During the campaign the Confederate forces under Major General Thomas Jackson marched 646 miles in 48 days, pitting 17,000 Confederates against 52,000 Federals.
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November 1861
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| October 22 | Confederate Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson was assigned command of the Valley District. |
 Confederate Brigadier General Thomas J. Jackson |
| November 4 | Jackson made his headquarters at WInchester, Virginia. He took command of three brigades of militia. Concerned at the lack of training and experience of his men, Jackson requested some veterans from Johnston’s army at Manassas. He was hoping he would be sent his old brigade. | |
| November 9 | Over Johnston’s objections, Jackson was sent his old Stonewall Brigade from Johnston’s army at Manassas as reinforcements. They took the train from Manassas to Strasburg, they marched north to Winchester. | |
| November 11 | Ordered to bivouac in the rain south of Winchester, about half the Stonewall Brigade deserted to make their way to warm beds in the city. | |
| November 20 | Concerned at Federal positions to the west that flanked his position in the Valley and hoping to keep the Federals off balance by taking the initiative, Jackson proposed an expedition to Romney. The proposal was approved. | |
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December
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| December 8 | Jackson was reinforced at Winchester with Taliaferro’s Brigade of Loring’s Division. Loring’s Division, known as the Army of the Northwest, numbered around 6,000 men. | |
| December 16-21 | Jackson marched north, leading the Stonewall Brigade, Rockbridge Artillery and Carson’s militia on a raid against Dam No. 5 on the Potomac River. | |
| December 25 | The remainder of Loring’s Division, consisting of Anderson’s and Gilham’s Brigades, reached Staunton. | |
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January 1862
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| January 1 |
The Romney ExpeditionJackson marched northwest out of Winchester in unseasonably warm weather with 9,000 men. That night a brutal bllizzard began, covering the road with ice and sleet. |
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| January 5 | Jackson reached the Potomac River across from Hancock, Maryland, which was defended by a Union garrison under Frederick Lander. Lander refused to surrender, and Jackson shelled the town for two days while looking for a good river crossing. He also destroyed a section of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which ran along the south side of the Potomac. | |
| January 7 | Unable to find a crossing, Jackson withdrew south from the Potomac toward Romney. | |
| January 10 | Union forces under Benjamin Kelley withdrew from Romney. | |
| January 14 | Jackson occupied Romney. | |
| January 24 | Jackson cancelled his plans to move on Cumberland, Maryland due to how badly the severe winter weather had affected his men. He left Loring’s division in Romney and marched the Stonewall Brigade and Ashby’s cavalry to Winchester.Richard Ewell was promoted to major general. | |
| January 31 | A petition from the officers of Loring’s Division was sent without Jackson’s knowledge to Secretary of War Benjamin. Benjamin ordered Jackson to remove Loring’s Division from Romney. Jackson complied with the order, filed court-martial charges against Loring and then resigned his commission, asking to be returned to the Virginia Military Institute. | |
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February
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| February 9 | Loring’s Division was broken up. All non-Virginia troops were transferred from Jackson’s command, leaving him around 4,000 men. | |
| Jackson was persuaded to withdraw his resignation.Union Major General Nathaniel Banks crossed the Potomac. He moved south towards Winchester. | ||
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March
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| March 9 | Jackson evacuated Winchester and moved south up the Shenandoah Valley. | |
| March 12 | Banks moved into Winchester, the first of many times the town would change hands during the Civil War. | |
| March 21 | Ashby reported to Jackson that two divisions of Banks’ force were leaving the Valley and returning to the Washington area. | |
| March 22 | Jackson force marched his men 25 miles north. Ashby’s cavalry skirmished with Federals, and Federal commander Shields was wounded by a shell fragment. He sent two of his brigades south of Winchester and the third out of town to the north, but had it halt outside of town in reserve. He then turned over field command to Nathan Kimball.Southern loyalists in Winchester reported to Jackson that only four Union regiments were left at Winchester when in reality there was a division of over 9,000 men. | |
| March 23 |
Battle of KernstownJackson force marched his 3,000 man Army of the Valley another 15 miles to Kernstown, just south of Winchester. He arrived in late morning and attacked the Union forces under Colonel Nathan Kimball at Pritchard’s Hill. It was Jackson’s only tactical defeat. But it became a strategic victory when Lincoln reacted by diverting tens of thousands of men to the Valley who had been intended to reinforce McClellan’s advance against Richmond. |
 Union Colonel Nathan Kimball |
| May | ||
| May 7 | Jackson moved west out of Staunton and West View on the Parkersburg Turnpike. Edward Johnson’s Brigade led the way. Milroy’s Union forces at Rodger’s Tollgate withdrew to the crest of Shenandoah Mountain and then to McDowell. | |
| May 8 |
Battle of McDowellRobert Schenck reached McDowell after a forced march from Franklin and took command from Milroy. A midafternoon Union attack failed to break the Confederate line and withdrew at darkness. Schenck then pulled out of McDowell toward Franklin. He had inflicted more casualties on Jackson than he had lost, but was forced to withdraw, leaving Jackson the freedom of manoever for the next stage of his campaign. |
 Major General |
| May 9-15 | Jackson pursued Schenck toward Franklin. | |
| Jackson moved into the Luray Valley and joined forces with the division of Major General Richard Ewell. | ||
| May 23 |
Battle of Front Royal |
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| May 25 |
Battle of Winchester |
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| James Shields recaptured Front Royal. | ||
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June |
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| June 8 |
Battle of Cross Keys |
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| June 9 |
Battle of Port RepublicShields was defeated. |
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| June 18 | The Valley Army crossed the Blue Ridge for Richmond. | |