67th Tigers
Captain
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2006
The order to DH Hill and Walker to go to Upperville is dated 22nd. I think it's reasonable to place them there on the 24th.
The interesting thing is that not only is it not even the first time Jackson has done this (I can think of at least two other cases - once during the first couple of the Seven Days up to Beaver Dam Creek, where Jackson basically ignored his orders to come in on Porter's flank, and then the second one during the Maryland campaign where Jackson ignores his orders to break off the Harpers Ferry siege) but in this case it might have had a serious negative impact.Jackson is looking for a opportunity to strike through the lower Valley gaps and get in Mac's flank or rear. I really think Jackson gets too micro focused on his situation without contemplating the overall strategic picture, and how far away he is from Longstreet if he is needed. He most likely is relying on Mac's typical slow movement that he could outmarch the AotP if needed, but it was definitely playing with fire. It also speaks volumes that as you point Lee gives the order to move south more than once and Jackson doesn't budge. Typically historians would be hyper critical of a subordinate ignoring a direct order like that.
Using this as a placeholder. There will be a c span video debuting this weekend with a talk from the Emerging Civil War Symposium. I want to use that as a tool to talk more about these actions. They are often overlooked. Most books about the eastern theater go straight from Antietam, the Mac/Burnside transition and then Fredericksburg.
Much like the actions between Gettysburg and the winter of 64-65 that Jeffrey Wm Hunt has covered in his books so well, these are movements that could use more study.
1862 Loudoun Valley Campaign
About a month after the Battle of Antietam, Union forces under General George McClellan crossed the Potomac River in pursuit of General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Author Kevin Pawlak talked about the Loudoun Valley Campaign, a series of skirmishes starting at the end of...www.c-span.org
Interestingly, the Loudoun Valley also played a major role in the movements of the armies in July 1863.
Ryan