Jackson in New Market

After Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's unsuccessful attack on Union forces at Kernstown on March 23, 1862, Federal officials sent additional troops to the Shenandoah Valley to guard against a Confederate assault on Washington, D.C. In May and June, Jackson's "foot cavalry" marched 350 miles, defeated three Union armies at McDowell, Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys, and Port Republic, inflicted twice the casualties it suffered, and tied down 60,000 Federal troops, making Jackson the Confederacy's foremost hero. The Strayer House, built about 1808 and home to John and Dorcas Strayer, stood where the Valley Turnpike crossed the road from New Market Gap and was a familiar sight to Confederate and Union soldiers. On May 21, 1862, Jackson watched from its stoop as his troops turned east toward New Market Gap to surprise the Federals at Front Royal on May 23. Two weeks later, as he withdrew south, he made his headquarters there after a torrential downpour on June 3 washed out his tent and forced him indoors the next day. While there, Jackson planned the final stages of the campaign, consulted mapmaker Jedediah Hotchkiss about the terrain near Port Republic, and met George Clark, an English reporter for the New York Herald who had been captured at Front Royal. Jackson agreed to free Clark but refused to return Clark's horse, considering it contraband of war, and by the next day Jackson had departed south for Port Republic with Federal forces close behind.

New Market, Virginia · United States