Shenandoah At War

During the American Civil War, control of the Shenandoah Valley was critical to the fate of Virginia and the Confederacy because its fertile fields and strategic importance made it a valued prize. In 1862, Confederate Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson used the landscape in his Valley Campaign to march hundreds of miles in less than three months and win a series of engagements despite being vastly outnumbered, giving new hope to the Confederacy at a time of pressure and defeat elsewhere. In 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee used the Valley as an avenue of invasion as he moved north and, after Gettysburg, as a route of retreat and a haven for his wounded. In 1864, after Confederate spring and summertime victories, Federal Gen. Philip H. Sheridan delivered several defeats in the fall and carried out "The Burning," systematically destroying mills, barns, crops, livestock, and much of the region's resources. By the end of 1864, the Union had permanent control of the Valley, and the war ended less than six months later at Appomattox. Signal Knob at the north tip of Massanutten Mountain overlooked battles and troop movements in three counties, while the sixty-mile Massanutten range split the Valley from Strasburg to Harrisonburg and helped create choke points at Front Royal and Strasburg that shaped commanders' decisions. In 1862, Jackson used Massanutten to screen movement northward, overwhelmed a small Union garrison at Front Royal, and then defeated weakened Federal forces at Winchester two days later. In 1863, the last Federal attempt to cut off Lee's retreat after Gettysburg failed at the Battle of Manassas Gap east of Front Royal. In the fall of 1864, after Confederate Gen. Jubal Early withdrew south following defeat at Winchester, his forces were flanked and beaten at Fisher's Hill, his cavalry was routed at Tom's Brook, and his surprise attack at Cedar Creek, planned from Signal Knob, nearly succeeded before Sheridan's forces rallied for a victory that effectively ended the major Confederate war effort in the Valley. The conflict also brought personal loss and reprisals, including the later death of Lt. John Hoyt of the 29th Maine at Cedar Creek and the execution in Front Royal of six captured Confederates who had fought under Col. John Mosby.

Middletown, Virginia · United States