End of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign

After victories at Front Royal and Winchester late in May 1862, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and his army rapidly moved southward along the Valley Pike. Pursued by Union forces under Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont and Brig. Gen. James Shields, Jackson turned to the east near here. In a cavalry skirmish a mile southeast of here, Confederate Brig. Gen. Turner Ashby was killed on 6 June. Jackson’s army defeated Frémont at Cross Keys on 8 June and bested Shields near Port Republic the next day. The Shenandoah Valley Campaign lifted Confederate morale, diverted Union troops from Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan’s offensive against Richmond, and greatly increased Jackson’s fame.