ers. On several occasions he disguised him-
self as a horse doctor, rode for miles behind
Union lines, and carefully noted enemy troop
dispositions. He was also employed to protect
the lower Shenandoah Valley from Union in-
cursions and performed useful service by de-
stroying railroad tracks between Harpers
Ferry and Martindale. In March 1862, Ashby
advanced to colonel of the Seventh Virginia,
which ballooned in size to 27 companies—
around three times the size of the average
Confederate cavalry unit. He was also en-
trusted with raising the first company of Con-
federate horse artillery. Such a large force
proved impossible for one man to train and
discipline properly, and Ashby’s men acquired
a poor reputation for battlefield performance.
Such lax behavior outraged the spit-and-pol-
ish Jackson, who at one point broke up the
Seventh and distributed them among other
units. Ashby strongly protested this move,
stormed into his superior’s tent, and threat-
ened to resign immediately. Jackson, fearful
of losing his talented cavalier, relented, but
only on the condition that Ashby properly
train and instruct his men. He agreed and was
promoted to brigadier general on May 23,
- In this capacity he functioned capably
throughout Jackson’s famous campaign in the
Shenandoah Valley.
Ashby may have discounted military disci-
pline, but he and his men were full of fight.
For several months they successfully skir-
mished with Union cavalry and outposts, in-
variably prevailing against superior numbers.
However, Gen. Ashby committed two con-
spicuous errors. The first occurred on May 23,
1862, when he reported to Jackson that Kerns-
town was occupied by a handful of infantry
companies. On the basis of this faulty intelli-
gence, Jackson felt encouraged to move up
and attack—and ran headlong into an entire
division commanded by Gen. James Shields!
The ensuing repulse turned out to be the only
defeat of Jackson’s illustrious military career.
Ashby’s second blunder transpired in the
wake of Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’s hurried re-
treat from Winchester on May 25, 1862. Ashby
was ordered north to pursue and possibly cut
off Banks’s retreat, but he failed. Apparently,
his men were more interested in plundering
the supply wagons they captured, so the fed-
eral troops escaped intact.
At length Jackson began an orderly with-
drawal from the Shenandoah Valley in the di-
rection of Port Republic. Ashby provided the
rear guard, and he constantly thwarted the ad-
vance of Gen. John C. Frémont’s troops. On
June 6, 1862, a Union cavalry charge upon
Ashby was also repulsed at Chestnut Ridge
near Harrisonburg. However, the enemy then
brought up infantry reserves in support.
Ashby did likewise, and a heavy skirmish de-
veloped. Seeking to inspire his men, the gen-
eral dismounted and led a charge on foot,
shouting, “Forward, my brave men!” Ashby
was then suddenly shot through the heart and
killed. Jackson, who valued the services of his
gallant aide, regretted his demise. “As a parti-
san officer I never knew his superior,” he
wrote. “His daring was proverbial; his powers
of endurance almost incredible; his tone of
character heroic; and his sagacity almost intu-
itive in divining the purposes and movements
of the enemy.” Ashby’s remains were origi-
nally interred at the University of Virginia
cemetery, but in 1866 he was finally laid to
rest with his commanding officer at the Jack-
son Cemetery in Winchester. Despite his com-
plete disregard for drill and discipline, Ashby
was revered by the men under his command,
who referred to him as the “White Knight of
the Valley.” He fell before his full potential as
an officer could be realized.See also
Jackson, Thomas J. “Stonewall”; Johnston, Joseph E.Bibliography
Anderson, Paul C. “The Sword of Turner Ashby and the
Images and Ideals of the Civil War in the Shenan-
doah Valley.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Uni-
versity of Mississippi, 1998; Ashby, Thomas A. Life
of Turner Ashby.New York: Neale, 1919; Bushong,
Milard K. General Turner Ashby and Stonewall’sASHBY, TURNER