Roanoke Civil War Round Table Presents Michael Block on “The Carnage Was Fearful: The Battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862”

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Kevin C. Donovan

Gettysburg Sentinel

The Carnage Was Fearful: The Battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862

A Presentation by Michael Block

In early August 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson took the field with his Army of the Valley for one last fight – one that would also turn out to be his last independent command.

Near the base of Cedar Mountain, in the midst of a blistering heat wave, outnumbered Federal infantry under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks attacked Jackson’s army as it marched toward Culpeper Court House. A violent three-hour battle erupted, yielding more than 3,600 casualties.

“The carnage was fearful,” one observer wrote.

The unexpected Federal aggressiveness nearly won the day. Jackson, attempting to rally his men, drew his sword – only to find it rusted, it would not come unsheathed. “Jackson is with you!” he cried, brandishing the sword still in its scabbard.

The tide of battle turned – and the resulting victory added to Stonewall’s mystique.

Civil War history typically breezes by the battle of Cedar Mountain, moving quickly from the Seven Days’ Battles into the Second Bull Run Campaign, but the stand-alone battle at Cedar Mountain had major implications. It saw the emergence of Federal cavalry as an effective intelligence collector and screening force. It also provided Confederate Maj. Gen. A. P. Hill’s first opportunity to save the day – and his first opportunity to raise Jackson’s ire. Within the Federal Army, the aftermath of battle escalated the in-fighting among generals and led to recriminations and finger-pointing over why the battle was ever fought.

Some called it outright murder.

Most importantly, the Federal defeat at Cedar Mountain halted an advance into central Virginia and provided the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Gen. Robert E. Lee, an opportunity to take the fight away from Richmond and toward Washington.

To explore this underappreciated but crucial battle, on Tuesday, April 8, the Roanoke Civil War Round Table—winner of a 2024 Kegley Award for Heritage Education [see https://roanokepreservation.org/preservation-awards/]—hosts author and public historian Michael Block.

For over a decade, Michael Block has been deeply involved in developing interpretation for the Cedar Mountain battlefield, one of the most interesting and historically neglected battlefields in the country. The Carnage Was Fearful presents the battle with the full boots-on-the-ground insight Mike has earned while walking the ground and bringing its story to life.

Becoming a public historian, Mike has developed and led battlefield tours and lectured for over two decades, focusing on the stirring events in Culpeper, Orange and Fauquier Counties. Mike, a 20-year Air Force veteran, also developed and led Civil War Staff Rides at Gettysburg for a government agency, focusing on the intelligence and geospatial information available to the wartime participants.

In January 2022, his first book, “The Carnage Was Fearful: The Battle of Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862” was published by Savas Beatie. Mike also has published in Blue & Gray Magazine, Hallowed Ground, and North and South Magazine. He is a guest blogger for Emerging Civil War [https://emergingcivilwar.com] and has appeared in numerous podcasts. His next project, a full study of the Cedar Mountain Campaign, is in work. (Also book projects on the Battle of Rappahannock Station and Kelly’s Ford are in the wings.)

Mike is on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Wilderness and a past board member of both the Brandy Station Foundation and the Cedar Mountain Foundation and served on the Culpeper and Fauquier Counties Civil War Sesquicentennial Committees. Mike is a tour guide for Battlefield Tours of Virginia.

Date, Time & Location: Tuesday, March 11 (7:00 pm). Chapel of the Residents’ Center at Friendship, 397 Hershberger Road, Roanoke, VA, 24012. Admission is free (but becoming a Round Table member welcome).