First Battle of Kernstown

First Battle of Kernstown
Part of the American Civil War
Decisive Bayonet-Charge of the Federal Troops at Winchester, Virginia, March 23, 1862
Date March 23, 1862 (1862-03-23) Location Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia 39°08′42″N 78°12′00″W / 39.14500°N 78.20000°W / 39.14500; -78.20000 Result Union victory (See aftermath)
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
Nathan Kimball	Stonewall Jackson
Strength
6,352–9,000[1]	2,990–4,200[1]
Casualties and losses
590 total 118 killed 450 wounded 22 captured or missing [2]	718 total 80 killed 375 wounded 263 captured or missing[3]

The First Battle of Kernstown was fought on March 23, 1862, in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia, the opening battle of Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson's campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War.

Attempting to tie down the Union forces in the Valley, under the overall command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, Jackson received incorrect intelligence that a small detachment under Col. Nathan Kimball was vulnerable, but it was in fact a full infantry division more than twice the size of Jackson's force. His initial cavalry attack was forced back and he immediately reinforced it with a small infantry brigade. With his other two brigades, Jackson sought to envelop the Union right by way of Sandy Ridge. But Col. Erastus B. Tyler's brigade countered this movement, and, when Kimball's brigade moved to his assistance, the Confederates were driven from the field. There was no effective Union pursuit.

Although the battle was a Confederate tactical defeat, it represented a strategic victory for the South by preventing the Union from transferring forces from the Shenandoah Valley to reinforce the Peninsula Campaign against the Confederate capital, Richmond. Following the earlier Battle of Hoke's Run, the First Battle of Kernstown may be considered the second among Jackson's rare defeats.