Front Royal

On May 23, 1862, Confederate and Union soldiers clashed at Front Royal in an engagement later remembered under two other names, Guard Hill and Cedarville. This fight formed one episode within Jackson's Valley campaign during the American Civil War. Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson led the Confederate side, working to hold Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley so they could not reinforce the effort in the Peninsula campaign. Having already bested Major General John C. Frémont's command at McDowell, Jackson shifted his attention toward the army under Major General Nathaniel Banks.

At that time Banks kept the bulk of his troops stationed at Strasburg, Virginia, while smaller units held Winchester and Front Royal. When Jackson struck the garrison at Front Royal that day, he caught the Union defenders, under Colonel John Reese Kenly, off guard. Kenly's soldiers took up a defensive position on Richardson's Hill and relied on artillery to keep the Confederates at bay, but their path of retreat across the Shenandoah River's South Fork and North Fork soon came under threat. This forced the Federals back over both forks to Guard Hill, where they held their ground again until Confederate soldiers managed to cross the North Fork as well. Kenly attempted a final defense near Cedarville, only to see his lines break apart when 250 Confederate horsemen charged the position. A large portion of the Union force fell into Confederate hands as prisoners, though Banks succeeded in pulling his main body back to Winchester.

Jackson pressed the advantage two days afterward, pushing Banks's army out of Winchester entirely, and went on to secure two more triumphs the following month. Through this Valley campaign, Jackson succeeded in pinning down some 60,000 Union troops who might otherwise have joined the Peninsula campaign, freeing his own men to link up with Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in time to take part in the Seven Days Battles.

Background

In the spring of 1862, as the Civil War continued, Major General George B. McClellan launched his Peninsula campaign for the Union army on the Virginia Peninsula. Farther west, in the Shenandoah Valley, Union commander Nathaniel Banks drove Confederate troops under Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson southward. Jackson's assignment was to keep Union soldiers occupied in the Valley so they could not reinforce McClellan. On March 21, Union leadership judged that Banks did not need his entire force to secure the Valley, and most of it was dispatched to Washington, D.C., leaving Banks with roughly 9,000 of his original 35,000 troops. Two days later, on March 23, Jackson launched an assault against the remaining Union soldiers, resulting in the First Battle of Kernstown. Although the Confederates were driven back, the engagement alarmed Union commanders enough that they sent Banks's men back into the Valley and kept an additional corps stationed at Manassas, Virginia, denying McClellan roughly 60,000 potential reinforcements.

Following the setback at Kernstown, Jackson retreated southward and linked up with Major General Richard Ewell. He left Ewell to hold the line against Banks while marching his own men southwest in early May toward McDowell, Virginia, to challenge a Union column under Major General John C. Frémont. On May 8, troops from Frémont's command under Brigadier General Robert H. Milroy struck Jackson's force, sparking the Battle of McDowell. Jackson's men carried the day, prompting Frémont to pull back. Jackson then turned his army north again to confront Banks. By this point, Banks had lost part of his strength once more, as Brigadier General James Shields's division received orders on May 12 to head east. In response, Banks pulled his remaining troops back to Strasburg.

Aftermath

Casualty counts for this engagement differ depending on the historian consulted. Cozzens puts Jackson's toll at just 36 killed and wounded, not counting the fighting involving Ashby, and credits Kenly's command with 773 total casualties, 691 of them men taken prisoner. Robertson offers a slightly different picture, putting the number of captured Union soldiers near 700 and Jackson's losses under 100. According to the National Park Service, the Union side lost 904 men while Confederate losses stood at 56. Historian Robert G. Tanner cites roughly 900 Union casualties against a Confederate figure just above 100, and Ecelbarger likewise arrives at approximately 900 for the Union total.

Beyond the human cost, Jackson's men seized both Parrott rifles along with numerous wagons and supplies valued near $300,000. Ashby's separate raid yielded two captured locomotives. For his part in burning the bridge at Front Royal, along with his conduct later at the Battle of Weldon Railroad, Union soldier William Taylor received the Medal of Honor in 1897.

Fearing his army might be severed from Winchester once Front Royal fell, Banks pulled his troops out of Strasburg in haste. The following day Jackson struck a portion of this retreating column near Middletown, and soon after, on May 25, he routed Banks outright at the First Battle of Winchester.

Following this victory, Jackson pushed his men toward Harpers Ferry. At the same time, Frémont and Shields began converging on Strasburg in hopes of combining their strength against him. On June 6, Ashby fell during a skirmish. Ewell, assigned to confront Frémont, bested him on June 8 at the Battle of Cross Keys. As Ewell's troops pulled back from that field to reunite with Jackson, they destroyed a bridge behind them, cutting off any chance for Frémont to link up with Shields. The next day, June 9, Jackson overcame Shields at the Battle of Port Republic. With both Union commanders now retreating, Jackson was free to march his army out of the Shenandoah Valley and join Lee's forces for the Seven Days Battles. Through this campaign, Jackson had succeeded in keeping Union reinforcements from reaching McClellan.