Lead Up to Cameron's Depot

In my last post I spoke in broad terms about the strategic overview leading up to the Valley Campaign of the latter half of 1864.  When we last left off, Chambersburg had just been burned on July 30, and Jubal Early with his Army of the Valley were looking for other opportunities to raid back in to Maryland and Pennsylvania.

On August 7, Phil Sheridan assumed full command of the revitalized Army of the Shenandoah.  He took over from David Hunter, a much older officer (four and a half years older than even Robert E. Lee, in fact) whose combat record was mixed at best.  Initially successful, Hunter's attempts to secure the Valley failed to impress General-in-Chief Ulysses Grant when he showed a great lack of tenacity in resisting Jubal Early's arrival back in June.

The assembly of the new army was already in motion when Sheridan arrived in Harpers Ferry on August 7 to take command.  The VI Corps, commanded by Horatio Wright, had begun to leave Frederick, MD by rail on August 1 bound for Halltown, WV where they would arrive on August 7.  There they camped for two days when on August 10 they started south towards Strasburg.

I put together some crude maps to outline the VI Corps' movements that I've included below.  These are my first rough sketches of more detailed maps I plan to create.  Eventually I'll have a cohesive picture of where all the elements of the Army of the Shenandoah (the VI, XIX, and Cavalry Corps, along with the Army of West Virginia) were at any given time.

Movements of the Union VI Corps the first half of August 1864.  Sheridan initially jumped right in, but after Early received reinforcements, his aggression waned.  My placement of the Battle of Guard Hill is a little off, but that'll be corrected as I refine this project.

As Sheridan was establishing himself near Strasburg, rumors that Confederate reinforcements from Petersburg started and then intensified.  Sheridan was eventually forwarded a dispatch by Henry Halleck written by Ulysses Grant that confirmed the news.

Those Confederate reinforcements (in the form a Kershaw's Division of infantry, and Fitzhugh Lee's Brigade of cavalry, commanded overall by Richard H. Anderson) made it to the Shenandoah River east of Strasburg on August 16.  On that date, Anderson's column was met by Wesley Merritt's Division of Union Cavalry near Front Royal.  The ensuing fight is known most commonly as the Battle of Guard Hill, and was a small Union victory.  Anderson's column wasn't stopped, but a decisive strike by Merritt's cavalry resulted in the capture of about 300 Confederates.

The surge in Confederate numbers compelled Sheridan to withdraw his command to Halltown, West Virginia, near Charles Town, which he would later claim was the only defensible area in this part of the Valley.  Before he left, though, Sheridan had to be sure he fulfilled Grant's orders to his predecessor to leave the Valley an untenable area for the Confederates to maintain a force. 

Orders from Sheridan to his Chief of Cavalry Alfred Torbert to take anything of use to the retreating Union forces, and destroy most everything else.

With that, the Army of the Shenandoah withdrew about 40 miles to the northeast and took up a defensive posture to the west and south of Charles Town.

The federal march back to Charles Town following the arrival of Richard H. Anderson's command from Petersburg.

This puts the Army of the Shenandoah in positions they'll maintain until late in the night of August 21, following an attack by Early's army, which we'll discuss in detail in subsequent posts.