“The Battle Royal”

The Battle Royal

The battle of Royal was a Confederate victory and an important part of the successful Shenandoah Valley campaign of 1862 that propelled Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson to fame. In early 1862, the Confederacy was menaced by several Union threats in Virginia: George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac advanced up the peninsula between the York and James rivers; Major General Irvin McDowell commanded a large force south of the U.S. capital; and Major Generals Nathaniel P. Banks and John C. Frémont each led much smaller but still significant armies in the Shenandoah Valley and ...