What was the most significant event on May 8 during the U.S. Civil War?

Thursday, May 8, 1862: Battle of McDowell, Virginia. From Staunton, by CSA Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson marched his army west along the Parkersburg Road to confront two brigades of Gen. John C. Frémont’s Army of Western Virginia (Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy and Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk), advancing toward the Shenandoah Valley from western Virginia. At McDowell on May 8, Milroy seized the initiative and assaulted the Confederate position on Sitlington’s Hill. The Federals were repulsed after severe fighting, lasting four hours. Afterwards, Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy and Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk’s brigades withdrew into western Virginia, freeing up Jackson’s army to march against the other Union columns threatening the Valley.
Pictures: 1862 Battle of McDowell, Virginia map; 1862 The Battle of McDowell, Virginia; xx; xx
Since RallyPoint truncates survey selection text I am posting events that were not included and then the full text of each survey choice below:
A. Tuesday, May 8, 1860: The 1860 incarnation of the Constitutional Union Party united Whigs and Know-Nothings who were unwilling to join the Democrats or the Republicans. Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, Henry Clay's successor in border-state Whiggery, set up a meeting among fifty conservative, pro-compromise congressmen in December 1859, which led to a convention in Baltimore the week of May 9, 1860, one week before the Republican Party convention.
1860 presidential election. The convention nominated John Bell of Tennessee for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice President.
In the 1860 election, the Constitutional Unionists received the great majority of their votes from former southern Whigs or Know-Nothings. A few of their votes were cast by former Democrats who were against secession. Although the party did not get 50% of the popular vote in any state, they won the electoral votes of three states, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, largely due to the split in Democratic votes between Stephen A. Douglas in the North and John C. Breckinridge in the South. California and Everett's home state of Massachusetts were the only non-slave states in which the party received more than 5% of the popular vote.
B. Thursday, May 8, 1862: Battle of McDowell: From Staunton, Maj. Gen. T.J. Jackson marched his army west along the Parkersburg Road to confront two brigades of Gen. John C. Frémont’s Army of Western Virginia (Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy and Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk), advancing toward the Shenandoah Valley from western Virginia. At McDowell on May 8, Milroy seized the initiative and assaulted the Confederate position on Sitlington’s Hill. The Federals were repulsed after severe fighting, lasting four hours. Afterwards, Milroy and Schenck withdrew into western Virginia, freeing up Jackson’s army to march against the other Union columns threatening the Valley.
Phase Two. CS Advance to Sitlington's Hill (8 May): Starting at dawn of 8 May, the Confederate advance crossed Shaw's Ridge, descended to the Cowpasture River at Wilson's House, and ascended Bullpasture Mountain. The advance was unopposed. Reaching the crest of the ridge, Jackson and Jedediah Hotchkiss conducted a reconnaissance of the Union position at McDowell from a rocky spur right of the road. Johnson continued with the advance to the base of Sitlington's Hill. Expecting a roadblock ahead, he diverged from the road into a steep narrow ravine that leads to the top of the hill. After driving away Union skirmishers, Johnson deployed his infantry along the long, sinuous crest of the hill. Jackson asked his staff to find a way to place artillery on the hill and to search for a way to flank the Union position to the north.
Phase Three. Deployment of US Forces: About 1000 hours, Brig. Gen. Robert Schenck arrived after a forced march from Franklin. Being senior to Milroy, Schenck assumed overall command of the Union force at McDowell with headquarters at the Hull House. He deployed his artillery, consisting of 18 guns on Cemetery Hill and near the McDowell Presbyterian Church to defend the bridge over the Bullpasture River. He deployed his infantry in line from McDowell south along the river for about 800 yards. He placed one regiment (2WV) on Hull's Hill, west of the river and overlooking the pike. Three companies of cavalry covered the left flank on the road to the north of the village.
Phase Four. US Attack on Sitlington's Hill: Schenck and Milroy sent out skirmishers to contest the base of Sitlington's Hill along the river. As CS forces on the crest of the hill increased in numbers, Schenck and Milroy conferred. Union scouts reported that the Confederates were attempting to bring artillery to the crest of the hill which would make the US position on the bottomland at McDowell untenable. In absence of an aggressive CS advance, Schenck and Milroy attempted a spoiling attack. Milroy advanced his brigade (25OH, 32OH, 75OH, 3WV) and the 82nd Ohio of Schenck's brigade, about 2,300 men. About 1500 hours Milroy personally led the attacking force, which crossed the bridge and proceeded up the ravines that cut the western slope of the hill.
In the meantime, Jackson had been content to hold the crest of the hill while searching for a route for a flanking movement to the north. He declined to send artillery up the hill because of the difficulty of withdrawing the pieces in the face of an attack. Union artillerymen on Cemetery Hill elevated their pieces by digging deep trenches in the ground for the gun trails and began firing at the Confederates in support of the advancing infantry. Schenck also had a six-pounder hauled by hand to the crest of Hull's Hill to fire on the CS right flank above the turnpike (some accounts say a section of guns, another says a whole battery). The Union line advanced resolutely up the steep slopes and closed on the Confederate position. The conflict became ``fierce and sanguinary.''
The 3rd West Virginia advanced along the turnpike in an attempt to turn the CS right. Jackson reinforced his right on the hill with two regiments and covered the turnpike with the 21st Virginia. The 12th Georgia at the center and slightly in advance of the main CS line on the hill crest bore the brunt of the Union attack and suffered heavy casualties. The fighting continued for four hours as the Union attackers attempted to pierce the center of the CS line and then to envelope its left flank. Nine CS regiments were engaged, opposing five US regiments in the fight for Sitlington's Hill. At dusk the Union attackers withdrew to McDowell.
c Sunday, May 8, 1864: Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia. At dawn on May 8, Major General Wesley Merritt's cavalrymen attacked Fitzhugh Lee's barricades on the Brock Road again, but were repulsed. Meade ordered Warren's V Corps to break through with infantry and the division of Brig. Gen. John C. Robinson led the way in overwhelming the cavalry obstacle. Fitzhugh Lee's horse artillery made a gallant stand around the Alsop farm and delayed the Union advance while the cavalrymen staked out a defensive line on a low ridge just south of the Spindle farm clearing, which they dubbed "Laurel Hill." Lee sent for help to Anderson's infantry, which by now had reached the Block House Bridge on the Po River and were eating breakfast. Anderson immediately dispatched two infantry brigades and an artillery battalion, which arrived at Laurel Hill just as Warren's men pulled up within 100 yards to the north.
Assuming that only cavalry blocked his path, Warren ordered an immediate attack against Laurel Hill. Multiple attacks by the divisions of the V Corps were repulsed with heavy casualties, and by noon the Union troops began building earthworks on the northern end of the Spindle clearing. Meanwhile, the Union cavalry division under James H. Wilson had reached and occupied the town of Spotsylvania Court House at 8 a.m. Wilson sent a brigade under Col. John B. McIntosh up the Brock Road with the intention of striking the Confederate position at Laurel Hill from the rear. J.E.B. Stuart had only a single cavalry regiment available to send out against McIntosh, but Anderson's infantry division under Joseph B. Kershaw was marching in that direction. With orders from Sheridan to withdraw and with Confederate infantry in hot pursuit, Wilson withdrew up the Fredericksburg Road.
1. Friday, May 8, 1863 Washington, D. C.; Dear Father: Your note of last week was received. Nothing has transpired here since my last writing worthy of note. They have kept our Brigade quite busy receiving and guarding Rebel prisoners since Hooker’s move.
We have got but few of the details of the affair at Fredericksburg, but it seems that Hooker is back on this side of the river. Though he was certainly not forced back by the enemy. It seems that the heavy rains that have been falling for some days past have carried away the bridge over the Potomac Creek at Brookes Station—thus cutting off our communication as completely as [Major General George] Stoneman did that of the Rebels.[1] The pontoons were also in danger of being carried away by the rise in the Rappahannock, which would have left Hooker in a bad box. It seems as if the elements had been against us this time, but Hooker will soon try it again I think.
I regret to notice among the killed Col. McKnight of Brookville (of the 105th P. V.).
I do not know but that you will have started to see me before this reaches you. In my last I wrote for a couple of shirts—towel—lithographs—&c. I had a letter from Frank a day or two since. All the Venango boys are well as usual.
Captain Over has been dismissed from the service by the War Department for “disobedience of orders, and contempt of Military Authority”.
2. Nothing more at present. Yours affy. J. D. Chadwick
http://sites.allegheny.edu/civilwarletters/2013/05/08/may-8-1863/
3. Sunday, May 8, 1864 --- On the march, McPherson’s Army of the Tennessee reaches Snake Creek Gap in northern Georgia this evening, and camps.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+8%2C+1864
4. Sunday, May 8, 1864 --- John Beauchamp Jones, in Richmond, writes in his journal on several topics, including this rather hopeful assessment of what happened at the Wilderness: The Secretary of War received a dispatch to-day from Gen. Lee, stating that there was no fighting yesterday, only slight skirmishing. Grant remained where he had been driven, in the “Wilderness,” behind his breastworks, completely checked in his “On to Richmond.” He may be badly hurt, and perhaps his men object to being led to the slaughter again.
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+8%2C+1864
5. Sunday, May 8, 1864 Baptists and the American Civil War: Today the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House begins, the second battle of the long Wilderness Campaign in which Union General Ulysses S. Grant, with the long term goal of capturing nearby Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital, attempts to outmaneuver and wear down Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.
Having fought Grant to a standstill in the just-ended and inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Lee had correctly guessed that Grant would move his forces to the critical crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House. Beating Grant to the juncture, Lee’s forces entrench and Grant is left with the task of breaking through the fortified Confederate line in order to continue his efforts to reach Richmond. Today the federals attempt to break through rebel forces barricaded on high ground near the crossroads, with no success.
For thirteen more days Grant tries to dislodge the Confederates, the long, bloody battle eventually ending inconclusively with some 32,000 casualties. And once again, Lee’s numerically inferior army suffers a greater percentage of losses than that of the Union army. In the battle of attrition, bloody and deadly that it is for both sides, the Union is gaining the upper hand.
While tens of thousands of men battle in Virginia, a memorial sermon is delivered at the Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Massachusetts. Rev. Cortland W. Anable preaches a discourse in honor of the late George T. and John H. Tucker, two soldiers who gave their lives while serving in the United States Army.
Anable remembers the two as imperfect but brave and admirable men whose Christian manhood should be emulated by others.
The same generous instinct that prompted the disciples to embalm the body of their Lord, has brought us here to-day to pay this tribute of respect and friendship, or the higher tribute still of love, to two of our fellow-townsmen, of whom it may be truly said, that they “were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in death they were not divided.” These men fell in the service of their country, in defence of the noblest cause that ever rallied noble spirits to the ensanguined battle-field. We honor them for the manner of their death, and are proud to own them as our fellow-citizens. In dying for their country, they have covered themselves with glory; and the halo which rests upon their memory reflects some portion of its lustre on the community in which they lived. Had they come back to us in life, we would have given them a worthy welcome to attest our appreciation of their patriotic services. But coming to us in death, we can only receive them, as is fitting, with such public demonstrations of mourning as are honorable to the living and honoring to the dead. In a certain and important sense they died for us, defending our rights, our liberties, and our sacred institutions. Dead, therefore, must be his heart to the higher and finer feelings of our nature, who does not find in it a chord that beats instinctively responsive to such a lofty sacrifice.
To them, indeed, these services are of no import. Meaningless to them are these tokens of respect, these symbols of solemn mourning, this sad funereal pageant and display. But far otherwise to us. To us they are all so many voices of the heart speaking out its generous sympathy with brave and true-hearted worth. Doubtless this dust would sleep as soundly and securely in the soil of Louisiana as of Massachusetts. Doubtless the archangel’s trump would wake it as surely to a glorious resurrection from the one place as the other. But to us there is a grand significance in these services which we pay. This vast assemblage of friends and townsmen, these badges of mourning, this martial array, this attendance of college classmates and of fellow soldiers of the immortal 38th, this presence in a body of the Irving Literary Association, to pay respect to the memory of the honored dead, these flowers upon the coffin, and those other flowers that will yet be planted on the grave, are all of them emblematic, and enfold, as in a chrysalis, germs of beauty which are among the fairest and loveliest adornments of human character….
George and John Tucker were persons of considerably more than ordinary worth. Born and brought up in this community, where they struggled into manhood in a constant conflict with circumstances more or less adverse, they succeeded at an early age in winning the respect of all who knew them, and something warmer than the respect of all who knew them well. Both of them made profession of religion in their youth; and whatever qualities they developed in after life were based on the foundation of Christian principle. George was quiet, sedate, and unostentatious in his manners, but by his careful attention to business and pleasing address made many friends, and, so far as I can learn, no enemies. If the sphere which he chose for himself in life presented less shining marks than his brother’s to attract the public eye, his was none the less a manly character, if by manliness we mean the acting well and faithfully of one’s part in the world as a Christian and left his trade and entered on a course of study to fit himself for college. Through what shifts and expedients, what trials and struggles he passed, it is needless for us now to pause and recapitulate. It is sufficient to say that through nearly six years of independent struggle, which would have appalled and disheartened many a resolute spirit, he toiled, maintaining his independence at the sacrifice of his pride, until, in the summer of 1862, he graduated from Harvard College with the constantly increasing respect and esteem of all who knew him in the community. With the one grand object of his life in view, he had been purposing to enter next the Theological Seminary at Newton. But now came another question of duty to be religiously considered. His country was calling upon her young men to defend her life from the assaults of treason and rebellion. Should he offer his services in this trying hour, or was it his duty to remain at home and prosecute his studies 1 After deeply considering the subject, and taking religious counsel, he decided to enlist. ” I have taken this step,” he writes in his journal, ” with a firm conviction that it is my duty to do so, — a religious duty. It is not congenial to my tastes to go to war, but it seems now as if all who love their country ought to be willing to take up arms in its defence.” And then he adds, in perfect and admirable consonance with his whole character, “I hope I shall be faithful in the performance of my duty when on the battle-field.” In a letter to a friend, explaining his motives for enlisting, he says (and I would commend his sentiments to our young men everywhere): “I did not deem it necessary to go while men enlisted readily. Now the time seems to have come. Men are needed faster than they seem ready to volunteer. The same reasons apply to my not enlisting now that applied a year ago : I left my trade with a deep conviction that it was my duty to prepare myself to be a preacher of the Gospel. This conviction has never left me, and I have not hitherto felt it would be right to turn aside from the pursuit of this object. But now the country is plunged into war, a terrible war, by rebels who are seeking to overturn the Government, and degrade it from being the first government the world ever knew, to be a mere slave oligarchy. If they succeed in their hellish design, and this Government is overthrown, then perishes all civil and religious liberty ; our national life ceases, and nothing is left worth having. Since this is the case, the question arises, Is it not the duty of every man to whom God has given strength and ability to do what he can to prevent this, even to shouldering the musket and taking the field to meet force by force % Life is sweet, and I suppose it is as sweet to me as to most people, but I do really feel willing to offer my services to my country, place myself upon her altar, fight, and, if need be, die in her defence. I have thought it proper, in thinking of the matter, to consider that it was more than a possibility, even approaching a strong probability, that if I went to the war I should be maimed, disabled for life by wounds, or contract disease which would render me a helpless dependent upon friends, if I was not killed, and I have asked myself if the cause demanded this of me? I admit that it does of many young men, but does it of me, situated as I am, about to commence a course of theological study I have patriotism enough, to lead me to make any sacrifice of time, substance, life itself for my beloved country. I wish to go to the relief of my fellow-citizens almost worn out with their severe campaign. It seems ignoble for me to remain here at home, resting in inglorious ease, while many better men than I am, or can ever hope to be, are bravely defending my country’s rights and honor.” I am sure you will pardon the length of this extract in consideration of the noble sentiments it breathes, and the light which it throws on the character of our departed friend. If more conspicuous individuals have fallen in this war, not a nobler, purer, or more self sacrificing spirit has yet been laid upon our country’s altar. He was killed in battle in an. assault upon Port Hudson, on the 27th of May, 1863, Whether he was right or not in his decision to abandon his studies for the pursuits of war, we cannot but admire the straightforward manliness of spirit with which he met and decided this and every other question. John Tucker had a soul that would shrink from nothing that lay before him in the path of duty. No lions in the way affrighted him; no dangers troubled or appalled ; but having settled the question, What is it my duty to do in any emergency whatever I he went steadily forward to its consummation, without the slightest fear or regard for the consequences to himself….
…To be a man, there must be roundness and completeness to the development of the entire character.
Moreover, if this be so, then it follows, that, other things being equal, the higher the moral and religious culture, the fuller is the manhood of any given individual.
And when we come to compare these several properties of man, we’ find that there is a regular ascending series of progression; first the physical, then the mental, and, towering above them all, the spiritual and moral. This last, as the seat of the religious sentiments, is that which allies us most closely to our Maker. Hence it is the most important and the most essential element in the composition of true manliness. Now what I claim for religion is, that there is nothing that can take its place as a teacher, guide, and disciplinarian in all the rudiments of a perfectly manly character. Let a man live up to the precepts of Christianity, and his physical nature will be developed and improved ; for religion inculcates temperance, chastity, cleanliness, industry, care of health and habits of body, by attention to which our natural powers are not only preserved unimpaired, but kept in a fitting state for almost unlimited expansion. The mind, too, finds its highest education in the school of religion; where are doctrines and problems which tax the profoundest intellectual energies, ever keeping in advance of each successive acquisition, and reaching out interminably towards the infinite and unknown, leaving something always involved in mystery, something still to discipline and attract to higher efforts and a more finished culture. Indeed, mental training only then begins to take its right direction, when it leads the soul towards the infinite, the mysterious, the incomprehensible of God; for ” the- fear of the Lord is the” beginning of wisdom.” And as for moral culture (the highest and noblest part of humanity), this is an absolute impossibility, in its best developments, without religion. Here Christianity applies its special and peculiar power. This is pre-eminently its own domain, in which it fights its severest battles, and wins its most glorious victories. Christianity enables a man to conquer himself which is better than taking a city. Noble and generous and brave as individuals may be without it, there is not one of them but would be more noble, more generous, more brave for its possession. Under its influence, men who have otherwise no commanding faculties, rise to a dignity of asserted manhood which no mental attainments, no physical powers, nor any combination of qualities, could give. In short, religion is the top-stone of the completed edifice, — the crowning glory of a finished character.
I would say to you, therefore, gentlemen, in conclusion, aspire to the realization in your individual lives of this sublime ideal of manhood. Be true to yourselves, to the better nature with which you were originally created. Let every duty as it arises be performed with unfaltering fidelity to the right. And over every other boasted or coveted excellence of character, place as the crowning glory the illustrious emblazonry of personal religion. And whatever may be the duties to which the emergencies of the hour may summon you, — whether to vindicate your principles at home in the peaceful pursuits of business, or to defend them abroad amid the excitements of clashing arms, — in peace or in war, living or dying, — let the proud determination of every individual be, to show himself a man.
Clearly on display today in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House and the memorial sermon delivered at Old Cambridge Baptist Church is a Christian manhood that, empowered by the spirit of God, is capable of great bravery in the face of danger and death.
Yet the convictions of Christians North and white Christians South are a world apart, so polarized that only one side can possibly emerge victorious in this bloody war over black slavery. Even as Christian convictions pro and anti-slavery shaped the antebellum era, ushered in the war and now propel this great contest, the war itself is shaping the cult of Christian manhood in such a way that both North and South in the post-war years will in turn be molded by God-believing, battle-hardened, rugged men who emerge from the refining fire of destruction and death.
http://civilwarbaptists.com/thisdayinhistory/1864-may-08/
6.

Thursday, May 8, 1862
A Tuesday, May 8, 1860: The Constitution Union Party, meeting in Baltimore, Maryland creates a platform taken heavily from the U. S. Constitution and selects John Bell of Tennessee for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice-President. It represents southern Whigs and Know-nothings (American Party). Sometimes called the Bell-Union Party.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/1860
A+ Tuesday, May 8, 1860: The 1860 incarnation of the Constitutional Union Party united Whigs and Know-Nothings who were unwilling to join the Democrats or the Republicans. Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, Henry Clay's successor in border-state Whiggery, set up a meeting among fifty conservative, pro-compromise congressmen in December 1859, which led to a convention in Baltimore the week of May 9, 1860, one week before the Republican Party convention.
1860 presidential election. The convention nominated John Bell of Tennessee for President and Edward Everett of Massachusetts for Vice President.
In the 1860 election, the Constitutional Unionists received the great majority of their votes from former southern Whigs or Know-Nothings. A few of their votes were cast by former Democrats who were against secession. Although the party did not get 50% of the popular vote in any state, they won the electoral votes of three states, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, largely due to the split in Democratic votes between Stephen A. Douglas in the North and John C. Breckinridge in the South. California and Everett's home state of Massachusetts were the only non-slave states in which the party received more than 5% of the popular vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Union_Party_(United_States)
Thursday, May 8, 1862: Battle of McDowell, Virginia: Stonewall Jackson defeats Robert Milroy in the Shenandoah Valley.
http://blueandgraytrail.com/year/186205
B Thursday, May 8, 1862: Battle of McDowell. From Staunton, Maj. Gen. T.J. Jackson marched his army west along the Parkersburg Road to confront two brigades of Gen. John C. Frémont’s Army of Western Virginia (Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy and Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk), advancing toward the Shenandoah Valley from western Virginia. At McDowell on May 8, Milroy seized the initiative and assaulted the Confederate position on Sitlington’s Hill. The Federals were repulsed after severe fighting, lasting four hours. Afterwards, Milroy and Schenck withdrew into western Virginia, freeing up Jackson’s army to march against the other Union columns threatening the Valley.
Phase One. CS Advance on Parkersburg Turnpike (7 May): Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson's columns departed West View and Staunton on the morning of 7 May, marching west along the Parkersburg turnpike. Elements of Brig. Gen. Edward Johnson's brigade composed the vanguard. At mid-afternoon, Union pickets were encountered at Rodgers' tollgate, where the pike crosses Ramsey's Draft. The Union force, which consisted of portions of three regiments (3WV, 32OH, 75OH) under overall command of Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy, withdrew hastily, abandoning their baggage at the tollgate and retreating to the crest of Shenandoah Mountain.
At Rodgers', Johnson and Jackson conferred. The Confederate force split into two columns to envelope the US holding position on Shenandoah Mountain. Milroy ordered his force to withdraw and concentrate at McDowell, where he hoped to receive reinforcements. Milroy also positioned a section of artillery on Shaw's Ridge to impede Johnson's descent from the crest of Shenandoah Mountain. These guns were soon withdrawn with their supports to McDowell. By dusk, Johnson's advance regiments reached Shaw's Fork where they encamped. Because of the narrow roads and few camp sites, Jackson's army was stretched 8-10 miles back along the pike with its rear guard at Dry Branch Gap. Jackson established his headquarters at Rodgers' tollgate. During the night, Milroy withdrew behind the Bullpasture River to McDowell, establishing headquarters in the Hull House.
Phase Two. CS Advance to Sitlington's Hill (8 May): Starting at dawn of 8 May, the Confederate advance crossed Shaw's Ridge, descended to the Cowpasture River at Wilson's House, and ascended Bullpasture Mountain. The advance was unopposed. Reaching the crest of the ridge, Jackson and Jedediah Hotchkiss conducted a reconnaissance of the Union position at McDowell from a rocky spur right of the road. Johnson continued with the advance to the base of Sitlington's Hill. Expecting a roadblock ahead, he diverged from the road into a steep narrow ravine that leads to the top of the hill. After driving away Union skirmishers, Johnson deployed his infantry along the long, sinuous crest of the hill. Jackson asked his staff to find a way to place artillery on the hill and to search for a way to flank the Union position to the north.
Phase Three. Deployment of US Forces: About 1000 hours, Brig. Gen. Robert Schenck arrived after a forced march from Franklin. Being senior to Milroy, Schenck assumed overall command of the Union force at McDowell with headquarters at the Hull House. He deployed his artillery, consisting of 18 guns on Cemetery Hill and near the McDowell Presbyterian Church to defend the bridge over the Bullpasture River. He deployed his infantry in line from McDowell south along the river for about 800 yards. He placed one regiment (2WV) on Hull's Hill, west of the river and overlooking the pike. Three companies of cavalry covered the left flank on the road to the north of the village.
Phase Four. US Attack on Sitlington's Hill: Schenck and Milroy sent out skirmishers to contest the base of Sitlington's Hill along the river. As CS forces on the crest of the hill increased in numbers, Schenck and Milroy conferred. Union scouts reported that the Confederates were attempting to bring artillery to the crest of the hill which would make the US position on the bottomland at McDowell untenable. In absence of an aggressive CS advance, Schenck and Milroy attempted a spoiling attack. Milroy advanced his brigade (25OH, 32OH, 75OH, 3WV) and the 82nd Ohio of Schenck's brigade, about 2,300 men. About 1500 hours Milroy personally led the attacking force, which crossed the bridge and proceeded up the ravines that cut the western slope of the hill.
In the meantime, Jackson had been content to hold the crest of the hill while searching for a route for a flanking movement to the north. He declined to send artillery up the hill because of the difficulty of withdrawing the pieces in the face of an attack. Union artillerymen on Cemetery Hill elevated their pieces by digging deep trenches in the ground for the gun trails and began firing at the Confederates in support of the advancing infantry. Schenck also had a six-pounder hauled by hand to the crest of Hull's Hill to fire on the CS right flank above the turnpike (some accounts say a section of guns, another says a whole battery). The Union line advanced resolutely up the steep slopes and closed on the Confederate position. The conflict became ``fierce and sanguinary.''
The 3rd West Virginia advanced along the turnpike in an attempt to turn the CS right. Jackson reinforced his right on the hill with two regiments and covered the turnpike with the 21st Virginia. The 12th Georgia at the center and slightly in advance of the main CS line on the hill crest bore the brunt of the Union attack and suffered heavy casualties. The fighting continued for four hours as the Union attackers attempted to pierce the center of the CS line and then to envelope its left flank. Nine CS regiments were engaged, opposing five US regiments in the fight for Sitlington's Hill. At dusk the Union attackers withdrew to McDowell.
Phase Five. Union Withdrawal (9 May): At dark US forces withdrew from Sitlington's Hill and recrossed to McDowell, carrying their wounded from the field. About 0200 hours of 9 May, Schenck and Milroy ordered a general retreat along the turnpike toward Franklin. The 73rd Ohio held their skirmish line along the river until near dawn when they withdrew and acted as rear guard for the retreating column. Ten men of the regiment were inadvertently left behind and captured. Shortly after the Federals retired, the Confederates entered McDowell. Schenck established a holding position on 9 May (north of modern intersection of rte. 629 and US 220) but only minor skirmishing resulted. For nearly a week, Jackson pursued the retreating Union army almost to Franklin before commencing a return march to the Valley on 15 May.
https://www.nps.gov/abpp/shenandoah/svs3-2.html
B+ Thursday, May 8, 1862: Eastern Theater, Shenandoah Valley Campaign - BATTLE OF MCDOWELL, Virginia. Stonewall Jackson’a small Army of the Valley is slowly being hemmed in on three sides by Gen. Irwin McDowell’s army corps to the east of the Blue Ridge, by Gen. Nathaniel Banks’ Army of the Shenandoah to the north, down the valley itself, and by Gen. John C. Fremont’s Army of Western Virginia to the west. In a bid to strike the latter out of the picture, Jackson has advanced rapibly to Staunton, added Allegheny Johnson’s brigade to his force, now making it 10,000 strong, and then marched west over the passes to the hamlet of McDowell, where Fremont’s over-extended advance guard under Gen. Robert Milroy is. The evening before, after some skirmishing, Milroy retreats west. In the morning, Johnson’s brigade advances toward the Union forces, and skirmishers from both armies engage, while Jackson and his staff scout a way to attack Milroy. Later in the day, Milroy is reinforced by a brigade under Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk. Milroy, late in the afternoon, sends a line of infantry forward, which engages a thin Rebel line on the crest of a rocky hill. The Yankees drive up the rocky slope under a heavy fire, and when Jackson is finally convinced that there is real fighting, he sends forward Gen. Taliaferro’s brigade to assist, and arrives himself with the Stonewall Brigade just as the fighting ends after darkness falls. However, it is clear to both Milroy and Schenk that their position is untenable, once the Rebels get all of their troops up to the line. They agree that they are unable to sustain the attack in the morning, and so pull their troops out by dark and retreat northward to the town of Franklin, 30 miles away. A sharp, brief fight, but enough to scare off Fremont for a time. Confederate Victory.
The Forces:
U.S. 4,000 (5,500) Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy (Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk)
C.S. 10,000 Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
Losses: Killed Wounded Missing Total
U.S. 26 230 5 261
C.S. 146 382 4 532 　
http://civilwarsesquicentdaily-wolfshield.blogspot.com/search?q=May+8%2C+1862
Thursday, May 8, 1862 — Since it is clear that the Confederates will have to abandon Norfolk, due to Joe Johnston’s retreat back to Richmond, Gen. Robert E. Lee recommends that the CSS Virginia (nee Merrimack)—unable to cross the bar at the mouth of the James River in order to help protect the capital—be anchored at the mouth of the James River so that she may use her formidable guns to prevent the U.S. Navy from steaming upstream to capture Richmond. His recommendation is not acted upon.
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D Sunday, May 8, 1864: Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia. Attacks on the Laurel Hill line, At dawn on May 8, Wesley Merritt's cavalrymen attacked Fitzhugh Lee's barricades on the Brock Road again, but were repulsed. Meade ordered Warren's V Corps to break through with infantry and the division of Brig. Gen. John C. Robinson led the way in overwhelming the cavalry obstacle. Fitzhugh Lee's horse artillery made a gallant stand around the Alsop farm and delayed the Union advance while the cavalrymen staked out a defensive line on a low ridge just south of the Spindle farm clearing, which they dubbed "Laurel Hill." Lee sent for help to Anderson's infantry, which by now had reached the Block House Bridge on the Po River and were eating breakfast. Anderson immediately dispatched two infantry brigades and an artillery battalion, which arrived at Laurel Hill just as Warren's men pulled up within 100 yards to the north.
Assuming that only cavalry blocked his path, Warren ordered an immediate attack against Laurel Hill. Multiple attacks by the divisions of the V Corps were repulsed with heavy casualties, and by noon the Union troops began building earthworks on the northern end of the Spindle clearing. Meanwhile, the Union cavalry division under James H. Wilson had reached and occupied the town of Spotsylvania Court House at 8 a.m. Wilson sent a brigade under Col. John B. McIntosh up the Brock Road with the intention of striking the Confederate position at Laurel Hill from the rear. J.E.B. Stuart had only a single cavalry regiment available to send out against McIntosh, but Anderson's infantry division under Joseph B. Kershaw was marching in that direction. With orders from Sheridan to withdraw and with Confederate infantry in hot pursuit, Wilson withdrew up the Fredericksburg Road.
Generals Meade and Sheridan had quarreled about the cavalry's performance throughout the campaign and this incident with Wilson, compounding the frustration of the uncleared Brock Road, brought Meade's notorious temper to a boil. After a heated exchange laced with expletives on both sides, Sheridan told Meade that he could "whip Stuart" if Meade let him. Meade reported the conversation to Grant, who replied, "Well, he generally knows what he is talking about. Let him start right out and do it." Meade deferred to Grant's judgment and issued orders to Sheridan to "proceed against the enemy's cavalry." Sheridan's entire command of 10,000 cavalrymen departed the following day. They engaged with (and mortally wounded) Stuart at the Battle of Yellow Tavern on May 11, threatened the outskirts of Richmond, refitted near the James River, and did not return to the army until May 24. Grant and Meade were left without cavalry resources during the critical days of the battle to come.
While Warren was unsuccessfully attacking Laurel Hill the morning of May 8, Hancock's II Corps had reached Todd's Tavern and erected defenses to the west on the Catharpin Road, protecting the rear of the army. Jubal Early, who had just replaced A.P. Hill as Third Corps commander because of his illness, decided to test the defenses and sent the division of William Mahone and some cavalry. After a short fight, Hancock's division under Francis C. Barlow withdrew back to Todd's Tavern and Early decided not to pursue.
In the afternoon, Sedgwick's VI Corps arrived near Laurel Hill and extended Warren's line to the east. By 7 p.m., both corps began a coordinated assault, but were repulsed by heavy fire. They attempted to move around Anderson's right flank, but were surprised to find that divisions from Ewell's Second Corps had arrived in that sector to repulse them again. Meade had not had a good day. He lost the race to Spotsylvania, he was dissatisfied with his cavalry, he judged Sedgwick to be "constitutionally slow," and he was most disappointed that Warren had been unsuccessful at Laurel Hill, telling him that he had "lost his nerve."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Spotsylvania_Court_House
Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia [May 8-21, 1864] Day 1: Not knowing where Grant is, Lee orders his subordinates to find out. Ewell’s scouts report that the Yankees are not crossing back over the Rapidan, so Lee’s task is to identify Grant’s intentions. Very quickly he surmises that Grant is going to strike south, to cut off the Confederates from Richmond; with this faith, Lee orders his troops on the road, south. Richard Anderson, now leading Longstreet’s Corps, leads out long before dawn.
Grant has Warren, Sedgwick, and Hancock all on the road, with Warren leading the race to the Spotsylvania Court House crossroads. Anderson’s Rebels, the First Corps, arrive at the crossroads early, and Stuart’s cavalry puts up a furious defense as a delaying action, while Anderson’s infantry digs to build earthworks. Warren finally pushes his divisions against the line, but infantry was bolstering Stuart’s troopers, and Warren could not prevail. As Hancock’s Corps passes past Todd’s Tavern, Gen. Early (now in command of the Third Corps) sends two divisions against Hancock, to try to get in the Federal rear, but Hancock’s II Corps beats off the attack.
After a dispute between Meade and Sheridan about the poor handling of the cavalry, Sheridan asks to be let go to pursue Stuart, and Meade lets him go. Soon, Sheridan and most of his 10,000 troopers are prepared to depart early on the morrow, to go “lick Stuart.”
Meade sends in Sedgwick to line up on Warren’s left, and by 7:00 PM, they are ready to move, with Sedgwick hoping to flank the Rebels. But as the two corps sweep forward, Sedgwick runs into the divisions of Johnson, Rodes, and soon Gordon, under Ewell, whose Second Corps just arrives in the nick of time to meet the Yankees. Kershaw, one of Anderson’s divisions, holds firm in the center, and the Yankees are fended off in a bloody repulse.
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LTC Stephen C. LTC Thomas Tennant MAJ Ken Landgren
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LTC Stephen F. thanks for this awesome Civil War historical perspective. I like this one:
1862: Battle of McDowell, Virginia. From Staunton, Maj. Gen. T.J. Jackson marched his army west along the Parkersburg Road to confront two brigades of Gen. John C. Frémont’s Army of Western Virginia (Brig. Gen. Robert Milroy and Brig. Gen. Robert Schenk),

Love history, LTC Stephen Ford! Thanks for sharing.