Sheridan's Valley Campaign Kicks Off

Through most of the Civil War, the Shenandoah Valley was a place of great annoyance for the Union.  With incredibly productive farmland, pastures, and mills, the Valley made itself a critical supply based for the Confederate Armies, and consequently a major target for the North.  Up until the late summer of 1864, though, any hold the federals had on the Valley was tenuous at best.

Reversals began in 1862 with Jackson's Valley Campaign, a year later another period of occupation was foiled during the Gettysburg Campaign with the Battle of Second Winchester, and again in 1864 federal forces suffered setbacks at New Market and Lynchburg.  I am glossing over some successes by Union forces that did indeed occur, but all in all the Valley remained intact as an area that could feed Confederate soldiers in the field, and thus prolong the war.

The summer of 1864 was when things really started to head south for the Confederacy (pun intended).  Sherman was making steady progress towards Atlanta, access to the Mississippi River had been cut off for over a year, and an exhausted and bloodied Army of Northern Virginia (ANV) had been driven back to Richmond and Petersburg by Ulysses Grant.  With Lee pinned down and unable to maneuver, the time was right for the federals to truly assert themselves in the Valley and deny it to the Confederacy once and for all.

Jubal Early

Not only was the rich agriculture of the Valley a target, but so was the Confederate Army of the Valley commanded by Jubal Early.  This small force made up of crack veterans from the ANV's II Corps had succeeded in clearing the Valley in June 1864, and then went on to threaten Washington, D.C. in July.  Early's army might have even seriously threatened Washington had it not been for a Union delaying action along the Monocacy River, just south of Frederick, MD, on July 9.

By late July, Early's army had fallen back to the safety of the Valley where it remained a threat.  This was proven when the town of Chambersburg, PA was burned on July 30.

Map of actions in the Shenandoah Valley and Maryland, June - July 1864.  Map by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com.

Phil Sheridan

Now, if you're Ulysses Grant in the late summer of 1864, you don't have the time or patience for this sort of shenanigans.  That is why Grant made a game changing decision to get serious about dealing with Early in the Valley.  In early August Grant appointed Phil Sheridan as commander of a new and revitalized Army of the Shenandoah.  This army would be comprised of the veteran VI Corps from the Army of the Potomac, the less experience XIX Corps from the Army of the Gulf (just in from Louisiana), the Army of West Virginia (sometimes incorrectly called the VIII Corps) under George Crook, and a full three division Cavalry Corps to boot.  This force was to thoroughly execute orders given to Sheridan's predecessor, David Hunter:

"Take all provisions, forage, and stock wanted for the use of your command. Such as cannot be consumed, destroy. It is not desirable that buildings should be destroyed — they should, rather, be protected ; but the people should be informed that so long as an army can subsist among them, recurrences of these raids must be expected, and we are determined to stop them at all hazards."

This is the background for the fight I am currently researching, the Battle of Cameron's Depot.  Stay tuned as the story develops.