Conquering the Valley (P) (Civil War (Louisana State University Press)) [Paperback]

Robert K. Krick (Author)

Book Description

Series: Civil War (Louisana State University Press) | Publication Date: March 2002

During May and June 1862, General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson catapulted from relative obscurity to perpetual fame on the basis of his operations in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Two victories in two days, June 8 and 9 at Cross Keys and Port Republic, cemented Jackson's success in the Valley Campaign and ensured him a lasting place in the annals of American military history. Conquering the Valley examines Cross Keys and Port Republic in tactical detail and also unveils the experiences and feelings of the soldiers who fought there.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Krick (Stonewall Jackson at Cedar Mountain) makes another significant contribution to Civil War operational history with this definitive account of the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic. Fought June 8-9, 1862, they determined the ultimate success of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign, freeing him to move to Robert E. Lee's aid in thwarting George McClellan's advance on Richmond. These battles also solidified Jackson's reputation as a military genius, though their outcomes also reflected the incompetence of Union generals James Shields and John C. Fremont. Krick's exhaustive use of Union and Confederate primary sources, many unpublished, demonstrates as well the tactical difficulties faced by armies whose citizen-soldiers and officers were still in large part substituting courage for skill. The author's detailed attention to the human dimension of Civil War battle, including the horrors of being wounded, is facilitated by the small scale of the fighting and makes this work particularly valuable for all collections. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Few campaigns rank higher in Civil War history than Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862, when the ascetic Virginian drove the Yankees from the Shenandoah Valley, holding the South's breadbasket and forging the myth of Southern invincibility in the East. Krick (Stonewall Jackson and Cedar Mountain, LJ 7/90), author of three previous books on the war's Virginia theater, returns to the Shenandoah Valley to write the first full-dress account of the battles at Port Republic and Cross Keys, which won Jackson his fame and, Krick claims, saved the South from imminent defeat. The author cannot hide his Virginia bias in this gritty, day-by-day account of camp and field, but he brings the reader closer to the "real war" and gives voices to many common soldiers. The almost numbing detail will put off those who want their battle accounts lean, but Krick's astute judgments about generalship make for good reading. Recommended for academic libraries and Civil War collections.?Randall M. Miller, St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807127876
• ISBN-13: 978-0807127872
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,773,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fine writing, but fatally flawed maps, June 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Conquering the Valley: Stonewall Jackson at Port Republic (Hardcover)

Robert K. Krick, a well known authority on the Army of Northern Virginia, has written a fine account of the culmination of the 1862 Valley Campaign at the Battle of Port Republic. Unfortunately, the maps, which are always an indispensible adjunct to military writing, are a shambles. Thanks, evidently, to an oversight by the publisher, about half of the numerous maps lack the textual labels to identify the various units. Thus, the reader is left to guess at just what the maps are depicting. A work that is otherwise as meritorious as this deserves far, far better care by the publisher than this one received.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Detail - Best Telling of Port Republic : Nice Town, September 3, 2002

By 

Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conquering the Valley (P) (Civil War (Louisana State University Press)) (Paperback)

This is the most documented source on Jackson at the battles of Port Republic and Cross Keyes where Jackson's army stand between two armies that are trying to trap and squeeze him, which they almost succeed in doing at the start. Like the great author of the Gettysburg series Harry W. Pfanz, Robert Krick is the ultimate researcher on the tactics of Stonewall Jackson. Like Pfanz with Gettysburg, Krick is ultimately familiar with his subject particularly because he was the Superintendent of all the battlefields around Fredericksburg (Spotsylvania, Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg and the Wilderness). Krick is also the grand researcher of soldiers' letters and writings and through his research he has weeded out fact from fiction. Examples are the puffed writings of Trimble about his brigade at Cross Keyes. Krick reveals that Trimble's writings often neglected the role of other units on the field while heaping a disproportionate amount of praise on his own. Discerning historical inaccuracies is one reason why Krick's books provide an accurate portrayal of a battle or the campaign. Others that suffer from exaggeration, misperceptions and/or ego inflation are Chief of Staff Dabney and Colonel Imboden. The references to Colonel Dabney are humorous to some degree as Dabney performs well in some areas, he does try hard but in a lot of cases he is not as effective as he seems to think. Imboden's false references to interaction with Jackson make one question his famous comments that he witnessed Lee's distressed comments after Picket's Charge.

The village of Port Republic is still a small town nestled against the South and North Rivers that form the South Shenandoah with Cross Keyes across the North River to the west. The area still looks the same with modest encroachment from Harrisonburg just west of Cross Keyes. Krick details a blow-by-blow account of the battle interlaced withy biographies of the participants, their role in battle and even quoting them from their own source material or from first person accounts about particular individuals.

I particularly found the beginning of this last battle of the famous Valley Campaign fascinating as Jackson, his staff, his wagons and a small infantry unit with novice artillery are leisurely enjoying a summers' day when suddenly a complete cavalry detachment bursts on the scene almost capturing Jackson and all his staff (bagged some). The disheartening failure of the Calvary after Turner Ashby's death left no protection or early warning of the Federal rush. The story of the small infantry detachment at the end of Main Street with a few guns of artillery banding together to hold off the union force is an inspiring story. They saved the wagon train and gave time for Jackson to coordinate portions of the majority of his army resting on the opposite riverbank in time to salvage his hold on this small town.

The description of Ewell's relatively easy and effective defense of Cross Keyes exemplifies Fremont's failure as a commander. The other high point of the book is the description of the desperate fighting northeast of Port Republic where Jackson transfers the bulk of his forces from Cross Keyes to Port Republic to defeat the Federals who are better positioned defensively with a particularly strong artillery detachment on the side of a mountain called the coaling. Only a desperate attack by Taylor's Division through course woods saves the day as Jackson's units on the flats take a pounding. Ewell coordinates well indicating a perfect and under appreciated subordinate to Jackson.

The maps are difficult to follow in the early beginning but the publisher produces them better toward the end and they become very helpful as they finally label the units.

Take this book after you read it to the town of Port Republic. There are very limited markers in town and at Cross Keyes 4 miles west, but the book and maps help you get a picture of the battles on land that is hardly changed. This is fascinating because the little town has a modest museum in the house that Turner Ashby was prepared for burial in (open only on Sundays) but no commercialism. The fishing and general store always has a pleasant person to help you out with some information. You need the book because you will have better information then what many of local folk can tell you at random. The vicious battle outside of Port Republic has a marker and parking lot on HWY 354 about 3 miles northeast of town. Again, the maps will help, as the area is still much the same at 100 years ago. A very low-key battlefield without any gratuitous designations but hopefully it will be protected some day with enhanced markers.

Oh by the way, Krick gets in his usual swipe at Longstreet by referring to Trimble as bombastic but not as bad as Longstreet. Looking for Krick's dig at Longstreet in any feature is similar to finding Alfred Hitchcock's cameo in all his movies. The similarity, they are always there, you just have to look and wait for them.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A small battle and a great story, December 26, 2006

By 

Dan McCown - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conquering the Valley (P) (Civil War (Louisana State University Press)) (Paperback)

No one today knows more about the Army of Northern Virginia and Stonewall Jackson than Robert Krick. Some historians are great researchers and some are great writers. Krick is both. He has taken the battle of Port Republic and made it into a fascinating story. Few people, other than die hard Civil War buffs, are aware of this conflict in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It was the last battle of Stonewall Jacksons' brilliant Valley Campaign. The book covers the battles of Cross Keys and Port Republic and the events leading up to them. There is the tragic story of the charge of the 8th New York, the bold attack by Sprigg Carroll and his men, the courage of Sam Moore, and the vicious fight for the "Coaling." This is historical writing at it's best, and Krick is the master of the subject.