Dr. Brandon Beck was the guest speaker and provided a presentation on General Robert E. Lee and his first meetings with Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Dr. Beck taught at Shenandoah University in Winchester VA where General Jackson's Headquarters Museum can be found. Dr. Beck found that while there was a lot of research and information about Lee and Jackson's final meeting on May 1st of 1863 during the Battle of Chancellorsville (after which Jackson was mortally wounded), very little was written about the circumstances of their first meeting. Both men went to West Point at different times but were very different men, Lee being twenty years Jackson's elder. Lee was born of the "first family of Virginia" and Lee was at the top of his class at West Point whereas Jackson was from the West Virginia area and struggled to graduate from the military academy. Lee was against secession but Jackson saw it as God's providence.
It was the summer of 1862 before the two men actually met but, previously when Lee was sent to put down the uprising at Harper's Ferry, Jackson was subsequently there when he attended the hanging of John Brown with other cadets. Four days after Virginia seceded, Lee and Jackson both arrived in Richmond on separate trains when Lee was offered command of the Army of Virginia and Jackson arrived from Lexington with a corps of cadets to volunteer. On September 24, 2861, Lee may have sent Jackson his first orders to go to the Shenandoah Valley. The valley was a geographical advantage for the South troop movements could be concealed by mountain ranges on each side and it provided a path directly north toward Washington DC. A Confederate force positioned between Harper's Ferry and Winchester could invade Maryland, Pennsylvania or move against Washington DC.
Lee ordered Jackson to fortify Harper's Ferry and troops were moved to the Maryland Heights. But, in the war's first blunder, Confederate General Johnston who was placed in command of the Army ordered the evacuation of Harper's Ferry and to pull back to Winchester. A number of Confederate generals also petitioned Johnson to evacuate troops from West Virginia because of the cold winter temperatures and he conceded countermanding Jackson's orders. Stonewall actually resigned his commission because of this and was preparing to return to Lexington before his wife begged him to withdraw his resignation.
In May of 1862, Union General McClellan had 125000 troops poised to attack Richmond with another 10000 positioned to attack Winchester and additional troops at Fredericksburg. Jackson was ordered to not allow any of the Federal troops to leave the valley to help join the Union forces at Richmond so on March 19, 1862 Jackson attached the 10000 Union troops with a force of 3000 Confederates and although technically defeated, it caused the Union troops to pull back.
Lee was not in charge of any troops directly at this time but he was able to find Jackson a brigade as reinforcements to mount a counter attack on the Federals at Winchester to make it look like the Confederates had designs to cross the Potomac which would occupy Union troops at Richmond to counter. General Johnston at first countermanded Lee's orders but then rescinded these and on May 25th, Jackson crushed Union General Banks forces causing the redeployment of 62000 Federal troops from Richmond. Jackson was hailed Stonewall and Hero of the Valley. Lee was promoted to commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.
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