In the Shenandoah Valley, Confederate General Jubal Early on Friday, July 29, 1864 turned the tables on his Federal pursuers by sending his cavalry under John McCausland across the Potomac River, re-invading Maryland and Pennsylvania and once again throwing panic into the Northern electorate. At Chambersburg, Pennsylvania after demanding, but not receiving, either $500,000 in currency or $100,000 in gold to prevent the city’s destruction, Confederate cavalry torched most of the town and continued to drive westward toward McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania. On Sunday, July 31, 1864 Federal cavalry intercepted McCausaland’s southern raiders at Hancock, Maryland, driving the Confederates toward Cumberland, Maryland. But the cavalry of the wily Jubal Early would continue for a solid month its game of cat and mouse with Federal pursuers in the Shenandoah Valley.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.