DK - The American Civil War

The Valley Campaign

In the war’s final duel for control of the strategic Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, Confederate General Jubal

Early, whose soldiers briefly menaced Washington, D.C., was soundly defeated by General Philip Sheridan,

who darkened the Valley’s skies in what would become known as “The Burning.”

GRANT, SHERMAN, AND TOTAL WAR 1864

J

ubal Early was nothing if not

audacious. In June 1864, having

won control of the Shenandoah

Valley, he planned to take his Army

of the Valley—Stonewall Jackson’s

old Second Corps—on an invasion of

the North.

Having scattered his enemies—some

into the mountains of West Virginia—

Early seized the opportunity to relieve

pressure on Robert E. Lee, struggling

BEFORE

Once famous far and wide for its

beauty, the Shenandoah Valley had

been ravaged by two years of war.

A STRATEGIC PAWN

For the Union, the Valley had been a potential

backdoor route to Richmond; to the South, it was

the “breadbasket of the Confederacy” and

the natural invasion route to the North.

CONFEDERATE CONTROL

In June, Union general David Hunter, who

replaced Franz Sigel after the Battle of New

Market ❮❮ 254–55, advanced back up the

Shenandoah Valley and put many buildings

and homes to the torch, outraging Virginians.

Approaching the Confederate supply depot at

Lynchburg, he was defeated on June 17–18 by

General Jubal Early, commander of the new

Army of the Valley. Hunter retreated into West

Virginia, leaving the Valley to Early.

with Ulysses S. Grant at Petersburg,

Virginia. Early planned to threaten

Washington, D.C., and perhaps draw off

some of Grant’s soldiers. Crossing the

Potomac River, Early brushed aside

Union forces on July 9 at the Battle of

Monocacy. Three days later, his men

marched down Rockville Pike toward

Washington’s defenses. Though the

fortifications were manned by a force

of militiamen twice the size of Early’s

in command of all the troops in the

field,” Grant declared, “with instructions

to follow the enemy to the death.”

It proved to be a pivotal decision.

“Little Phil”—as the diminutive

Sheridan was affectionately known—

entered the Valley near Harpers Ferry

in August at the head of the Army of

the Shenandoah, nearly 40,000

soldiers strong. Encamped outside

Winchester, Early marched and

countermarched his heavily

outnumbered troops, hoping the

resulting dust clouds would create

the impression of a much larger force.

Sheridan bided his time, and struck

on September 19.

The Third Battle of Winchester was

a bloody, daylong fight that surged

back and forth across rolling fields.

Though they repulsed a number of

Union assaults, the Confederates

finally broke when cavalry attacked

their flanks. Having suffered nearly

40 percent casualties, Early’s troops

streamed back through the streets of

Winchester and entrenched on Fisher’s

Hill, 15 miles (24km) to the south.

Three days later, at sunset on

September 22, Sheridan attacked at

Fisher’s Hill. The Union soldiers

scrambled over rocks, walls, and felled

trees with their commander urging

them on: “Forward! Forward

everything! Go on, don’t stop, go

on!” Outflanked again, Early’s men

abandoned their positions, losing more

than 1,000, and were chased deep into

the night by their relentless foe.

Utter devastation

Sheridan next turned his attention to

the surrounding landscape, whose crops

had been supplying the Confederate

army. Grant had ordered him to “turn

the valley into such a barren waste that

even a crow flying over it would have

to carry his own rations.” As the torches

were handed out, his soldiers began

igniting the many fires that, taken

together, would always be remembered

by residents as “The Burning.” Far and

wide, immense pillars of smoke arose

as every barn, stable, mill, haystack,

and supply of forage went up in flames.

Some 2,000 barns and 120 mills with

their stocks of grain and flour were

consumed by fire. Countless fences,

wagons, and farming implements were

destroyed. Livestock was run off.

Hundreds of square miles of once-

beautiful farmland were wrecked and

scorched. There was little that the

Confederacy could do about it. Partisan

activities by cavalry commander John

Mosby’s group and others only brought

reprisals. When Early’s cavalry pressed

too close, it was driven off at the Battle

of Tom’s Brook on October 9. George

Chambersburg in ruins

Hundreds of buildings were destroyed when, on July 30,

1864, much of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, was

torched by Confederate cavalry in retaliation for Union

depredations in Virginia and failure to pay a ransom.

“He just moved around our

flank, swept down upon it, and

whipped us out of existence.”

CONFEDERATE GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON, ON SHERIDAN’S VICTORY AT CEDAR CREEK

army, the city itself was on the verge

of hysteria. The Confederates were so

close that they could see the Capitol

dome from their bivouac. But with

thousands of Union reinforcements

arriving from Petersburg, Early turned

and soon recrossed the Potomac. He

had sown panic and depleted Grant’s

Petersburg lines, and had also destroyed

railroads and telegraph stations.

Back in the Shenandoah Valley,

Early continued defeating scattered

Union incursions. On July 24, over the

same fields and fences where Stonewall

Jackson once fought, he vanquished

Federal forces at the Second Battle of

Kernstown. He then sent his cavalry,

commanded by John A. McCausland,

across the Potomac again. On the

morning of July 30, the troopers rode

into Chambersburg, Pennsylvania,

demanding $100,000 in gold as

compensation for General David

Hunter’s burning of Virginia homes the

previous month. When the ransom

could not be produced, McCausland

torched the town.

The Union response

The North was incensed, as was

General Grant, who summoned his

pugnacious cavalry chief, Philip

Sheridan. “I want Sheridan to be put