Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign - Part 2

[Music] back in hunger store Jackson had to wait for his horses to be rishaad before he could resume marching while he waited Jackson decided to rid the army of officers that had not impressed him on January 10th he ordered general meme two more filled with 545 militia and general Carson to bath with 225 militia Colonel a Monroe commanding the militia detachment at CAC upon bridge warns Jackson that the militia are so disturbed by news of the Union attack that he doesn't think he can hold them there in camp for much longer Jackson began granting furloughs in accordance with the bounty and furlough Act Jackson also furloughed Gilliam indefinitely for his unimpressive performance and Gilliam returned to VMI Jackson was displeased with Garnett and asked the War Department to promote Lieutenant Colonel Seth M Barton of the 3rd Arkansas to Brigadier General and assign him to lead the Stonewall Brigade the War Department ignored Jackson's request given a lack of any concrete reason why Garnett should be removed in camp near Unger store Jackson's army was unwashed and filthy with lice it's unknown just how many were diseased Garnett's concern for his men kept losses from illness down in the Stonewall Brigade Lauren's troops however were twice as sick as Garnett's and many of Laurens subordinate officers encouraged their men to abandon their post as this was going on blander asked McClellan for permission to advance into Virginia but McClellan sternly declined instead McClellan ordered Lander to go to Romney and lead the Union force back to the B&O Railroad when Lander learned of this he was livid on the 9th he arrived in Romney and the next day he and his force of 7,000 troops left for Patterson Creek Station on the B&O six miles east of Cumberland neither the troops nor Lander who was still nursing his leg wound were happy about this Lander cursed his officers and men as well as the weather crossing a swollen creek on the way north several horses were swept downstream seeing this Lander cursed the next time I undertake to move an army and God Almighty sent such a rain I will go around and cross hell on the ice on the 11th the union force finally arrived at Patterson's Creek station the camp was extremely muddy after three days of rain the 29th and 67th Ohio infantry joined Landers force in the mud much like the rebels at hunger store many of the federal soldiers were exhausted and became sick in camp On January 19th Jackson learned that the Union had abandoned Romney with the horses finally shod the rebels started off again for the town the Stonewall Brigade led the way making nine miles that day and in camping near Slains crossroads wet snow and sleet continued to plague the troops and muddy roads impeded everyone the following day the Confederates arrived in Romney the town had been depleted of anything useful by the retreating federal the Stonewall Brigade the first to arrive in town broke into churches private homes and the courthouse to find shelter once again Lauren's men were forced to camp in fields or stables Jackson frustrated over his inability to capture hancock planned an offensive to capture cumberland he believed there were 11,000 troops defending the city and requested another Infantry Brigade and a Cavalry Regiment from Richmond Secretary Benjamin declined saying that there were no more troops to give Jackson decided to alter his plans he proposed sending Garnett's and Tolliver's brigades to New Creek Station modern-day Kaiser West Virginia to destroy the railroad bridges there this would threaten Landers communications west of Cumberland and his flank and rear however Jackson's men were enraged at him and demoralized his army was now only a 2/3 strength with furloughs and illness having depleted him due to complaints by his officers Jackson canceled dis offensive and decided to move his army to winter all-in-all jackson was pleased with the campaign results boasting to richmond that morgan and most of Hampshire counties had been restored to the Confederacy in reality however Jackson had done little to disrupt the Union he decided to leave Lawrence three brigades in Romney and returned to Winchester himself with the Stonewall Brigade to guard against banks Jackson distributed Boggs militia across the South Branch valley to guard Romney as far south as Moore field he also left Loring with three companies of cavalry under sheets Carson's militia would remain advant meems Brigade would occupy Martinsburg and ashbey's cavalry would patrol the Potomac there was a serious problem with this plan however Romney was not a defensible position the town could only be defended by securing Fort Mill Ridge the ridge south of the South Branch overlooking the town plus the hills and ravines east of Romney Lieutenant Colonel Seth Barton Jackson's chief engineer estimated that the rebels would need 20,000 men to hold the town further Lander was actually closer to Romney from Cumberland than Jackson would be from Winchester Lander had six thousand troops at Patterson's Creek 1,500 troops at Green Springs three thousand at New Creek and between two and three thousand at Cumberland for a total of about 13,000 in all Loring was aware of this from spies and would have less than 5000 troops himself at Romney regardless Jackson was leaving on January 23rd the Stonewall Brigade left Romney Lauren's men were not happy about being left behind the town itself was in shambles private Richard W Waldrop recorded that Romney looks very much as if it had been visited by an earthquake and pretty well shaken to pieces the citizens what view are here don't seem to regret it much and some of them say they hope the Yanks will burn it if they ever get here again it was filthy indoors and outdoors raw sewage and mud covered the streets Colonel Samuel V Fulkerson commander of the 37th Virginia infantry wrote to some Virginia congressmen to try to free Lauren from Jackson's command general Tolliver endorsed the letter Tolliver wrote a letter on the 25th to Loring echoing fulkerson and got six other regimental commanders to endorse it some he asked however refused Loring endorsed the petition and send it to Secretary Benjamin he also sent a copy to Jackson and one copy with Tolliver who was going to Richmond on furlough to give to Jefferson Davis Tolliver had mixed results the Confederate Congress was not receptive but President Davis wanted to hear more about the conditions of the army admitting that Jackson had made a mistake and ordered Benjamin to order Jackson to move Loring back to Winchester on January 30th Benjamin telegraphed these orders to Jackson Jackson complied and subsequently resigned his command writing the secretary with such interference in my command I cannot expect to be of much service in the field and accordingly respectfully requests to be ordered to report for duty to the superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington should the application not be granted I respectfully request that the president will accept my resignation from the Army Jackson elaborated on these sentiments and letters to Governor Letcher and his friend Alexander bottler the Confederate congressional representative of the valley district secretary Benjamin was shocked by Jackson's resignation President Davis refused to accept it bottler appealed to Governor Letcher to try to reason with Jackson a governor sent bottler to Winchester with a written appeal for Jackson to reconsider On February 6 bottler arrived in Winchester and met with Jackson the commanding general reiterated that he did not want secretary Benjamin interfering in military movement he also remarked that by abandoning Romney the Union now had the Confederates bottled in the valley Jackson said when the spring campaign opens the movement made in this direction will be on both flanks as well as from the front they want this valley and if the valley is lost Virginia is lost bottler assured Jackson that the secretary would not interfere again and reminded him that the governor of his own state wants him to stay Jackson agrees to leave the decision with Governor Letcher to decide lander meanwhile was still determined to cooperate with banks on attacking Jackson he had 9330 infantrymen total with 6,000 331 concentrated near Cumberland and the rest spread out between the city and North Branch bridge he also had 1114 cavalry McClellan refused to authorize any attack on Winchester to appease McClellan Lander proposed moving on Romney instead while banks distracted Jackson with a faint on Shepherdstown McClellan agreed to this however heavy rain swelled the Potomac preventing any immediate crossings more accurate maps of the region reached lander and revealed a route of attack on Romney previously unknown from the east on February 3rd Lander began the March by boarding his troops onto trains bound for French's store Virginia modern-day South Branch Depot West Virginia just outside of Camp Kelly a few miles from Cumberland Lander collapsed with a sudden illness later revealed to be sepsis the same day Loring began withdrawing from Romney On February 6 Colonel Nathan kimbos Brigade reoccupied Romney finding Loring gone however Lander pulled Kimball back to the pawpaw railroad tunnel near modern-day Magnolia West Virginia the same day that Kimball arrived in Romney union engineers repaired the big tackle pond bridge in Winchester there was animosity between Lauren's men who have been bad-mouthing Jackson's performance and the men of the Stonewall Brigade who are still loyal to their commander the men of the Stonewall Brigade blamed Lauren's complaints for causing Jackson to resign tensions boil over into fist fights between soldiers and Lauren's troops are once again relegated to the least desirable spots to set up camp around the city there are also thousands of ill soldiers with one doctor reporting over 1100 hospitalized after almost a week On February 9th Jefferson Davis promoted Loring to Major General and transferred him to Georgia a week later the 1st Tennessee and first Georgia infantry regiments were ordered to Tennessee and the 7th and 14th Tennessee infantry regiments were reassigned to Johnston's command at Manassas Jackson preferred that Lauren be court-martialed for undermining his command but Jefferson Davis declined furloughs further depleted Jackson's strength to only 6404 troops in the whole valley in February banks on the other hand was increasing his strength from 18,000 to 23,000 during the same month on the same day that Lauren was promoted Lander seemingly recovered resumed moving his forces from Patterson's Creek to the pawpaw tunnel Jackson was fully aware of these movements and warned Joseph johnstun that he would need at least 9,000 men to hold the Lower Valley On February 10th Colonel Dunning set out from New Creek Station with 1,400 troops and Landers permission to capture beef cattle in Moorefield these cattle will being guarded by rebel militia after a little skirmish in the militia fled into the hills south of Moorefield however no cattle were found having been driven away by the rebels some time before the Federals arrived however the South branch of Ali was now effectively clear of rebels Landers illness returned and it became clear that he was going to die soon he entered a delirious state no longer concealing his opinions behind politeness in a letter to US Secretary of War Edwin M Stanton Lander wrote General Williams as an ass general banks is a failure with faith in God and the American Republic I will beat the enemy forces with half their numbers my enemy is your department not in front you will regard this as disrespectful I hope you may I am NOT here for promotion or emolument two days later on the 12th Lander decided to attack sent some divers militia at bloomery firmness modern day bloomer a West Virginia and to lead the assault himself laid on the 13th Kimball's 1st Brigade Lander and two companies of cavalry set off her bloomery firmus the roads were very muddy and the federal column was forced to detour up sideling Hill to the summit once their Lander ordered the 76th Ohio and 13th Indiana infantry regiments back down the hill to seal bloomery gap from the west by dawn the rest of the column descended the eastern slopes of sideling Hill when they reached the swollen kak upon River Lander was enraged to hear that the engineers could not bridge the waters however John fuller a wagon master of the eighth Ohio infantry proposed a solution he forded one wagon at a time filled with ballast until the river was breached at 2:30 a.m. on the 14th the task was complete and the federal column resumed marching by dawn Lander was still two miles away from bloomery furnace federal cavalry arrived and Lander rode forward with them toward a cluster of buildings that they were certain housed militia officers however when they arrived they discovered the bloomery furnace had been abandoned and that sensin diver and his men had withdrawn two miles east Lander ordered the cavalry to charge but the commander Colonel Henry anise and so of the first Virginia Union cavalry regiment only proceeded slowly a short distance then stopped to await infantry support there were only a few Confederate skirmishers in front and Lander enraged to command of the cavalry personally and dashed forward at full gallop ordering everyone else to follow him the 31st Virginia militia regarding the gap ahead on the Colonel Robert at Baldwin however only five troopers had accompany Lander in the charge the rest including anise Ansel had remained behind regardless lander charged in and blocked Baldwin into believing that he had the militia surrounded Baldwin's surrendered although other militiamen continued to resist firing from behind cover finally the first Ohio cavalry marched past the first Virginian Union cavalry and scattered the rebels Lander helped to capture militiamen and fired a round at a Union cavalry man who was sharking his duties anna-san saw finally rode in advancing toward the 51st and 89th Virginia militia further ahead but suffered a fall and he and his regiment were forced back Colonel Kimball pushed past them with the 14th Indiana and 7th Virginia Union infantry regiments to break the Confederate resistance the 8th Ohio infantry led by Colonel Samuel a Carroll pursue the militia eight miles to understate the raid had netted 65 prisoners including 17 officers Landers force returned to the pawpaw tano by midnight Lander wired McClellan with the results who was not particularly impressed however he did receive a letter of congratulations from Stanton who informed him that President Lincoln had heard of his attack and was happy lander assured Stanton that he was ready to return to the field but in reality his health was fading as these relatively minor offenses went on the Confederacy suffered major defeats and other theatres of war in the West Union forces captured forts Henry and Donaldson and on the Atlantic shore they captured Roanoke Island these victories netted the Union thousands of Confederate prisoners meanwhile no European nation had recognized the Confederacy and Johnston's army of 40,000 was now posed by McClellan's enormous force of 150 5500 in the face of all this the Confederate Congress passed the conscription act to keep soldiers in the field Jefferson Davis told Jackson that he had no reinforcements descendant hundreds of rebels began deserting in the valley most Union soldiers felt optimistic about the upcoming campaign season of 1862 however McClellan did not share in the enthusiasm instead believing that he was outnumbered he began planning an amphibious campaign that would displace Johnston from Manassas his idea was to take his army by sea and land at Urbana Virginia and capture West Point Virginia this would force the Confederacy to abandon the York Peninsula however he did little to begin putting this into motion President Lincoln had issued special war order number one ordering him to march on Manassas by February 22nd when McClellan told Lincoln about his Peninsular campaign Lincoln decided to give it a chance thanks meanwhile assured McClellan that he and lander together could occupy Winchester and Leesburg by March 1st McClellan finally acquiesced authorizing banks to cross the Potomac only far enough to reopen the B&O Railroad near Harpers Ferry Lander was a worker to hold at pawpaw tunnel until banks was across then moved east of Hancock to help repair the railroad from Hancock to Harpers Ferry in late February banks began marching from Frederick - just behind Maryland Heights with JJ Abercrombie's and Charles as Hamilton's brigades banks left Alphaeus Williams Brigade at Hancock at Maryland Heights poor planning and incompetence prevented the construction of proper pontoon bridges McClellan had ordered pontoon sections constructed in Washington without checking that the dimensions could actually pass through the CNO canal locks when boatman tried to take the pontoon sections up the river they found two McClellan's humiliation that they were too big to fit through the locks On February 26th a small makeshift bridge was built by the 3rd Wisconsin infantry banks began crossing into Harpers Ferry the town was largely abandoned and gutted Hamilton occupied Bolivar Heights while Abercrombie occupied Loudoun Heights [Music] the next day McClellan learned about the pontoon fiasco back at Maryland Heights the makeshift bridge was rocked by high waters supply wagons were unable to cross and left the troops in Harpers Ferry without any baggage or supplies all these problems combined made McClellan give up on any thought of advancing on Winchester he settled on focusing on rebuilding the bridges and reopening the railroad and turned his attention to more important sectors in the theater of war On February 28th McClellan accompanied a reconnaissance to Charlestown and ordered Landor and Williams to cross at Williamsport and occupy Martinsburg Jackson meanwhile was aware of these union movements and was happy to see them he looked forward to waging war even though the Federals outnumbered him six to one Jackson withdrew from Martinsburg without a fight and began preparing to leave Winchester for the south many civilians also fled the city a pro-union diarist named Julia Chase wrote that the Virginians have always said never surrender that they never ran pretty good numbers are running now fast enough back in Charlestown federal soldiers marched in and began occupying the settlement many civilians were afraid that the Federals would raze the town given its reputation as being the site of john brown's hanging Cozens writes an account of the reverend of the presbyterian church as follows hurrying through the downpour to check on his presbyterian church the Reverend WB Dutton braced himself for the worst Strother fell in with him and together they found the sanctuary overrun with soldiers from the 3rd Wisconsin some of whom were rolling up carpets Dutton implored Strother and the regimental commander Colonel Thomas H Ruger to spare the pulpit Bibles and candelabras glancing toward the Oregon Dutton saw a platoon of rugged looking fellows fumbling with the music books of the choir he looked in agony at the perspective destruction and desecration recalling strata a moment after the books were all opened and fifty accordin voices rose in a thrilling anthem that filled the church with solemn music the alarmed clergyman paused a moment his face became calm and solemn he turned to the officer in command you need not move the furniture from the pulpit sir it will be safe I feel assured other officers marched through the town singing John Brown's body while a few others raided the town of food and commodities slaves helped soldiers locate stores that their masters had hidden away and many fled to freedom although these raids took place there were no acts of destruction on March 2nd Martinsburg fell to Williams's Brigade who had set out from Hancock two days earlier his troops were under equipped and many were barefoot the town had already been gutted of supplies by the departing Virginia militia Martinsburg had many pro-union families some Union soldiers were gracious to their citizen hosts while others ransacked property on the same day that Martinsburg fell Lander died he had been preparing to go on campaign again but fell gravely ill Kimball took command in his absence as the rebels began evacuating Winchester Jackson planned his next move if he withdrew he could go through the page valley or down the valley pike in any case his objective is mount Jackson where he has set up a supply depot meanwhile Johnston has learned of the amphibious campaign that McClellan is planning and withdraws from Centerville to Culpepper Courthouse on March 3rd Jackson wrote Johnston that he's prepared to fall back as far as Newmarket the same day intelligence and Spy reports assured banks that Jackson only had five thousand men at Winchester on March 6th rebels found ashbey's pickets asleep on the Charlestown Road they had not been reporting federal troop movements Jackson ordered ashbey to give daily reports at a minimum the next day general Williams began advancing up the valley pike from Bunker Hill with a cavalry reconnaissance seven miles north of Winchester to Union cavalry companies began skirmishing with one of ashbey's poorly equipped cavalry company SP lost six killed and seven wounded endless thrown back the following day March 8th there were growing indications that Jackson was preparing to withdraw banks asked McClellan for explicit permission to march on Winchester McClellan was evasive but ordered banks to find out if any of Johnson's army was moving to the city banks decided to continue the advance meanwhile Jackson was not completely committed to abandoning Winchester he wired Johnston telling him that he wants to stand and fight but acknowledges Johnson's request that all Confederate armies withdraw in unison Johnston from Northern Virginia and D H Hill from Leesburg on March 10th Brigadier General Willis a Gorman's brigade from John Sedgwick's division and Abercrombie's Brigade from bankses division arrived at Berryville ten miles east of Winchester at this point Jackson was facing Hamilton's brigaded Smithfield modern-day Middle Way West Virginia Williams's brigade at Bunker Hill Virginia Kimball's and Colonel Jeremiah Sullivan's brigades at Martinsburg and Erastus B Tyler's Brigade at bat Creek railroad depot nine and a half miles west of Williamsport altogether this was 30,000 federal troops within one day's march of Winchester against this Jackson had less than 5,000 Confederates you the following day March 11th banks ordered Hamilton to conduct a reconnaissance toward Winchester with his Brigade plus Williams's Kimball's and Sullivan's Brigadier General James Shields the same man that had nearly fought a duel with Abraham Lincoln many years earlier arrived to take command of Landers division Tyler's Brigade arrived in Martinsburg and shields joined them Hamilton the ranking officer of the four brigades chosen to advance on Winchester's begins moving up the valley pipe skirmishing with Ashby the entire day Williams's Brigade leads the advance and in camps at Stevenson's Depot modern day students know Virginia for the night although banks had only authorized a reconnaissance the four brigade commanders meet and all agreed to stage an assault on the city the next day the Stonewall Brigade and Colonel Jesse Burks his Brigade formally gillum's were stationed north of the city behind earthworks while Tolliver's brigade was east northeast of the city on the Berryville road Jackson wanted the men to slip away from the earthworks undetected draw rations for the night and rest then returned to attack before dawn [Music] unfortunately for Jackson at a council of war he called that evening his subordinate commanders rejected that plan this plus a screw-up that had sent rational Agins too far south and the troops after them spoiled any chance that they would be fed and rested for an attack Jackson angry finally reluctantly decided to evacuate he issues the orders just after midnight on March 12th and the rebels begin slipping away to the south as Jackson rides off away from Winchester he vows never to call another council of war again if you enjoyed that please like and subscribe and of course if you feel like it I do have a PayPal account that you can donate to links in the description in the next part we'll see Jackson's withdrawal from Winchester and then his return

Channel: StuffWriter

Views: 5,904

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Keywords: American Civil War, Nathaniel Banks, Shenandoah Valley, Abraham Lincoln, Confederacy, Union, Joseph Johnston, Martinsburg, Winchester, Virginia, Thomas Jackson, Confederate Army, Union Army, Robert E. Lee, Turner Ashby, Romney, Maryland, Hancock, Frederick W. Lander, Jefferson Davis, Fort Sumter, Appalachian Mountains, James Shields, Stonewall Brigade, Judah P. Benjamin, Harpers Ferry, Peter Cozzens

Id: zV6IhFrlR9g

Length: 31min 56sec (1916 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 15 2020