The Battle of McDowell
May 8, 1862
In the spring of 1862 Confederate fortunes seemed to have gone from bad to worse. Union forces had won several key battles in the West, while the U.S. Navy was establishing its coastal blockade and Major General George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac threatened Richmond. General Robert E. Lee, military advisor to President Jefferson Davis, ordered a diversion to prevent additional Union reinforcements from being sent against the Confederate capital. Lee ordered Major General Thomas J/. “Stonewall” Jackson to make an attack in the Shenandoah Valley.
As his diversionary strike, Jackson decided to attack the Federal forces converging on Staunton. Through the rain, Jackson pushed his Confederates westward on a forced march towards Staunton. On May 7, the Southerners discovered Union pickets about thirty miles from Staunton near McDowell. The Federal commander, Brigadier General Robert H. Milroy, withdrew his forces across the Bull Pasture River and requested reinforcements from his superior, Brigadier General Robert Schenk. On May 8, the Federals deployed in a defensive position across Sitlington’s Hill. However, with only 6,000 men to Jackson’s 10,000, Schenk decided to withdraw. In the early afternoon, to delay the Confederates while his main force retreated, Schenk launched an attack.
The Confederate victory at McDowell was the first clash in the 1862 Valley Campaign that tied down 60,000 Federals and firmly established Jackson’s military reputation.
Marker can be reached from U.S. 250, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
