The first battle of Jackson's campaign was at Kernstown, which was also the only defeat in his career. He was poorly-informed about the strength of the Union garrison at Winchester and he attacked a force of some 8000 with his 3900. The Union forces outflanked him, and his flank dug in along a stone wall, which used to run along the edge of the treeline in the middle distance of this shot:
It is on private farmland just south of the urban area of Winchester. There are McMansions going in all around though perhaps with our current economy they will not press to close for a while.
Jackson withdrew over the mountains, then rushed back and marched up towards West Virginia to take on a Union force coming down towards Staunton Va. They met at McDowell. The battlefield is heavily overgrown, and a stiffish hike up through the forest takes you along the Confederate position. But there wasn't much to see. Nearby, I got this shot of Confederate fortifications that weren't used in the actual battle:
With his flank covered, Jackson returned to the offensive, defeating Union forces at Winchester in a battle that took place entirely within the modern built-up area of Winchester VA. Nothing much to see today, though there are some plaques on buildings.
After smashing the Union army to his front, Jackson was again threatened by encirclement, but the Union generals Frémont and Banks moved too slowly and Jackson's boys slipped away. They moved down the Page valley, my own home area, and fought a pair of battles against the two pursuing Yankee columns. The first was at Cross Keys, where Frémont's men attacked Ewell's blocking force at Cross Keys. The Confederate artillery, located on a hill now covered by the trees in the background of this picture, slaughtered the attacking Union troops attacking across the fields in the foreground of this shot:
The Union then withdrew on their own guns, located around the Union Church of the Brethren. The Brethren were German pacifists who hated slavery, like the Dunkers who had their church at Antietam, but when the battle was over they buried a number of soldiers from both sides:
The next day, Jackson's forces attacked the other Union column at Port Republic. The Union position was strong, anchored on a hill on one side and the Shenandoah River on the other. Here I am standing atop the hill, where the Union guns were placed:
And here's the panoramic view from the hill:
The ridge on the right in the background is the location of the Cross Keys fight - Frémont's undefeated Union army was sitting in active there as this fighting took place.
Finally, reinforcements from Ewell's army stormed the hill and captured the Union guns, at which point the Union infantry withdrew up the valley.
The Cross Keys and Port Republic battlefields are located in rural areas and are not threatened by development. The State of Virginia and a foundation have put up some very nice interpretive signs - I once tried to find the Cross Keys site about 15 years ago and got horribly lost.
The 1864 campaign started at New Market, where a small Union force under Sigel sent to break up rail lines in the valley in May met a somewhat larger force under former Vice President (of the USA) John C. Breckinridge. The CSA force famously included several dozen cadets from the Virginia Military Institute. The battlefield appears to be owned by VMI, and you have to pay ten bucks (!) to go on it. There is also a rather tacky museum you get to visit for your ten bucks. I took this shot from the parking lot as I'll be damned if I'll pay such a sum to walk across a field.
The CSA forces advanced across the field in the photo, driving off the USA forces holding the crest of the small ridge in the middle distance. The battlefield actually extends over I-81 to your right and there is a nice monument to the 54th Pennsylvania regiment alongside US11 about half a mile to the right.
The next step in 1864 was Early's invasion of Maryland, resulting in the only battle fought within the limits of the District of Columbia and the last time a President of the United States was present on a battlefield in combat. Driven back from DC, Early's forces retired to the Valley, pursued by Union General Crook. He fought Crook twice, first at Cool Spring, which is on private land owned by Holy Cross Abbey (cloistered monks, I didn't even try to bother them) and then at Kernstown. This small rise was Early's HQ and the CSA artillery position during the battle:
There is a Kernstown battlefield park but it was closed by the time I got there.
Crook, defeated at Kernstown, retired to the Potomac River and called for reinforcements. Grant sent Gen. Phillip Sheridan with a very large Union army, over 30,000 men, the largest seen in the Valley throughout the war. Early retreated before this massive force, calling for reinforcements himself and then digging in where the main Valley narrows to about five miles between the Shenandoah River and North Mountain at Fisher's Hill. The Fisher's Hill battlefield is very well-preserved, with a nice walking trail up to the top of the ridge where the decisive Union flank attack struck Early's left. The hill in the middle distance in this shot was the Union gun position:
His army shattered, Early retreated out of the Valley into the mountains to the east and Sheridan devastated the countryside, ironically mostly inhabited by people who had opposed secession and the Virginia state government. Sheridan's forces withdrew to near Winchester after they had completed their work, and Early tried one more attack, Outnumbered two to one, he launched a surprise attack at Cedar Creek. The Union HQ and camps at the start of the battle were around Belle Grove plantation, which can be seen in the background of this shot:
The Confederate attack overran the Union positions and two USA corps disintegrated. Early's men swept forward, but Sheridan, hearing the guns, rode rapidly back from Winchester and rallied his troops. A small Union force held out in the graveyard of the little town of Middleton long enough to give Sheridan time to get his forces organized, and Early's men stopped to loot the Union baggage train and sutler's wagons. Sheridan's well-organized counterattack ground up the Confederate army, effectively ending the war in the Valley.
apy:
