Harper's Ferry was not only important in itself but still more
important for what it covered: the wonderfully fruitful
Shenandoah Valley, running southwest a hundred and forty miles to
the neighborhood of Lexington, with an average width of only
twenty-four. Bounded on the west by the Alleghanies and on the
east by the long Blue Ridge this valley was a regular covered way
by which the Northern invaders might approach, cut Virginia in
two (for West Virginia was then a part of the State) and, after
devastating the valley itself (thus destroying half the foodbase
of Virginia) attack eastern Virginia through whichever gaps might
serve the purpose best. More than this, the only direct line from
Richmond to the Mississippi ran just below the southwest end of
the valley, while a network of roads radiated from Winchester
near the northeast end, thirty miles southwest of Harper's Ferry.

Throughout the month of May Jackson went on working his men into
shape and watching the enemy, three thousand strong, at
Chambersburg, forty-five miles north of Harper's Ferry, and
twelve thousand strong farther north still. One day he made a
magnificent capture of rolling stock on the twenty-seven miles of
double track that centered in Harper's Ferry. This greatly
hampered the accumulation of coal at Washington besides helping
the railroads of the South. Destroying the line was out of the
question, because it ran through West Virginia and Maryland, both
of which he hoped to see on the Confederate side. He was himself
a West Virginian, born at Clarksburg; and it grieved him greatly
when West Virginia stood by the Union.

Apart from this he did nothing spectacular. The rest was all just