Chapter X · WINCHESTER (continued 2)

Winder reached Strasburg about noon. The troops that had been facing Frémont were then withdrawn; and the whole force, now reunited, fell back on Woodstock; Ashby, with the cavalry, holding his old position on Tom’s Brook. The retreat was made in full view of the Federal scouts. On the Confederates retiring from before him, Frémont had pushed forward a reconnaissance, and Bayard’s cavalry brigade, of McDowell’s army, came up in the evening on the other flank. But attack was useless. The Confederate trains were disappearing in the distance, and heavy masses of all arms were moving slowly south. The Federal horsemen were unsupported save by a single battery. McDowell, who had reached Front Royal with part of his Second Division in the morning, had endeavoured to push Shields forward upon Strasburg. But Shields, fearing attack, had dispersed his troops to guard the various roads; and when at last they were assembled, misled by erroneous information, he had directed them on Winchester. Before the mistake was discovered the day had passed away. It was not until the next morning that the Federal columns came into communication, and then Jackson was already south of Woodstock.

On Friday morning, May 29, says Allan, “Jackson was in front of Harper’s Ferry, fifty miles from Strasburg. Frémont was at Fabius, twenty miles from Strasburg; and Shields was not more than twenty miles from Strasburg, for his advance entered Front Royal, which is but twelve miles distant, before mid-day, while McDowell was following with two divisions. Yet by Sunday night Jackson had marched between fifty and sixty miles, though encumbered with prisoners and captured stores, had reached Strasburg before either of his adversaries, and had passed safely between their armies, while he held Frémont at bay by a show of force, and blinded and bewildered Shields by the rapidity of his movements.”

From the morning of May 19 to the night of June 1, a period of fourteen days, the Army of the Valley had marched one hundred and seventy miles, had routed a force of 12,500 men, had threatened the North with invasion, had drawn off McDowell from Fredericksburg, had seized the hospitals and supply depots at Front Royal, Winchester,^[34] and Martinsburg, and finally, although surrounded on three sides by 60,000 men, had brought off a huge convoy without losing a single waggon.

This remarkable achievement, moreover, had been comparatively bloodless. The loss of 618 officers and men was a small price to pay for such results.^[35]

That Jackson’s lucky star was in the ascendant there can be little doubt. But fortune had far less to do with his success than skill and insight; and in two instances—the misconduct of his cavalry, and the surprise of the 12th Georgia—the blind goddess played him false. Not that he trusted to her favours. “Every movement throughout the whole period,” says one of his staff officers, “was the result of profound calculation. He knew what his men could do, and to whom he could entrust the execution of important orders.”^[36] Nor was his danger of capture, on his retreat from Harper’s Ferry, so great as it appeared.

May 31 was the crisis of his operations. On that morning, when the prisoners and the convoy marched out of Winchester, Shields was at Front Royal. But Shields was unsupported; Ord’s division was fifteen miles in rear, and Bayard’s cavalry still further east. Even had he moved boldly on Strasburg he could hardly have seized the town. The ground was in Jackson’s favour. The only road available for the Federals was that which runs south of the North Fork and the bridges had been destroyed. At that point, three miles east of Strasburg, a small flank-guard might have blocked the way until the main body of the Confederates had got up. And had Frémont, instead of halting that evening at Cedar Creek, swept Ashby aside and pushed forward to join his colleague, the Valley army might easily have effected its retreat. Winder alone would have been cut off, and Jackson had provided for that emergency.

When the embarrassments under which the Federals laboured are laid bare, the passage of the Confederates between the converging armies loses something of its extraordinary character. Nevertheless, the defeat of the Front Royal garrison and the loss of the bridges was enough to have shaken the strongest nerves. Had Jackson then burnt his convoy, and released his prisoners, few would have blamed him; and the tenacity with which he held to his original purpose, the skill with which he imposed on both Shields and Frémont, are no less admirable than his perception of his opponents’ difficulties. Well has it been said: “What gross ignorance of human nature do those declaimers display who assert that the employing of brute force is the highest qualification of a general!”

NOTE POSITION OF THE TROOPS, MAY 29 TO JUNE 1 Night of May 29

FEDERALSCONFEDERATES

McDowell Shields, 10,200, Rectorstown. Ord, 9,000, Thoroughfare Gap. Bayard, 2,000. Catlett’s Station. Frémont, 15,000, Fabius. Saxton, 7,000, Harper’s Ferry. Banks, 7,000, Williamsport. Geary, 2,000, Middleburg. Jackson’s Division, 7,200, Halltown. Ewell’s Division, 5,000, Halltown. Ashby. 800, Wardensville road. Taylor’s Brigade, 8,000, Berryville. 12th Georgia Regiment, 460, Front Royal. 2nd Virginia Regiment, 860, Loudoun Heights.

Night of May 30

FEDERALSCONFEDERATES

McDowell Shields, 10,200, Front Royal. Ord, 9,000, Piedmont. Bayard, 2,000, Thoroughfare Gap. King, 10,000, near Catlett’s Station. Saxton, 7,000, Harper’s Ferry. Banks, 8,600, Williamsport. Freémont, 15,000, Wardensville. Geary, 2,000, Upperville. Army of Valley, 13,850, Winchester. Stonewall Brigade, 1,600, Halltown. 2nd Virginia Regiment, 380, Loudoun Heights. Ashby, 300, Wardensville Road.

Night of May 31

FEDERALSCONFEDERATES

McDowell Shields, Front Royal. Ord, Manassas Gap. King, Catlett’s Station. Bayard, Manassas Gap. Saxton, Harper’s Ferry. Banks, Williamsport. Frémont, Cedar Creek. Geary, Snicker’s and Ashby’s Gaps. Army of Valley, Strasburg. Stonewall Brigade, Newtown. Ashby, Cedar Creek.

Night of June 1

FEDERALSCONFEDERATES

McDowell Shields, ten miles south of Front Royal. Ord, Front Royal. King, Haymarket. Bayard, Buckton. Saxton, Harper’s Ferry. Banks, Williamsport. Frémont, Cedar Creek. Geary, Snicker’s and Ashby’s Gaps. Army of Valley, Woodstock. Ashby, Tom’s Brook.

TOTAL STRENGTH

Federal 62,000 Confederate 16,000