Today in Guard History

March 23, 1862

Kernstown, Virginia — Confederate forces attacking under the command of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson are repelled by a Union army in this central Shenandoah Valley battle. This will be Jackson's only defeat as he goes on the offensive up and down the Valley in the coming spring. He repeatedly defeats larger federal armies, with his troops often showing up unexpectedly. Nicknamed "Jackson's Foot Cavalry" his army, composed mostly of Virginia regiments drawn from the Valley, make rapid forced marches thought impossible by their opponents. Jackson, a West Point graduate, was a professor at the Virginia Military Institute, with the rank of major when the war broke out in 1861. The heritage of these units is today carried by the 116th Infantry (VA), the "Stonewall Brigade", 29th Infantry Division (Light).

--National Guard Bureau