Stonewall Stonewall from the Valley to Richmond

Joined
May 4, 2018
Forum readers may be interested in how Jackson men moved to Richmond. Read about it in my new book available here:
https://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/product/A-Bloody-Day-at-Gaines-Mill/

Some interesting march facts:

When Lawton's Georgia Brigade arrived in the Valley, they were ordered to ditch their arms, and replace them from the huge piles at the railroad station. These were arms captured from the Yankees during the Valley Campaign. Alas, not all were Springfields, Enfields, or Austrians. Many were .69 cal. smoothbores. This means, of course, that whatever they were ditching was worse than pumpkin slingers!

Jackson's artillery and wagons did not ride the railroad. They road marched parallel the single line track of the Va. Central RR. The Va. Central sent ALL of its rolling stock to Staunton, which on the way east would pick up the trail division, move it forward to the stop for the night, and then return to move as many men as possible. The men were provisioned at Staunton, and then again at Beaver Dam Depot. This means they were totally out of rations by Friday June 27, and why the army did not move until Sunday, June 29.

Beaver Dam Depot was named for the nearby plantation of Beaver Dam. It was owned by the guy who owned the Virginia Central RR. Beaver Dam DEPOT is 40 miles away from Beaver Dam CREEK, where the battle took place on June 26th.

The army reached a swollen river in upper Hanover County. Some of the men dove in, swam the torrent, and chopped down trees to provide a footbridges across. Within two hours, in a nearby location, they had built a bridge for artillery and wagons, while the men used the footbridges. They had the heavy bridge built from scratch before the engineers could even design it! This as not surprising, as this engineer unit had been building railroad bridges all over Virginia. They were the African Pioneers!
 
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