The tiny Battle of McDowell represented only a skirmish in the larger Civil War, but it represented a key step in allowing General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson to unite all the Confederate forces in the region. To do this, he rapidly marched all over the place. For once, however, he met his match in aggression in the person of Brigadier Robert H. Millroy.

Side note: I didn’t describe Brigadier Robert C. Shenck very closely. He was however a interesting man who previous served as Ambassador to Brazil, would later serve as such in Britain, and literally wrote the book on poker (well, one form of it anyhow).

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