Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in to episode number 147 of our Civil War Podcasts.

I'm Rich. And I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Welcome to the podcast. With this episode we'll continue working our way through Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Valley campaign.

As y'all recall in the spring of 1862, the Confederate nation faced a crisis of vast proportions.

After a succession of disasters all across the map, the Confederacy then faced perhaps its greatest test as a massive federal army led by George McClellan, advanced up the peninsula and closed in on the rebel capital of Richmond.

Jackson's actions in the Shenandoah Valley were meant to tie down the Union forces opposite him and so reduce the odds against Richmond.

After being forced out of Winchester by overwhelming enemy numbers, Stonewall had returned to the outskirts of the town by March 23 to prevent Union forces from leaving the Valley and aiding the advance on Richmond.

The resulting battle at Tiny Kernstown was a fiasco for Jackson and his Valley Army. And yet, despite the fact that tactically it had been a poorly conducted fight, Kernstown turned into a strategic victory for the Confederacy.

When it resulted in changes in federal troop dispositions, changes that would give Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston a better chance to defend Richmond.

And then in April, Robert E. Lee, who was in Richmond at that time, acting as Jefferson Davis's military adviser, arranged for the division of Major General Richard S. Ull to support Jackson's activities in the Valley.

Ull's 8500 man division had been waiting on the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains, awaiting orders that would either send it west to the Shenandoah or east to aid in the defense of Richmond.

In late April, though, it was decided that Ull would take his men over the mountains to support Stonewall.

No sooner had Ull's division taken the place of the Valley Army near Conrad's store with orders to keep an eye on Nathaniel Banks, then Jackson took the Valley Army to stand where he linked up with a small Confederate force led by Edward Allegheny Johnson.

Stonewall was concerned about a potential meeting of Banks who was advancing up the Valley and the enemy force led by John C. Freemont, which was advancing out of the rugged Allegheny Mountains.

To keep Banks and Freemont from joining forces, Stonewall planned to combine the Valley Army and Allegheny Johnson's men and using speed and surprise strike Freemont such a blow that he would be pushed back away from the Valley.

The result was the Battle of McDowell, which took place on May 8th.

Tactically, the clash was again not Stonewall's finest hour, as he was surprised by a spoiling attack launched by one of the Union commanders on the scene, Robert Milroy.

The Confederates had to scramble just to fend off the Federals, which they did, but in the process Jackson suffered nearly twice as many losses on the defensive as did the Yankee attackers.

But again, although poorly handled tactically, this was another battle that turned into strategic victory for Stonewall, since the clash and the subsequent pursuit of the Union force succeeded in eliminating the immediate threat from Freemont.

Having dealt with Freemont, Jackson pulled back out of the mountains and returned to the Western edge of the Shenandoah on May 17th.

In the process, he absorbed the six regiments of Allegheny Johnson's force and added them to his Valley Army.

Stonewall was now ready to unite with Yule and strike at Nathaniel Banks, and that is just about where we left off last time.

As y'all recall, on April 30th, after advancing up the Valley and losing track of Stonewall Jackson's whereabouts, Nathaniel Banks had confidently wired the War Department in Washington, saying, quote, there is nothing more to be done by us in the Valley.

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