Late in April 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson marched his army out of the Shenandoah Valley through the Blue Ridge Mountains to deceive Union Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont into thinking he was headed for Richmond. On 3 May, Jackson bivouacked at nearby Mechum’s Station on the Virginia Central Railroad. The next day, part of the army entrained for the Valley while the rest followed on foot. At the Battle of McDowell on 8 May, Jackson defeated the advance of Fremont’s army under Brig. Gen. Robert H. Milroy and Brig. Gen. Robert C. Schenck. Thus began Jackson’s 1862 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.