Had Kimball been truly aggressive, it would have been an easy matter to send these men across the run toward the Valley Turnpike south of Kernstown, thus cutting off Jackson’s retreat. Earlier in the battle, Jackson had left behind 1,100 men to guard against exactly this situation. But by late in the afternoon, these men had moved to their left to cover their retreating comrades. The path to the Turnpike remained virtually unguarded.

It seems that, at the very least, a more accurate appraisal of Jackson’s strength might have been obtained. At best, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to destroy Jackson’s army was lost–perhaps, indeed, an opportunity to take Jackson himself out of the war. And who can say how much more successful McClellan might have been in the Peninsula with all those extra troops that Stonewall kept tied up? For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost.

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Marketing Communications Coordinator for Western New England College, Lee Enderlin of Springfield, Mass., is also a long-time freelance writer with a strong interest in military history. As further reading: Terrible Swift Sword, by Bruce Catton and Decoying the Yanks: Jackson’s Valley Campaign, by Champ Clark and the Editors of Time-Life Books.

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