Of course, this move of McClellan's having made Johnston's position at Centerville untenable, he withdrew his army and marched to Richmond, so as to confront McClellan on his arrival.
The day finally arrived when McClellan was to make the attack that was to result in the overthrow of the Confederacy.
While this was going on, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston (who commanded the Confederate forces) was busy strengthening his position and preparing his army for the coming struggle.
Jackson had in the meantime distinguished himself in the valley by routing three armies, each larger than his own, that had been sent out to capture him. Having defeated these armies, he fell back beyond Harrisonburg, and then quietly slipped out of the valley, crossed the Blue Ridge mountains, and made a rapid march toward Richmond.
Instead of uniting his forces with those of Johnston, he moved his army to a point toward McClellan's rear, and at once began an attack which, combined with Johnston's attack in the front, resulted in a disastrous retreat of the Northern army.
Johnston was severely wounded during the first days of the battle, which lasted seven days, and Gen. Robert E. Lee assumed command of the army now known as the army of Northern Virginia, and held the position to the end of the war. Lee also became commander-in-chief of all the Confederate armies.
When McClellan fully realized that it was Jackson's army from the valley that "was goring his side like the horns of an angry bull," it is said that the scene at his headquarters was intensely dramatic. From information received from Washington, McClellan had every reason to believe that Jackson and his entire army were either prisoners or cooped up somewhere in the valley north of Harrisonburg, but as the sound of Jackson's guns grew louder and nearer, and couriers with panting steeds came dashing in confirming the truth, he was forced to believe that the noise was Jackson's "cannon's opening roar." "Then there was hurrying to and fro and mounting in hot haste." Never did human brain work quicker than did McClellan's when he realized his position. Who but a Napoleon could provide so quickly for such an emergency? The masterly manner in which McClellan changed his base and saved his army, with three such strategists as Jackson, Lee and Johnston to reckon with, showed military skill of the highest order.
Someone in conversation with Gen. Lee after the war asked who was the greatest soldier on the side of the North. Lee replied, "McClellan, by all odds." The fact is, the Government at Washington never gave McClellan a fair chance. Gen. Lee came to Richmond from West Virginia, where his campaign had been a failure, and was elevated at once to the most important post in the Confederate army, while McClellan was humiliated by being relieved of his command just at a time when he was prepared by experience to put into use his great talent. History is bound to record him a place among the famous generals.
The battle lasted seven full days. The Confederate victory was complete. Millions of dollars' worth of supplies were captured or destroyed, and McClellan was compelled to beat a hasty retreat to Washington to defend the city.
The spoils of this battle that fell into the hands of the Confederates were 10,000 prisoners, 35,000 rifles, 55 cannon, ammunition, provision stores of every kind, almost beyond computation. The losses of the two armies in killed and wounded were nearly equal—about 10,000 each.