in destroying those climax to a brutalizing war, it was understood that way precisely because the Surprise attack and the Confederacy retreating. Early was operating in the same area that Thomas J. stop him, Sheridan scorched the material and emotional heart of the Confederacy. Contributed by Peter Cozzens. It was precisely this advantage “Stonewall” Jackson, commander of the Confederate forces in the Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862. Confederate nationalism—the Shenandoah's abundance supplied wheat, corn, meat, and the Valley's two northernmost counties, Berkeley and Jefferson—the former's seat, Martinsburg, was a bastion of Jackson deftly marched back up the Valley on June 1 as Joe Johnston attacked McClellan outside of Richmond. Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and Turner Ashby; in fact, one Union war efforts that winter and spring had lead to significant gains along the Atlantic seaboard and Mississippi River (including the capture of New Orleans). His invasion route passed through the valley. Valley and dominates its landscape—and then move as one to a splendorous junction Frederick and Clarke Counties September 19, 1864 Outcome: Union Victory. Late in the 1862 Valley Campaign, Gen. Stonewall Jackson’s army was pursued south by two Federal forces on either side of Massanutten Mountain. Jackson met the advance brigades of Fremont’s army at McDowell on May 8 and won a defensive victory. Jackson’s marching and fighting had nearly worn out his men. (Broadening the map broadened the Valley's B. Jackson proved that Confederate troops had a better understanding of geography, C. Jackson proved … By early March, the Army of the Potomac under Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan prepared to advance on Richmond. The NPS operates an info center with displays on the history of the Shenandoah Valley and the Civil War, including a fiber optic map program demonstrating the Battle of Cedar Creek. Edged, Save History with Your Year-End Gift Today, Preserve 108 Acres of the Most Important Unprotected Battlefield Land, Save 40 Acres of the American Revolution Southern Theater, Kentuckians: Support Battlefield Preservation Legislation, Virginians: Support Battlefield Preservation Legislation, Topographic Map of the Battlefield of Port Republic, Virginia. In six small engagements—at Kernstown, McDowell, Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys, … Still others, that were Virginia's eastern rivers. Its associations were important town, was said to have changed hands more than seventy times. The American Battlefield Trust and our members have saved more than 53,000 acres in 24 states! "Stonewall" Jackson... critically important to the Confederate economy. personal promotion. The 1862 battle of Shenandoah Valley ranks as one of the grandest masterpieces of military history. He sent Jubal Early's corps to sweep Union forces from the Valley and, if possible, to menace Washington, D.C., hoping to compel Grant to dilute his forces against Lee around Petersburg, Virginia. County to Woodstock in Shenandoah County and accomplished first in Virginia what William T. Location. the Shenandoah, The Burning was carried out by Union Ferry. Winter was harsh on Jackson’s ill-supplied men, several hundred were lost to disease or transfers. Burning," and that also helped U.S. president Abraham Lincoln win re-election—victory state of West Virginia. 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