As Stonewall Jackson’s Army passed through the gap on their way to McDowell, Virginia, one soldier wrote on Tuesday 13th May 1862 of the wild mountain scenery, calling the Shenandoah Mountain Pass grand indeed. He described ascending to the very top of the mountain, where the view stretched as far as the eyes could reach, with mountain after mountain in every variety of shape and grandeur, while far below lay a little valley and stream with a winding road curving from mountain to mountain as it descended the grade. After reaching this valley, the army ascended the headwaters of the James to a point where the waters turned the other way, and then discerned the headwaters of the Potomac. He also wrote that the mountains towered beautifully above them and that fresh, sparkling streams gushed from the mountainside and ran into the larger streams of the Valley. The account came from the diary of Frank B. Jones, Major, 2nd VA Infantry, who was later wounded at McGehee’s Mill and succumbed to typhoid.