Talk: The 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Article - The 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Campaign Synopsis:

New Market (May 15):  Confederate forces defeat Union general Franz Sigel with troops including VMI cadets.  Grant replaces Sigel with David Hunter.    

Hunter wins a battle, then captures Staunton, and then Lexington. He burns governor John Letcher's home and shells VMI.

Lynchburg (June 18)  Jubal Early arrives in the Valley and stops David Hunter who retreats to West Virginia.  The Early spends a month moving on Washington D.C. but is driven back into Virginia.

In September, Grant replaces Hunter with Philip Sheridan.  On September 19, Sheridan beats Early at the third battle of Winchester and beats him again on the 22nd at Fischer's Hill.  Early retreats, allowing Sheridan to ravage the Shenandoah Valley. 

Cedar Creek (October 19) Early surprises the Union army, damaging it badly, but Sheridan arrives and turns the battle around.  Early's army is smashed and Early and his remaining men join Lee at Petersburg as Sheridan joins Grant there.

Sheridan's results: 

Buildings and materials destroyed or seized included: 1,200 barns, 71 flour mills, 8 sawmills, 7 furnaces, 4 tanneries, 3 saltpeter works, a woolen mill with 1,165 lbs. of cotton yarn, a powder mill, a railroad depot, and 974 miles of rail.

Livestock taken or destroyed included: 15,000 swine, 12,000 sheep, 10,918 cattle, 3,772 horses, 545 mules, and 250 calves. 

Crops destroyed: 435,802 bushels of wheat, 77,176 bushels of corn, 20,397 tons of hay, 500 tons of fodder, 450 tons of straw, 12,000 lbs. of bacon, 10,000 lbs. of tobacco, and 874 barrels of flour.