In the spring of 1862, elements of three Union armies moved through the Shenandoah Valley while a fourth advanced up the Virginia Peninsula toward Richmond, forming a pincer movement against the Confederate capital. To block the western arm of this threat, Confederate authorities sent Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to the Valley. From his headquarters at Conrad's Store, present-day Elkton, east of Harrisonburg, Jackson planned a northward counteroffensive, relying on speed and aggression against his more numerous opponents. Elements of John C. Frémont's Union Army of the Mountain Department, camped at McDowell and Franklin in present-day West Virginia, threatened that plan because a Confederate move north could leave Staunton exposed and cut the vital supply line to Richmond. Jackson therefore aimed to drive this force out of the Valley and secure his base before beginning his campaign in earnest. At 10 A.M. on May 8, Union scouts saw Jackson's army advancing up the road. The Federals withdrew to McDowell and established defensive positions on the low ground across Bullpasture River about 1.5 miles beyond Sitlington's Hill. The Confederates arrived around noon and began to climb the hill. Confederate Gen. Edward Johnson led Jackson's column, and schoolteacher and amateur cartographer Jedediah Hotchkiss guided the Confederates to the battlefield, moving ahead at bends in the road and waving a handkerchief when the path was clear of Union soldiers.