Lieutenant-General Jubal Early’s 12,000-man Confederate Army of the Valley began moving out of Leesburg, Virginia, on the morning of July 16. After raiding through Maryland and reaching the outskirts of Washington, D.C., Early moved west toward Snickers Gap in the Blue Ridge on his way back to the Shenandoah Valley.
A makeshift force of about 17,000 Federals under Major-General Horatio G. Wright left Washington with the intent to join forces with Brigadier-General George Crook’s Army of West Virginia and destroy Early’s army. But Wright took the whole day to cross the Potomac River, giving Early more time to get away. During this time, a Federal cavalry detachment set out to locate the Confederates and clashed with troops guarding their wagon train around Purcellville.
When Crook learned of this engagement, he ordered Brigadier-General Alfred N.A. Duffie’s cavalry to seize the wagon train. Duffie dispatched a brigade under Colonel William B. Tibbits, which spotted the Confederates about a mile north of Heaton’s Crossroads. Tibbits positioned his troopers and guns on a ridge and opened fire around 2 p.m.
The Confederate guards immediately abandoned the wagon train, but the Federal assault faltered as some troopers stopped to seize the wagons and others chased the Confederates. Major-General John C. Breckinridge organized a force of Confederate infantry to stop the Federal advance, while cavalry rode around to the Federals’ rear. Tibbits and a fraction of his brigade escaped capture and returned to Hillsboro. They seized or burned 80 wagons, but they had to leave the rest and all their cannon behind.
Had the Federals attacked with a larger force, they could have stopped or even destroyed Early’s army. Crook advanced to Purcellville that night, with Duffie’s cavalry skirmishing briefly with Confederate troopers at Woodgrove. By this time, elements of Early’s army were moving through the Blue Ridge.
Wright and Crook joined forces as they pushed west toward Snickers Gap on the 17th. The Confederate rear guard prevented the Federal cavalry heading the advance from crossing the Shenandoah River. Wright received word that the Confederates were merely skirmishers and Early’s main army was farther west. This was incorrect, as Early’s main army was guarding the river crossings.
Wright assigned Colonel Joseph Thoburn to lead three brigades around the Confederate left (northern) flank and seize Castleman’s Ferry. As the Federals moved on the 18th, Thoburn learned that the Confederates were massed on the riverbank. Both sides added reinforcements, with the Confederates holding a ridge near the Cool Spring plantation. Thoburn led his Federals across the Shenandoah River and lined them up behind stone walls.
The Federals repelled three assaults before night fell, and Thoburn ordered a withdrawal back across the river. The Federals sustained 422 casualties, while the Confederates lost roughly the same number. Early retained control of the river, as Wright and Crook continued debating how best to pursue his army.
Meanwhile, Federal General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant was facing immense difficulties in trying to coordinate all the Federal military departments in the region of Maryland, Washington, northern Virginia, and West Virginia. Grant wrote Chief of Staff Henry W. Halleck that “to prevent a recurrence of what has just taken place in Maryland,” all these departments should be merged into one with a single overall commander. Grant issued orders on the 18th giving this new command to Major-General William B. Franklin, who was a friend of Grant’s and currently a corps commander in the Army of the Gulf.
Three days later, Halleck informed Grant that the final decision on merging the departments belonged to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, and “General Franklin would not give satisfaction.” Halleck explained that Franklin had allied with the administration’s old antagonist, George B. McClellan, and the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War had named Franklin as partly responsible for the Federal defeat at Fredericksburg and the failed “mud march.” Moreover, Franklin was friends with Major-General William F. “Baldy” Smith, who was currently embroiled in a feud with Major-General George G. Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac. Thus, Grant’s order was canceled and the departments remained separate for now.
Back in the Shenandoah, Early’s Confederates headed south toward Winchester on the 19th. Crook detached his cavalry under Brigadier-General William W. Averell to cut off Early’s escape at Stephenson’s Depot, six miles north of Winchester. The next day, Confederates of Major-General Stephen D. Ramseur’s division attacked Averell but soon found themselves outnumbered and were forced to retreat. The rest of Early’s army managed to get past Averell and continue south.
Crook’s Federals occupied Winchester on the 21st. Their return to the Valley brought renewed hatred from the civilians who had suffered so many depredations at their hands. A Mrs. Edmund Lee, whose home was burned by Federals, wrote a bitter letter to Major-General David Hunter, commanding the department that included Crook’s command: “Hyena-like you have torn my heart to pieces and demon-like you have done it without a pretext of revenge, for I never harmed you. Were it possible for human lips to raise your name heavenward, angels would thrust the foul thing back.”
By the 22nd, Grant had decided to bring Wright’s command back to the Petersburg front. He left the pursuit of Early’s army to Crook’s (i.e., Hunter’s) 8,500 Federals, explaining their mission to Halleck: Pursue Early to Gordonsville and Charlottesville and cut the railroads there. If Crook could not do that, he should destroy everything in the Shenandoah Valley useful to the Confederates. Grant wrote, “I do not mean that houses should be burned, but every particle of provisions and stock should be removed.” The Federals should “eat out Virginia clear and clean as far as they go, so that crows flying over it for the balance of the season will have to carry their provender with them.”
Halleck had voiced criticism of Grant for sending the main body of Federals in Virginia south of the James River because it left Washington vulnerable to the exact kind of raid that Early had just conducted. He replied, “In my opinion, raids will be renewed as soon as he leaves; but you are the judge whether or not a large enough movable force shall be kept here to prevent them.”
Around the same time, President Abraham Lincoln wrote to Hunter, “Are you able to take care of the enemy, when he turns back on you, as he probably will, on finding that Wright has left?” Hunter replied, “My force is not strong enough to hold the enemy should he return upon us with his whole force. Our latest advices from the front, however, do not lead me to apprehend such a movement.”
These messages prompted Grant to change his mind. He wrote, “You need not send any force back until the main force of the enemy are known to have left the Valley. Is Wright still where he can make connections with Hunter? If the two can push the enemy back, and destroy railroads from Charlottesville to Gordonsville, I would prefer that service to having him here.” He sent a similar message on the 24th: “I would prefer a complete smash-up of the enemy’s roads about Gordonsville and Charlottesville to having the same force here. If Wright and Hunter can do the job, let them do it.”
Meanwhile, Crook’s Federals had settled in around Kernstown, site of a battle in 1862. Early’s Confederates were farther south toward Strasburg, where Early soon learned that a large part of the enemy pursuing force was being withdrawn. Early decided to countermarch back north and confront Crook at Kernstown. The Confederates skirmished with Averell’s advance guard on 23rd, prompting Crook to build defenses. Early planned to attack in full force the next day.
Bibliography
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- Catton, Bruce, Grant Takes Command. Open Road Media, Kindle Edition, 2015.
- Davis, Jefferson, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government: All Volumes. Heraklion Press, Kindle Edition 2013, 1889.
- Foote, Shelby, The Civil War, A Narrative: Red River to Appomattox. New York: Vintage Civil War Library, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group (Kindle Edition), 2011.
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