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Valley campaigns of 1864
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Valley campaigns of 1864
The Valley campaigns of 1864 began as operations initiated by Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and resulting battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the American Civil War from May to October 1864. Some military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns. This article considers them together, as the campaigns interacted and built upon one another.
As 1864 began, Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and given command of all Union armies. He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, although Maj. Gen. George G. Meade remained the commander of that army. Grant kept Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the Western armies. Grant understood the concept of total war and believed, as did Sherman and President Abraham Lincoln, that only the utter defeat of Confederate forces and their economic base would bring the Civil War to an end. He determined to use scorched earth tactics in some important theaters.[citation needed]
Grant devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple directions: he would join with Meade and Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler to fight against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia near Richmond; Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel would invade the Shenandoah Valley and destroy Lee's supply lines; Maj. Gen. Sherman would attack Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, invade Georgia and capture Atlanta; and finally Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks was assigned to capture Mobile, Alabama, an important port on the Gulf Coast.[citation needed]
The first campaign started with Grant's planned invasion of the Shenandoah Valley from the Department of West Virginia, which Gen. Sigel commanded. West Virginia had been created by the Federal government as a Union state in 1863, but many of the Confederate troops defending the Valley had been recruited in the new state. Grant ordered Sigel to move "up the Valley" (i.e., southwest to the higher elevations) with 10,000 men to destroy the Confederate railroad, hospital and supply center at Lynchburg, Virginia.
Sigel was intercepted and defeated by 4,000 troops and cadets from the Virginia Military Institute under Confederate Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge. His forces retreated to Strasburg, Virginia. Maj. Gen. David Hunter replaced Sigel. As discussed below he initiated another strike to the south, eventually burning VMI in retaliation for the Jones-Imboden Raid as well as subsequent actions of VMI cadets.
Hunter resumed the Union offensive and defeated William E. "Grumble" Jones at the Battle of the Piedmont. Jones died in the battle, and Hunter occupied Staunton, Virginia.
On June 11 Hunter, who had continued to strike southward, fought at Lexington against John McCausland's Confederate cavalry, which retreated to the mountains around Buchanan. Hunter ordered Col. Alfred N. Duffié's cavalry division to join him in Lexington. While awaiting their arrival, Union forces burned former Governor John Letcher's home, in addition to shelling and burning the Virginia Military Institute. They seized the statue of George Washington, and nearly destroyed the campus. (VMI moved its classes to the Richmond Alms House).
Joined by Duffié on June 13, Hunter sent Averell to drive McCausland out of Buchanan and capture the James River bridge. But McCausland burned the bridge and fled. Hunter joined General William Averell in Buchanan on June 14 and on June 15 advanced via the road between the Peaks of Otter to occupy Liberty that evening. Meanwhile, Confederate Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge sent Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden and his cavalry to join McCausland. Breckinridge arrived in Lynchburg the next day. Maj. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill and Brig. Gen. Harry T. Hays constructed a defense line in the hills just southwest of the city. When McCausland fell back, Averell's cavalry pursued, engaging in the afternoon Skirmish at New London Academy. Union forces launched another attack on McCausland and Imboden that evening, and the Confederates retreated from New London.
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Valley campaigns of 1864
The Valley campaigns of 1864 began as operations initiated by Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and resulting battles that took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia during the American Civil War from May to October 1864. Some military historians divide this period into three separate campaigns. This article considers them together, as the campaigns interacted and built upon one another.
As 1864 began, Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and given command of all Union armies. He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, although Maj. Gen. George G. Meade remained the commander of that army. Grant kept Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the Western armies. Grant understood the concept of total war and believed, as did Sherman and President Abraham Lincoln, that only the utter defeat of Confederate forces and their economic base would bring the Civil War to an end. He determined to use scorched earth tactics in some important theaters.[citation needed]
Grant devised a coordinated strategy that would strike at the heart of the Confederacy from multiple directions: he would join with Meade and Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler to fight against Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia near Richmond; Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel would invade the Shenandoah Valley and destroy Lee's supply lines; Maj. Gen. Sherman would attack Joseph E. Johnston's Army of Tennessee, invade Georgia and capture Atlanta; and finally Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks was assigned to capture Mobile, Alabama, an important port on the Gulf Coast.[citation needed]
The first campaign started with Grant's planned invasion of the Shenandoah Valley from the Department of West Virginia, which Gen. Sigel commanded. West Virginia had been created by the Federal government as a Union state in 1863, but many of the Confederate troops defending the Valley had been recruited in the new state. Grant ordered Sigel to move "up the Valley" (i.e., southwest to the higher elevations) with 10,000 men to destroy the Confederate railroad, hospital and supply center at Lynchburg, Virginia.
Sigel was intercepted and defeated by 4,000 troops and cadets from the Virginia Military Institute under Confederate Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge. His forces retreated to Strasburg, Virginia. Maj. Gen. David Hunter replaced Sigel. As discussed below he initiated another strike to the south, eventually burning VMI in retaliation for the Jones-Imboden Raid as well as subsequent actions of VMI cadets.
Hunter resumed the Union offensive and defeated William E. "Grumble" Jones at the Battle of the Piedmont. Jones died in the battle, and Hunter occupied Staunton, Virginia.
On June 11 Hunter, who had continued to strike southward, fought at Lexington against John McCausland's Confederate cavalry, which retreated to the mountains around Buchanan. Hunter ordered Col. Alfred N. Duffié's cavalry division to join him in Lexington. While awaiting their arrival, Union forces burned former Governor John Letcher's home, in addition to shelling and burning the Virginia Military Institute. They seized the statue of George Washington, and nearly destroyed the campus. (VMI moved its classes to the Richmond Alms House).
Joined by Duffié on June 13, Hunter sent Averell to drive McCausland out of Buchanan and capture the James River bridge. But McCausland burned the bridge and fled. Hunter joined General William Averell in Buchanan on June 14 and on June 15 advanced via the road between the Peaks of Otter to occupy Liberty that evening. Meanwhile, Confederate Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge sent Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden and his cavalry to join McCausland. Breckinridge arrived in Lynchburg the next day. Maj. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill and Brig. Gen. Harry T. Hays constructed a defense line in the hills just southwest of the city. When McCausland fell back, Averell's cavalry pursued, engaging in the afternoon Skirmish at New London Academy. Union forces launched another attack on McCausland and Imboden that evening, and the Confederates retreated from New London.
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