25 May 2007 To Winchester

Friday, May 25, 2007

To Winchester

I started for Cedarville around 10:00 am, and continued along Reliance Road 6.5 miles. A very pretty walk, and relatively nice day. A dump truck driver saw me, and stopped his truck on the road, hopped out and told me he had read about me in the paper and wanted to give me a bottle of water, which I gratefully accepted. This was the first of several offers of water that day. Very generous.

I made Middletown around 2:00 pm, spent fifteen minutes talking British business with David May from Shrivenham, confirming details of the RSE trip, and the booking of the venue. Everything seems sorted.

Jackson's army came upon Middletown around 2:00 pm, and pitched into the retreating Federals, capturing many wagons and destroying many as well.

I continued north along the Valley Pike, until around 7:00 pm. The Army of the Valley District halted for the night late. Veterans of the Army wrote later about how tedious the march had been. The Federal rear guard made good use of the terrain, halting and facing about several times to slow Jackson's advance. This resulted in the army starting and stopping repeatedly. Anyone who has made a tactical march with frequent stops and an uncertain destination knows how frustrating that can be.

Around 3:00 am, as the advance neared Cedar Creek Grade, Jackson called a halt. Allegedly, Jackson pulled the guard shift himself. At any rate, the advance resumed at 5:00 am, and, after a short, sharp fight, the Union position collapsed fairly quickly. Jackson's Army pursued Banks through town. At the critical juncture, when a cavalry formation, well in hand, could have dealt a crippling blow, but Ashby's cavalry was not in hand; Ashby's men were scattered and out of position. Ewell's cavalry was not effective because of a misunderstanding of command relationships. "Maryland" Steuart, commanding Ewell's cavalry, refused orders from Jackson's aide de camp Sandie Pendleton, because the orders did not come from Ewell. Before this could be sorted out, Banks' men got away with a severe drubbing, but they made good their escape.

I started around 7:00 am. As I entered town, I met Rainer Swafford, a Winchester man, taking photos of me. We chatted for a while and he accompanied me to the Mt. Hebron Cemetery. Mr. Swafford is a former Marine and now an electrician. He is a fine gentleman, and his son is considering attending VMI, about which we chatted for a while. We arrived at Mt. Hebron around 9:00 am. There I was met by Ed Farrell, a journalist from the Winchester Star. Mr. Swafford took his leave at that point and Mr. Farrell and I then chatted for a while and we walked to the Moore House (Jackson's Headquarters), and toured the museum.

Then I walked north along the Valley Pike to the intersection of the Old Charles Town Road, arriving around 2:00 pm. Jackson put his men into camp for a well-deserved rest. Jackson posted provost marshal troops along the Valley Pike between the camp and town to attempt (with mixed success) to prevent the men from venturing into Winchester to visit family and friends.