Battle of Port Republic, 9 June 1862

The last battle of Stonewall Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862 (American Civil War). Having held off Fremont’s pursuing forces at Cross Keys on 8 June, Jackson

T55
Shenandoah Valley
in 1862 showing
Stonewall Jackson's
movements

turned to deal with Shield’s advance guard of 3,000 men. His plan was to crush this force with 7,000 of his men, then turn back to finish off Fremont’s force. However, the Federal advance guard held on for much longer than expected, and it took three hours for Jackson’s men to defeat them. During this fighting, Fremont’s forces remained inactive, but they were saved from any further punishment by the damage inflicted on Jackson’s men by Shield’s advance guard.

After the fighting at Cross Keys and Port Republic, both sides pulled back. Fremont and Shields were pulled further back up the valley, while Jackson moved east to join Lee at Richmond. His 16,000 men had fought six battles in the Shenandoah Valley, preventing around 60,000 Union soldiers from joining McClellan outside Richmond. Jackson’s fame as a commander was permanently established, despite some future failures at Richmond.

Shenandoah Valley 1862, Clayton and James Donnell. Looks at the campaign that established 'Stonewall' Jackson's reputation as a battlefield commander, and saw him defeat a series of larger Union armies in a series of battles where he was rarely outnumbered on the battlefield. A good account of the campaign, supported by a series of useful campaign and battle maps that help demonstrate Jackson's dizzying pace of movement. [read full review]
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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (8 August 2006), Battle of Port Republic, 9 June 1862 , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_port_republic.html

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