Sheltered between the Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, the beautiful Shenandoah valley became a highway for the American Civil War marching armies of the Union and the Confederacy. While its reputation as the 'breadbasket' of the Confederacy has been slightly exaggerated, it was of the greatest strategic importance in any effort to either defend or conquer Virginia.
Based in New Market, we shall be well placed to explore the military history of the Shenandoah valley and its immediate environs. After seeing the gateway to the north at Harpers Ferry, we shall study the astonishing 1862 campaign by 'Stonewall' Jackson's 'foot cavalry', in which some 5,000 veterans ran Union armies of over 40,000 into ruinous defeat, and made the Valley Campaign a set text in staff colleges around the world.
In 1864 Jubal Early erupted from the valley and made a drive on Washington, which came to grief at Monocacy Junction. The grim and determined Phil Sheridan then came to put an end to Confederate resistance once and for all.
We shall visit Lexington, home of the Virginia Military Institute, whose cadets fought so valiantly at New Market, and also take in the Civil War battlefields of Cedar Mountain (1862) and Brandy Station (1863) just outside the valley.
Your guide, John Lee, has a special interest in the historical development of strategy and tactics, and will bring these battles and campaigns to life for you on this American Civil War battlefield tour.
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