During the summer and fall of 1864, Virginia's Shenandoah Valley was one of the most contested regions of the South. Federal armies invaded the Valley three times--twice they were repulsed. This book describes the third campaign, the supreme achievement of the Army of the Potomac's Sixth Corps. One of the most respected units in the Federal Army, the Sixth Corps formed the nucleus of the Federal force that spent several months competing for control of the Valley with a desperate Confederate army, resulting in some of the toughest fighting of the war. Following victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill the Sixth Corps campaign culminated with a remarkable stand that stopped the attacking enemy and turned what began as a disastrous defeat into a spectacular victory at Cedar Creek.

"The Shenandoah Valley Campaign, often referred to as Jackson's Valley Campaign, saw Gen. Stonewall Jackson lead more than seventeen thousand Confederate soldiers on a 464-mile march that would engage three separate Federal armies. Jackson's men fought several small skirmishes and lesser battles throughout the campaign with the ultimate objective of keeping US reinforcements from shoring up the Federal assault on Richmond, the Confederacy's capital. Jackson's immense success during the campaign contributed greatly to his legend among Confederate soldiers and brass. Intended for the Command Decisions in America's Civil War series, Robert Tanner's book focuses on the critical decisions that determined the outcome of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign for both Federal and Confederate forces"--