Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign

By Scott C. Patchan
Illustrated, maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index, 394 pp., 2007. University of Nebraska Press, 111 Lincoln Mall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0630, $34.95 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Jeffry D. Wert
Jeffry D. Wert is a retired Pennsylvania high school teacher. He is the author of seven books on the Civil War, including his recent The Sword Of Lincoln: The Army of the Potomac.

Review:
When the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan River on May 4, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant seized the strategic initiative from Robert E. Lee. A month or so of carnage ensued before Lee tried to retake the initiative by sending Jubal Early's Second Corps to Lynchburg.

From the railroad center, Early's veterans marched north, down the Shenandoah Valley, crossed the Potomac River, and threatened Washington, D.C. It was a bold gamble by Lee, which brought a major campaign to the Valley of Virginia in the conflict's final summer and autumn.

Shenandoah Summer, by Scott C. Patchan, recounts the period from Early's retreat from outside the Union capital to the initial week of August. The book details the engagements at Cool Spring, Rutherford's Farm, Second Kernstown and Moorefield.

It also covers the Confederate raid into Pennsylvania and the burning of Chambersburg. Patchan's work is the fullest treatment of these weeks to date.

The book embraces a span of less than a month. In that time, however, Early's troops won a rear guard clash at Cool Spring on July 18, and routed a Union force at Kernstown on July 24. The Federals achieved a victory at Rutherford's Farm north of Winchester on July 20, and inflicted a stinging defeat on Rebel cavalry at Moorefield on Aug. 7.

Despite the Moorefield disaster, Early's famed Second Corps held the lower Shenandoah Valley, had forced Grant to send the Sixth Corps from Petersburg, and resulted in the appointment of Philip H. Sheridan to command in the region. The events examined in this book become a precursor for the final struggle between Early and Sheridan.

The author's descriptions of the battles are very detailed, full of regimental level actions and individual incidents. He bases the accounts on commendable research in manuscript collections, newspapers, published memoirs and regimental histories, and secondary works. The words of the participants, quoted often by the author, give the narrative an immediacy.

Patchan does not withhold judgment on the performances of the senior leaders on each side. For the most part, Early and his fine subordinates - John Breckinridge, John Gordon, Robert Rodes and Stephen Dodson Ramseur - fare well in the author's assessments.

It is another matter with Union generals Horatio Wright and George Crook. The author is particularly critical of Crook's generalship. Patchan offers timely descriptions of the backgrounds and careers of the leading figures.

Overall, Shenandoah Summer is a well-written book. This reviewer understands that split infinitives and dangling participles are common in modern prose, but this narrative is replete with them.

At times, too, the battle descriptions seem overwrought. The author uses frequently the term, Mountaineers, for West Virginians although that nickname postdates the war.

Despite these concerns, Patchan has produced a very creditable account of a neglected period.