By Monday, August 22, 1864, with Sheridan’s retreating Union forces in the northern most part of the Shenandoah Valley taking up defensive positions near the vital Union supply depot of Harper’s Ferry, Jubal Early’s Confederates demonstrated toward that city and clashed with Union cavalry at both Charles Town and Halltown. The elusive Early once again seized the offense; by Thursday, August 25, he split his forces into three columns, keeping a part at Halltown, sending an expedition toward Williamsport, Maryland on the Potomac River, and personally accompanying a third unit to Shepardstown, West Virginia. Thus Early once again threatened a new invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, causing massive consternation among the people of the American North, as well as a great deal of political embarrassment to the Lincoln Administration.
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.