The Battle of McDowell

In the spring of 1862, as Union successes in the West, the U.S. Navy’s coastal blockade, and Major General George B. McClellan’s advance threatened Richmond, General Robert E. Lee ordered Major General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson to create a diversion in the Shenandoah Valley to keep additional Union reinforcements from moving against the Confederate capital. Jackson chose to strike Federal forces converging on Staunton and pushed his Confederates westward through rain on a forced march. On May 7, his men found Union pickets about thirty miles from Staunton near McDowell, prompting Brigadier General Robert H. Milroy to pull back across the Bull Pasture River and call for reinforcements from Brigadier General Robert Schenk. On May 8, Federal troops took up a defensive position across Sitlington’s Hill, but because Schenk had only 6,000 men against Jackson’s 10,000, he decided to withdraw. In the early afternoon, Schenk attacked to delay the Confederates while his main force retreated. The Confederate victory at McDowell was the first clash in the 1862 Valley Campaign, tied down 60,000 Federals, and firmly established Jackson’s military reputation.

Virginia · United States