Confederate general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson once famously said that
if the Confederacy lost the Shenandoah Valley,
it lost Virginia, and if it lost Virginia, it lost the war. In the spring
of 1862, Jackson defended his theory, taking his foot cavalry up and
down the Valley, fighting six major battles and defeating three Union
commanders. From McDowell to Harper's Ferry and everywhere in between,
Jackson and his men left their mark on the region and the war. Two years
later, the Valley was back in the crosshairs, as Confederate general
Jubal Early's southerners faced off with forces under the energetic
Union general Philip Sheridan.
Threat: Running the entire length of the Valley, I-81 is a major transit artery through western Virginia that operates near peak capacity. A proposal to widen the highway could affect 11 major Civil War battlefields, and destroy hundreds of acres. Improvements to the interchange of I-81 and I-66 will further infringe on the already beleaguered Cedar Creek battlefield. CWPT is part of a network of organizations and individuals exploring alternatives for highway improvement beyond simply adding more lanes, including a rail option. A rail solution could reduce truck traffic on the road, which currently accounts for 30 to 40 percent of daily usage.
Another aspect of the road improvement plan is a bypass around Harrisonburg, which would affect the battlefields at Cross Keys and Port Republic. Meanwhile, an expanding hospital complex in that city has all but consumed the Harrisonburg battlefield. In addition, mining operations at Port Republic, if expanded, could further damage that site's integrity.
There is no comprehensive CWSAC priority classification for the Shenandoah Valley battlegrounds. The Valley battlefields range from Priority I to Priority IV sites.
