marching and fighting since Front Royal.
They could not maintain the chase, and
Jackson finally had to call it off, saving the
destruction of Banks for another time.
Still, he had cause for contentment. He
had taken his army 177 miles in 17 days
and kicked the Federals all the way out of
the Shenandoah Valley into Maryland. He
had captured, wounded, or killed at least
3,000 of Banks’ command of 8,000 and
reaped voluminous supplies in Winchester,
more medical supplies, one Rebel officer
wrote, than “in the whole Confederacy.”
Southern losses since Front Royal were
about 400.
This was not, however, the richest fruit
of the victories of May 23-25. While Banks
was being drubbed, Lincoln and Stanton
descended to their deepest pessimism.
They were certain that Banks was being
driven by a superior force. They were not
certain how numerous that force was or
where it was headed, but to their eyes it
could be a very large one indeed and per-
haps set on crossing the Potomac or intent
on capturing Washington. Lincoln issued
orders to have the Federal government
seize the railroads for military purposes,called on Northern governors for more
troops, and rescinded a May 17 order to
McDowell to march on Richmond in favor
of sending some of his troops to the valley.
Once Winchester was secured, Jackson
ordered the wealth of captured supplies to
begin the trip up the Valley Pike. He also
received orders from Richmond, confirm-
ing his own convictions, to demonstrate
against Harper’s Ferry. He set out with
infantry to do so, up the rail line that ran
from Winchester to Charles Town and
Harper’s Ferry. Through the 27th and
28th, Jackson kept up the demonstration.
But by the latter day, Lincoln and Stanton
could see Jackson’s thrust for what it was,
an understrength threat that could not be
made good.
In fact, Jackson was now in danger. He
had 13,000 worn troops within a few
miles of 7,000 Federals in Harper’s Ferry.
Banks was north of the Potomac with
5,000 and being reinforced. Fremont was
at Franklin 27 miles west of Harrisonburg
with 15,000, and Shields was moving on
Front Royal from the east with a division,
another division not far behind. Anyone
could see that Jackson was surrounded. IfFremont were at Harrisonburg, Banks and
Shields could chase Jackson there and
crush him in a vise. Fremont, however,
declined the march to Harrisonburg—the
roads having been blocked by Jackson’s
engineers after the fight at McDowell.
Instead, Fremont set out through the
Alleghenies for the more distant Strasburg.
When his superiors at Washington learned
this they were furious, but had Fremont
continue toward Strasburg in hopes he
could still block Jackson’s path. The plan
now was for Fremont and Shields to com-
bine at Strasburg and cut off, if not anni-
hilate, the valley army by attacking it from
both west and east.
Jackson was told on the 29th that Fre-
mont was en route to Strasburg. He must
have surmised the Federal intent to com-
bine Fremont and Shields at that town;
still, to all observers he remained excep-
tionally calm. Perhaps he surmised that
communication between Fremont and
Shields would be tenuous and a simulta-
neous conversion on Strasburg difficult. In
fact, each might be counted upon to be
cautious for fear of being struck by Jack-
son before a combination could beCharles Winder; the rest was strung out up
the Pike. Those who could not catch up
were captured or had to make their way
through back ways and woods to rejoin the
valley army.
During some hard marches, cavalry and
infantry temporarily relaxed their rivalry
and jibes. Cavalrymen offered to sling rifles
for the foot soldiers, or let them mount, or
allowed soldiers to hold onto stirrups. It
was said that one man found a hot meal
but fell asleep before he could eat it. At a
rest period, men often fell right to the
ground and were instantly asleep.
For all this exhaustion and misery, the
Southern soldiers knew they were part of
great deeds. Richmond newspapers hailed
their achievements in the valley as heroic,
and soon European observers were
extolling the campaign’s brilliance. The val-
ley soldiers marched in misery but
Jackson asked a lot of his men, and they delivered. marched also into immortality.Q-Spr16 Shenandoah_Layout 1 1/14/16 12:29 PM Page 85