Virginia Danville Artillery (Confederate)

First Kernstown

In the spring of 1862, relying on faulty intelligence that under-reported the strength of the Union garrison at Winchester in the lower Shenandoah Valley, Confederate Maj. Gen. 'Stonewall' Jackson marched aggressively north with his 3,800-man division. In Winchester, the 8,500 Federals were a detachment from the Army of the Potomac's Fifth Corps, and were commanded by Col. Nathan Kimball, who outnumbered Jackson more than two to one. Kimball established a defensive position on the Valley Turnpike and Midd…READ MORE

McDowell

As Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan prepared to march his Army of the Potomac up the Virginia Peninsula and capture Richmond, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson to prevent Union troops in the Shenandoah Valley from reinforcing McClellan. After his tactical defeat at the First Battle of Kernstown, Jackson moved up the valley to confront a Union force entering it from western Virginia. Joining forces with Brig. Gen. Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's Army of the…READ MORE

Front Royal

The Battle of Front Royal occurred on May 23, 1862, as Gen. Stonewall Jackson and 16,000 Confederate troops liberated Front Royal from Union forces. The Confederate First Maryland engaged the Union First Maryland in a decisive battle that completely surprised the Union general Nathaniel Banks, whose forces were camped just 10 miles to the west in Strasburg. The battle so startled President Lincoln and the Union military that they withdrew a large contingent of troops headed for McClellan's planned attack o…READ MORE

First Winchester

Part of Jackson's Valley Campaign, the First Battle of Winchester took place May 24, 1862. The battle was huge victory for Jackson's troops and disrupted the Union's plans to take Richmond.READ MORE

Cross Keys

Maj. Gen. John C. Frémont's and his 11,000-man Mountain Department army were tasked with keeping Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's two-division force engaged in the Shenandoah Valley and unable to join with Robert E. Lee's army defending Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign against the Confederate capital. In early June, Jackson's men under Maj. Gen. Richard S. Ewell were encamped in the vicinity of Cross Keys on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. Union screening cavalry approached Jackson f…READ MORE

Port Republic

One day after the battle at Cross Keys, Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson concentrated his division east of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River near Port Republic against the isolated brigades of Brig. Gen. Erastus Tyler and Col. Samuel S. Carroll. Confederate assaults across the bottomland of the Lewis family farm, along the River Road, spearheaded by the Stonewall Brigade, were repulsed with heavy casualties. A Confederate flank attack, including a brigade of the Louisiana Tigers, overtook an ar…READ MORE

Gaines' Mill

Despite his victory over the Confederates at Beaver Dam Creek on June 26th, Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter's Fifth Corps abandoned its position early on June 27th and established a new defensive line along Boatswain's Creek, just north of the Chickahominy River.READ MORE

Malvern Hill

On June 30th, the retreating Federal Army of the Potomac finally stopped at the James River at the end of seven days of fighting outside of Richmond.READ MORE

MajorLindsey M. Shumaker

Brigadier GeneralWilliam B. Taliaferro

Brigadier GeneralWilliam E. Starke

Brigadier GeneralWilliam B. Taliaferro

Second Bull Run

After the early summer collapse of the Union Peninsula Campaign offensive to capture Richmond, Robert E. Lee sought to move his army north and threaten Washington DC before Union forces could regroup.READ MORE

MajorLindsay M. Shumaker

Brigadier GeneralWilliam E. Starke

Chantilly

Confederate Maj. Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson hoped to cut off the Union retreat from Manassas the day after the Confederate victory at the second battle fought there. Jackson's wing of Lee's army made a wide, flanking march, screened by Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, north and then east, to take the strategically important village of Germantown. There, Maj. Gen. John Pope's only two retreat routes to Washington - the Warrenton Pike and the Little River Turnpike - converged. On September 1st, beyond Chanti…READ MORE

Brigadier GeneralJohn R. Jones

Brigadier GeneralWilliam E. Starke

ColonelAndrew J. Grigsby

Brigadier GeneralJohn R. Jones

Brigadier GeneralWilliam E. Starke

Antietam

The Army of the Potomac, under the command of Maj. Gen. George McClellan, mounted a series of powerful assaults against General Robert E. Lee's forces along Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17th, 1862.READ MORE

CaptainJohn B. Brockenbrough

Brigadier GeneralWilliam B. Taliaferro

CaptainGeorge W. Wooding

LieutenantJoseph H. Jones

CaptainJohn B. Brockenbrough

Fredericksburg

In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE

MajorDavid G. McIntosh

Chancellorsville

On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE

ColonelReuben L. Walker

Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE

Wilderness

The first battle between Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee erupted late in the morning of May 5, 1864, as Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's Union V Corps attacked Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps on the Orange Turnpike southwest of the old Chancellorsville battlefield. Although Federal infantry managed to break through at several points, the Confederate line held. Fighting shifted to the south as Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill's Third Corps engaged Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps and ele…READ MORE

Spotsylvania Court House

Following the Battle of the Wilderness, Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant marched the Union army south with the hope of capturing Spotsylvania Court House and preventing Robert E. Lee's army from retreating further. Lee's Confederates, however, managed to get ahead of the Federals and block the road. Fighting began on May 8th, when the Union Fifth Corps under Maj. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren and the Sixth Corps under Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick engaged Confederate Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson's First Corps at Laurel Hi…READ MORE

ColonelR. Lindsay Walker

Cold Harbor

After two days of inconclusive fighting along Totopotomoy Creek northeast of Richmond, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Robert E. Lee turned their sights on the crossroads of Cold Harbor. Roads emanating through this critical junction led to Richmond as well as supply and reinforcement sources for the Union army. On May 31, 1864, Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan's cavalry captured Cold Harbor. The next day, Sheridan held the crossroads against a Confederate attack. With reinforcements from both armies arriving…READ MORE

Appomattox Court House

Between 26,000 and 28,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered and were paroled.READ MORE