The Property of
A CALIFORNIA COLLECTOR
JACKSON, THOMAS J. ("Stonewall"), General, C.S.A. Autograph letter signed ("T.J. Jackson Majr Genl"), to Major General Richard Stoddard Ewell, "H[ea]dq[ua]r[ter]s Valley Dist[rict] Mount Solon," 17 May 1862. 1 page, 4to, docketed on verso, "T.J. Jackson...reports that he is coming down the Valley," tiny filing punctures in blank lefthand margin.
Details
JACKSON, THOMAS J. ("Stonewall"), General, C.S.A. Autograph letter signed ("T.J. Jackson Majr Genl"), to Major General Richard Stoddard Ewell, "H[ea]dq[ua]r[ter]s Valley Dist[rict] Mount Solon," 17 May 1862. 1 page, 4to, docketed on verso, "T.J. Jackson...reports that he is coming down the Valley," tiny filing punctures in blank lefthand margin.
STONEWALL JACKSON'S "STRATEGIC DIVERSION" IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY, A FEW DAYS BEFORE FRONT ROYAL
An important letter, written in Jackson's spidery hand, tersely communicating his movements during a critical phase of his classic Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Jackson had been reinforced in late April by Ewell's 8,000-man force, and had fought a swift and bloody battle with a Union garrison at McDowell on 8 May. After that encounter, Jackson moved south towards Strasburg, where the main Union force under General Banks was dug in, while Ewell waited with his men at Luray. The move to Strasburg was only a feint, however. Jackson writes: "Your dispatch informing me of your crossing the mountain in consequence of [Union General James] Shields having done so has been rec[eive]d. I shall continue to move down the valley for the present. For the purpose of carrying out the order for organizing the Maryland Line, I have detached the 1st Maryland Reg[imen]t from [General Arnold] Elz[e]y's brigade and assigned it to Brig[adier] Gen[era]l [George] St[e]uart. Should you need the regiment I have directed General St[e]uart to remain with you but so soon as he can be spared I wish you would direct him to return to the Valley District as it may facilitate the organization by being in the valley..."
Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, a grand "strategic diversion," has been called "one of the most brilliant operations in military history" (Boatner, p. 739). It was carried out with troops numbering no more than 10,000, and succeeded in preventing Union forces from joining McClellan's Peninsula Campaign against Richmond, thus throwing the Union command into turmoil. Not long after this letter, Jackson turned away from Strasburg, crossed the Masanutten Mountains, joined Ewell at Luray and, with his 16,000-man force, decimated a small Union garrison at Front Royal on 23 May.
STONEWALL JACKSON'S "STRATEGIC DIVERSION" IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY, A FEW DAYS BEFORE FRONT ROYAL
An important letter, written in Jackson's spidery hand, tersely communicating his movements during a critical phase of his classic Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Jackson had been reinforced in late April by Ewell's 8,000-man force, and had fought a swift and bloody battle with a Union garrison at McDowell on 8 May. After that encounter, Jackson moved south towards Strasburg, where the main Union force under General Banks was dug in, while Ewell waited with his men at Luray. The move to Strasburg was only a feint, however. Jackson writes: "Your dispatch informing me of your crossing the mountain in consequence of [Union General James] Shields having done so has been rec[eive]d. I shall continue to move down the valley for the present. For the purpose of carrying out the order for organizing the Maryland Line, I have detached the 1st Maryland Reg[imen]t from [General Arnold] Elz[e]y's brigade and assigned it to Brig[adier] Gen[era]l [George] St[e]uart. Should you need the regiment I have directed General St[e]uart to remain with you but so soon as he can be spared I wish you would direct him to return to the Valley District as it may facilitate the organization by being in the valley..."
Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, a grand "strategic diversion," has been called "one of the most brilliant operations in military history" (Boatner, p. 739). It was carried out with troops numbering no more than 10,000, and succeeded in preventing Union forces from joining McClellan's Peninsula Campaign against Richmond, thus throwing the Union command into turmoil. Not long after this letter, Jackson turned away from Strasburg, crossed the Masanutten Mountains, joined Ewell at Luray and, with his 16,000-man force, decimated a small Union garrison at Front Royal on 23 May.