As the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee streamed northward, a garrison of nearly 7,000 Federal soldiers awaited them at Winchester Virginia.. From first contact three days before, until the morning of June 15th, Union cavalry,
As the Confederate Army under Robert E. Lee streamed northward, a garrison of nearly 7,000 Federal soldiers awaited them at Winchester Virginia.. From first contact three days before, until the morning of June 15th, Union cavalry, infantry and artillery had exchanged fire with Lee’s men as they approached the town of 4,500. Winchester knew the story well as the town had changed hands dozens of times between 1861 and 1865.
On the morning of June 15th, the Union Army controlled the town. But that changed quickly. The Union commander at Winchester figured that the fortifications at Winchester could hold off an assault on that place. So he rejected the recommendation of General Henry Halleck in Washington, who suggested he remove his command from that position. Maybe he should have listened to the general known as “Old Brains”.
General Robert H. Milroy c