165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln calls for increased military enrollment, which results in Federal troops pouring into Washington, D.C. By mid-May, talk turns from defense to offensive operations including an invasion of the South.
Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln calls for increased military enrollment, which results in Federal troops pouring into Washington, D.C. By mid-May, talk turns from defense to offensive operations including an invasion of the South.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s Confederate army continues moving south up the Shenandoah Valley and prepares to take on two Federal forces approaching from two different directions.
Two Federal forces continue their pursuit of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s Confederates in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, but Jackson is able to stay one step ahead of them for now.
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s Confederates drive one Federal army out of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, but two more are quickly closing in on them from opposite directions.
Confederate victories in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley prevent Federal reinforcements from reaching George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. This leaves McClellan vulnerable on the Peninsula.
Following the Federal defeat at Front Royal in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Nathaniel P. Banks retreats and Abraham Lincoln scrambles to send him reinforcements.