First Battle of Winchester Facts

Also Known As

• Battle of Bowers Hill

Date and Location

• May 25, 1862
• Frederick County, near the town of Winchester, in western Virginia

Campaign

• Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862

Principal Union Commanders

• Major General Nathaniel Banks
• Colonel George Henry Gordon
• Brigadier General John P. Hatch
• Colonel Dudley Donnelly

Principal Confederate Commanders

• Makor General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
• Major General Richard Ewell

Union Forces Engaged

• Department of the Shenandoah

Confederate Forces Engaged

• Department of the Valley

Number of Union Soldiers Engaged

• Roughly 6,500

Number of Confederate Soldiers Engaged

• Roughly 16,000

Estimated Union Casualties

• 2,019 (62 killed, 243 wounded, and 1,714 missing or captured)

Estimated Confederate Casualties

• 400 (68 killed, 329 wounded, and 3 missing)

Result

• Confederate victory

Significance

• The First Battle of Winchester was the fourth engagement of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862.
• The First Battle of Winchester was the third Confederate victory of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862.
• The Confederate victory at the First Battle of Winchester prompted President Lincoln to devise a complicated plan to stop Stonewall Jackson, which eventually led to future Union defeats in the Shenandoah Valley and diverted more troops away from the Peninsula Campaign against Richmond.

Timeline of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862

These are the main battles and events of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862 in order.

• March 23, 1862 — First Battle of Kernstown
• May 8, 1862 — Battle of McDowell
• May 15–17, 1862 — Battle of Princeton Court House
• May 23, 1862 — Battle of Front Royal
• May 25, 1862 — First Battle of Winchester
• June 8, 1862 — Battle of  Cross Keys
• June 9, 1862 — Battle of  Port Republic