Martinsburg WV - December 2021 - Civil War Stories

Nestled in the northeast corner of lovely WV sits Martinsburg.  A town of about 17,000 steeped in what? you guessed it, civil war history.  Located 10 miles west of Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg has a long history established in 1750 or somewhere around there.  The town was a minor prize for civil war armies as it sits on the BO railroad.  Think monopoly ;)  Martinsburg, like a lot of small Virginia towns in the then western side of Virginia had union loyalties.  The county where Martinsburg is located voted about 3 to 1 to stay with the union.  Of course this part of Virginia separated from the rest of the state in 1863 to form the state of West Virginia. 

The BO railroad station in town switched handles several times as Stonewall Jackson was assigned duty there in 1862 after the Antietam campaign.  Jackson was ordered to secure the railroad for confederate use.  Union forces would come back to the area and secure it, after Jackson left for his work in the Shenandoah Valley campaign.  Martinsburg sits strategically at the northern end of the Shenandoah valley, which happened to be a major artery for both armies .  The south moving armies north to threaten northern targets and the north moving armies for southern invasion.

The downtown area was ok, nothing to really write home about.  We walked around for about an hr, bought a cut little glass cardinal for my wifes mother in law Cathy.  The cardinal signifies life and a found memory of her dad Bill who passed away in January of 21.  That was nice, the shop was on the main street and the owner was nice enough and allowed Joni to use the restroom.  Its the little things that matter right?

There were no lakes or rivers in the immediate area that we saw.  I went to the visitors center to inquire, but not much available in terms of real estate - house to buy.  

The first thing i noticed in the visitors center was this beautiful painting of Stonewall Jackson. 

   
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Joseph Johnston, Robert E Lee



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen, Stonewall Jackson was a very interesting figure in the civil war.  His ability to read the field in front of him and know the intention of the enemy are legendary.  Stonewall was best known for firm hand with his soldiers and to push them to their limits.  Stonewall understood that to be effective in battle, the element of surprise was most important.  Stonewall also understood that he was typically outnumbered and facing larger armies.  Thomas Jackson knew this and during his legendary Valley campaign marched his army up and down the Shenandoah valley, in and out of lesser known pathways over and between the mountains and constantly surprised union armies in the area.  Jackson would on a typical day march his army 50 miles from a location where the union thought he was, flank march around his enemy and either launch an ambush or lay in wait for the enemy to march past him.  These tactics resulted in successive victories in the valley during 1862.

James

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