The nature of the inquiry was later changed from investigating who disobeyed orders to evacuate Winchester, to the discovery of the events and nature of the retreat from Winchester. Milroy was exonerated and claimed that his brilliant defensive action at Winchester was instrumental in causing the timing of the Battle of Gettysburg, leading to the overall Union victory for the campaign. Despite this, Halleck insisted that Milroy not be given any more commands.

Contribution to Lee's Gettysburg campaign

The victory at Second Winchester cleared the Valley of Federal troops and opened the door for Lee's second invasion of the North. The capturing of ample supplies justified Lee's conceptual plan to provision his army on the march. The Federal defeat stunned the North, and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton called for additional militia to be federalized. Shortly afterwards, President Lincoln requested 100,000 volunteers to repel the threatened invasion. Several fleeing members of the scattered 87th Pennsylvania hastily tramped back to their homes near Gettysburg and in adjoining York County, Pennsylvania, spreading news to local officials that the Confederates were now in the Valley in strength, with apparent designs on invading Pennsylvania. Gov. Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania, in response to these reports and other military intelligence, called for 50,000 volunteers to protect the Keystone State.

Ewell's followup

Immediately following the battle, Ewell dispatched the entire Corps cavalry brigade under Jenkins on a raid to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to forage and reconnoiter. Ewell placed his Second Corps Headquarters about 3 miles north of Winchester and then at Mr. Boyd's house near Bunker's Hill. The captured flag of Fort Milroy was used to create a new Confederate flag, and Ewell and Early attended a christening ceremony in which the new flag was hosted, and the fort officially renamed "Fort Jackson" in honor of the recently slain former Second Corps commander. Topographer Jedediah Hotchkiss then commenced an all day survey,

References

;Books on the Second Battle of Winchester

  • Beach, William H. <cite>The First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry: From April 19, 1861 to July 7, 1865</cite>. New York: The Lincoln Cavalry Association, 1902.
  • Grunder, Charles S. and Beck, Brandon H. <cite>The Second Battle of Winchester (2nd Edition)</cite>. Lynchburg, VA: H.E. Howard, Inc., 1989.
  • Grunder, Charles S. and Beck, Brandon H. <cite>The Three Battles of Winchester: A History and Guided Tour (2nd ed.)</cite>. Berryville, VA: The Civil War Foundation, Inc., 1997.
  • Maier, Larry B. <cite>Gateway to Gettysburg: The Second Battle of Winchester</cite>. Burd Street Press: Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, 2002.

;Winchester Civil War books and diaries

  • Mahon, Michael G., Ed. <cite>Winchester Divided: The Civil War Diaries of Julia Chase & Laura Lee</cite>. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002.
  • Noyalas, Jonathan A. <cite>Plagued by War: Winchester, Virginia During the Civil War</cite>. Leesburg, VA: Gauley Mount Press, 2003.

;Handley Regional Library, Winchester, Virginia

;General

  • Early, Lt. Gen. Jubal A. <cite>Autobiographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States. With Notes by R.H. Early</cite>. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1912.
  • Eicher, David J., The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War, Simon & Schuster, 2001, .
  • Hotchkiss, Jedediah, (McDonald, Archie, Ed.) Make Me a Map Of the Valley: The Civil War Journal of Stonewall Jackson's Topographer, Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, 1973.
  • Kennedy, Frances H., Ed., The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, .

Further reading

  • Wittenberg, Eric J., and Scott L. Mingus, Sr. The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory that Opened the Door to Gettysburg. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2016. .
  • Ewell's Official Report
  • Official Records: Return of Casualties in the Union forces at Winchester, Va., June 13–15, 1863.
  • National Park Service Battle Summary
  • CWSAC Report Update
  • The Second Battle of Winchester – Extracted from The Reminiscences of Lorenzo D. Barnhart, Company B, 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry