the American Civil War is a year old and the Union decides to put an end to the Confederacy once and for all the North builds a huge army and plans to invade the south and capture Richmond major general McClellan with over 100,000 troops will conduct an amphibious landing while Major General McDowell with 40,000 troops would advance from the north in order to conduct a pincer movement on Richmond and in charge of the Shenandoah Valley who was Major General Banks the Shenandoah Valley was important because it was a natural invasion route towards the North's key cities a Confederate Army could move through the valley and attack Washington DC from its rear this worried President Lincoln he wanted his capital to be completely safe from any threat during McClellan's grant campaign so banks mission was to clear the valley and once he was done he would send men over the Blue Ridge Mountains to help and aid the main effort at Richmond it looked grim for the Confederates general Johnson had only 60,000 men at the capital clearly McClellan had superiority for one of the biggest faults other than being overly cautious and passive was that he constantly kept overestimating the enemy's strength he thought Johnson had as many soldiers as his army for this reason he thought it was crucial to have McDowell's corps coordinate with his army if there was to be any chance of success and in the valley was major general Stonewall Jackson his small army of 5,000 men where tasks were not only defending the valley but to prevent Union troops there from being sent to the east he had to keep Banks's army in the valley Jackson realized that he could create a strategic diversion if he could destroy banks command and give the impression of a drive on Washington itself this would cost federal troops to be dragged into the valley instead of advancing on to Richmond the problem was that Jackson did not have the numbers yet in February 1862 banks advances with 30,000 men does Jackson make a heroic stand no he is completely outnumbered and pulls back he leaves Winchester promising to be back again banks mission was considered complete and they began to divide his force and sent troops or the Blue Ridge Mountains to support the main campaign Jackson finally saw his chance his Scouts reported that no more than four regiments were there so Jackson went for it unfortunately for Jackson their reports were wrong the Union force actually had twice his numbers so although Jackson had every intention of giving himself the better odds he ended up bringing only 3,800 confederates against a union force of 8,500 men the Battle of Kearns town was a Confederate defeat actually it would be Jackson's only defeat in the Civil War however this battle will prove extremely important because although it was a tactical defeat it was a strategic victory this audacious bold attack by a smaller army caused great alarm in Washington Lincoln believed they were dealing with a real threat of a potential - to the capital troops were diverted back into the valley to defeat Stonewall's army thanks his army now numbering 19,000 men began its advance up the valley on April 17th and once again Jackson pulled back to safety and the further consequence McDowell's Corps the one that McClellan needed so badly for his pincer movement was taken out of McClellan's direct command it was ordered to stay put until Jackson's threat was cleared mission accomplished Jackson has diverted the Federals from Richmond for now there were over 20,000 Union troops scattered throughout the Allegheny Mountains under Major General Fremont the presence of this force was a thorn on Jackson's side major general Johnson with 3,000 men guarded the approaches from the mountains Major General and his division is nearby with 8,000 men and Jackson's army has swelled up to 8,000 as well Stonewall commences his brilliant campaign by defeating this isolated army first Jackson's army was extremely mobile compared to the Federals there is a reason why they are called Jackson's foot cavalry he heads south to combine with Johnston's command and at the Battle of McDowell has a victory against the Union force under Brigadier General me Roy around this moment Banks was again having to withdraw his troops away from the valley and he had to pull back to Strasburg over half his force goes over the Blue Ridge Mountains to support the drive on to the capital and what's more Jackson sees his opportunity he coordinates we yields division and heads north now does he attack Strasburg which has fortifications heck no he crosses a Massanutten mountains and combines who Ewell and heads towards front Royale which only has a garrison of 900 men it's 900 versus 17,000 Front Royal falls on the 23rd of May now Bank sees that he could be cut off so his army fleeced north it is a close run with Jackson in hot pursuit banks makes a stand with what is left of his command 3,500 men versus Jackson's 16,000 banks was completely routed and banks command was officially destroyed Jackson sends a strong feint to Harpers Ferry to create the impression that an invasion of the north is in the making this was chaos for a moment the valley laid wide open although Washington was in no real threat the damage had been done Lincoln order to have Jackson's unknowing small army to be destroyed for good Fremont with 15,000 men was ordered to have asked to Harrisonburg and McDowell's cork was ordered West's this occurred just as McDowell was heading south to attack the Confederate capital from the north Lincoln's plan was to trap stole law in a hammer and anvil movement even banks shattered command was ordered to regroup and assists unfortunately the roads in the Allegheny Mountains were so retched in terror Fremont had to go all the way north to Romney therefore Lincoln's elaborate trap doesn't formulate as plan instead it's a pincer movement with slow-moving Union armies it is at this moment that one can clearly see Jackson's importance over 50,000 men were on a wild goose chase for a small army of 17,000 McDowell's Corps would not be able to assist McClellan in taking Richmond in the end only 10,000 men of the original 40,000 from McDowell's Corps would eventually go on to support McClellan's and insula Campaign the loss of McDowell's command demoralized McClellan and made him even more overly cautious well done Jackson well done for this achievement there is no higher alkylate and not surprisingly Jackson's fast army was able to escape Lincoln's trap and was chased up the valley by three months and McDowell's lead division under Brigadier General Shields they chased Jackson but rather than combining and concentrating their forces their pursue Jackson on opposite sides of the masa knew two mountains by dividing the forces Fremont and McDowell have put themselves in a position to be defeated in detail and Jackson saw it Jackson made his stand at a river crossing Fremont struck first on June 8th he encountered yields division the Battle of cross piece was a Confederate victory Jackson left a rearguard to walk to her Fremont and concentrates the rest of his army to attack shields division only two brigades were in front of port republic shields and his other two brigades were 15 miles north trying to catch up jackson launched an attack on the smaller force of 3,500 men and on june 9th the Battle of Port Republic was fought and it was another victory for Jackson this victory marks the end for Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign and soon after the legend of the great Stonewall Jackson was established looking at this list you can see that Jackson outnumbered his enemy at every battle except Kern's town and Cross Keys he achieved ister speed and maneuverability and by always always concentrating all the forces he had at hand we never allow the Union armies to combine their forces instead we look for opportunities to defeat each command separately this way at the point of contact with the enemy it was the Confederates who usually outnumbered the Union forces strategically the 1862 Valley Campaign ranks as one of the greatest masterpieces in military history it ended up being a grand diversion he tied up elements of three separate armies totaling more than 52,000 men that would otherwise have been used against Richmond it is probably certain that the Confederate capital would have fallen if it wasn't for Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign he later would run of the valley and help generally who was now in command at Richmond to defeat McClellan in the seven days battles [Music]
