June 1863. The Gettysburg Campaign is underway. Robert E. Lee's Army of
Northern Virginia pushes west into the Shenandoah Valley and then north
toward the Potomac River. Only one significant force stands in its way:
Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy's Union division of the Eighth Army Corps in
the vicinity of Winchester and Berryville, Virginia. What happens next
is the subject of this provocative new book.
Milroy, a veteran Indiana politician-turned-soldier, was convinced the
approaching enemy consisted of nothing more than cavalry or was merely a
feint, and so defied repeated instructions to withdraw. In fact, the
enemy consisted of General Lee's veteran Second Corps under Lt. Gen.
Richard S. Ewell. Milroy's controversial decision committed his
outnumbered and largely inexperienced men against some of Lee's finest
veterans.
The complex and fascinating maneuvering and fighting on June 13-15 cost
Milroy hundreds of killed and wounded and about 4,000 captured (roughly
one-half of his command), with the remainder routed from the
battlefield. The combat cleared the northern end of the Shenandoah
Valley of Federal troops, demonstrated Lee could obtain supplies on the
march, justified the elevation of General Ewell to replace the recently
deceased Stonewall Jackson, and sent shockwaves through the Northern
states.
Today, the Second Battle of Winchester is largely forgotten. But in June
1863, the politically charged front-page news caught President Lincoln
and the War Department by surprise and forever tarnished Milroy's
career. The beleaguered Federal soldiers who fought there spent a
lifetime seeking redemption, arguing their three-day "forlorn hope"
delayed the Rebels long enough to allow the Army of the Potomac to
arrive and defeat Lee at Gettysburg. For the Confederates, the decisive
leadership on display outside Winchester masked significant command
issues buried within the upper echelons of Jackson's former corps that
would become painfully evident during the early days of July on a
different battlefield in Pennsylvania.
Award-winning authors Eric J. Wittenberg and Scott L. Mingus Sr.
combined their researching and writing talents to produce the most
in-depth and comprehensive study of Second Winchester ever written, and
now in paperback. Their balanced effort, based upon scores of archival
and previously unpublished diaries, newspaper accounts, and letter
collections, coupled with familiarity with the terrain around Winchester
and across the lower Shenandoah Valley, explores the battle from every
perspective.
The Second Battle of Winchester is comprehensive, highly readable,
deeply researched, and immensely interesting. Now, finally, the pivotal
battle in the Shenandoah Valley that opened the door to Gettysburg has
the book it has so long deserved.
