famous Valley ride was
halted for a time.

There are interesting landmarks remaining in the town today which have
witnessed the pageant of history, among the most pretentious being
"Aventine." This home originally occupied the present site of the
Mymslyn Hotel.

Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign

Too much space must not be consumed in this book in presenting the facts
regarding Jackson's Valley Campaign. We feel justified in devoting more
than a comment to this notable feat of war, however, for some of the
heaviest fighting of the four years' conflict took place on the land you
may see in driving over the Valley Pike and along the Skyline Drive.

At the outbreak of hostilities in the War Between the States Thomas
Jackson left the chair of higher mathematics at the Virginia Military
Institute and volunteered his services in the Virginia army. Educated at
West Point and trained during the Mexican War he was a welcome addition
to the Confederate forces, although no one anticipated the conspicuous
role he would play in the subsequent events. At the early battle of
First Manassas he earned the name of "Stonewall" because of his quiet,
dignified and unafraid manner in the face of danger.

Lt. Col. C. F. R. Henderson's invaluable two volumes, _Stonewall Jackson
and the American Civil War_, were consulted and are the source quoted
hereafter in giving the account of the Valley warfare. The First Brigade
of the Virginia army was recruited from the Valley and participated
under Jackson in the first battle of Manassas and for a long period of
time thereafter.

"No better material for soldiers ever existed," said Henderson,
"than the men of the Valley. Most of them were of Scotch-Irish
descent, but from the more northern counties came many of
English blood, and from those in the center of Swiss and
German. But whatever their origin, they were thoroughly well
qualified for their new trade. All classes mingled in the
ranks, and all ages; the heirs of the oldest families, and the
humblest of the sons of toil; boys whom it was impossible to
keep in school, and men whose white beards hung below their
cross belts; youths who had been reared in luxury, and rough
hunters from their lonely cabins. They were a mountain people,
nurtured in a wholesome climate bred to manly sports, and
hardened by the free life of the field and forest. To social
distinctions