Romney Expedition

<!-- Deleted image removed: -->The Romney Expedition was a military expedition of the Confederate States Army during the early part of the American Civil War. It is named for Romney, West Virginia, which at the time was still in the state of Virginia. The expedition was conducted in this locale from January 1 to January 24, 1862, as part of the preliminary actions of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Confederate forces under Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson cleared Union forces under Major General Nathaniel Banks and Brigadier General William S. Rosecrans from the lower Shenandoah Valley and surrounding Allegheny ranges, and then successfully severed the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

Background

Major General Jackson, newly promoted on October 7, 1861, was given command of the newly formed Valley District of the Department of Northern Virginia on October 22. He arrived to establish his command headquarters at Winchester, Virginia, on November 4. Upon his arrival, he requested command of all forces in the Valley and along the Allegheny ridges south of Winchester, formerly under General Robert E. Lee. He was given his old Stonewall Brigade and Brigadier General William W. Loring's Division, which were fully not fully assembled until Christmas 1861. In the meantime, Jackson assembled all local cavalry forces into a new regiment under the command of Colonel Turner Ashby, and then used Ashby's force to conduct raids...
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