based in large part on Ashby’s badly
underestimated numbers. For his part,
Ashby admitted his erroneous intelligence
in his official report. “Having followed the
enemy in his hasty retreat from Strasburg
on Saturday evening,” he wrote, “I came
upon the forces remaining in Winchester
within a mile of that place and became sat-
isfied that he had but four regiments, and
learned that they had orders to march in
the direction of Harpers Ferry.”
Although the bad information may have
caused Jackson’s defeat, he was initially
magnanimous, praising Ashby in his offi-
cial report of the battle: “During the
engagement Colonel Ashby, with a por-
tion of his command, including Chew’s
battery, which rendered valuable service,
remained on our right, and not only pro-
tected our rear in the vicinity of the Val-
ley turnpike, but also served to threatenthe enemy’s front and left. Colonel Ashby
fully sustained his deservedly high repu-
tation by the able manner in which he dis-
charged the important trust confided to
him.” Jackson also praised the ladies of
Winchester, who tended to the injured and
sick, and the men of Winchester who
buried the dead.
The general was not so accommodat-
ing to Garnett. Two weeks after the bat-
tle, Jackson relieved Garnett of command
and placed him under arrest pending a
court-martial for his unauthorized retreat
at Kernstown. “I regard Gen. Garnett as
so incompetent a brigade commander,”
Jackson wrote, “that, instead of building
up a brigade, a good one, if turned over
to him, would actually deteriorate under
his command.”
Garnett, furious and embarrassed,
demanded an immediate trial. The five reg-imental colonels in the Stonewall Brigade
rallied to his defense, saying Garnett’s
actions had been justified. Jackson’s loyal
aide, Sandie Pendleton, noted in a letter
home to his mother that “the brigade is in
a very loud humor at [Garnett’s arrest] for
he was a pleasant man and exceedingly
popular.” But Pendleton defended Jack-
son’s decision, adding, “The arrest, how-
ever, was necessary, and I now see why
Napoleon considered a blunder worse than
a fault. Genl. G’s fault was a blunder.”
In the end, the court-martial was delayed,
then adjourned without a verdict. Garnett
returned to the army as a brigadier in Lt.
Gen. James Lonstreet’s I Corps and was
later killed commanding his brigade dur-
ing Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Get-
tysburg. Too sick to walk that day, Garnett
had ridden a horse directly up to the Union
lines before being fatally wounded. ManyBoth: Library of CongressCWQ-EW16 Kernstown_Layout 1 10/22/15 3:07 PM Page 96