r the
General had the faintest suspicion that the enemy had as yet
passed Harrisonburg.... There was serenity at Washington....
The Secretary, ... saw no reason for alarm. His strategical
combinations were apparently working without a hitch....
Milroy's defeat was considered no more than an incident of 'la
petite guerre'. Washington seemed so perfectly secure that the
recruiting offices had been closed, and the President and
Secretary, anticipating the immediate fall of Richmond, left
for Fredericksburg the next day. McDowell was to march on the
26th, and the departure of his fine army was to be preceded by
a grand review....

"So on this night of May 22nd the President and his people were
without fear of what the morrow might bring forth. The end of
the rebellion seemed near at hand. Washington was full of the
anticipated triumph. The crowds passed to and fro exchanging
congratulations on the success of the Northern arms and the
approaching downfall of the slaveholders.... Little dreamt the
light-hearted multitude that, in the silent woods of the Luray
Valley, a Confederate army lay asleep beneath the stars. Little
dreamt Lincoln, or Banks, or Stanton, that not more than
seventy miles from Washington, and less than thirty from
Strasburg, the most daring of the enemies, waiting for the dawn
to rise above the mountains was pouring out his soul in
prayer."

Banks' 10,000 men were distributed in this manner: at Strasburg the
largest contingent, at Winchester a small group of infantry and cavalry,
with two companies of infantry at Newtown, midway between Strasburg and
Front Royal. At Rectortown, nineteen miles east of Front Royal was
General Geary with 2,000 infantry and cavalry independent of Banks.
Front Royal was held by Colonel Kenly of the First Maryland Regiment, U.
S. A. On the morning of May 23rd the Confederates struck Kenly's small
force. Every line of communication and reinforcement had been severed
during the previous night and "within an hour after his pickets were
surprised Kenly was completely isolated."

Banks moved north from Strasburg towards Winchester before Jackson could
scatter his troops along the route and cut off his retreat. Encounters
took place at Newtown and Middletown and Kernstown during the early
morning of May 24th. The battle of Winchester occurred the following
day.