Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley was a key theater in the Civil War.  As a natural geographic highway between North and South and as a richly productive agricultural region whose bounty fed the Confederate troops, the Valley was fiercely contested throughout the war, playing an integral role in almost every major campaign fought in Virginia . More than 325 armed conflicts took place here with Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 campaign perhaps the most famous of these. As the war dragged on, the Valley assumed increasing significance for the southern cause. Union forces responded by laying waste to this region, burning its mills, farms, and towns in a devastating campaign of total warfare.

Today the Shenandoah Valley remains a vital yet vulnerable national historical resource, a place where the meaning of the Civil War comes to life through productive farms, historic roadways, and communities. Development threatens the survival and integrity of these resources. The northern Valley lies within an hour of the Washington, DC suburbs and much of the region is seeing unprecedented growth. In 1996, Congress created the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District to protect and interpret the following Civil War battlefields and related historic resources:

The Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation—authorized by the Secretary of the Interior as the non-profit manager of the District—partners with organizations and government agencies at all levels to preserve Valley battlefields and interpret and promote the Shenandoah Valley’s Civil War story for the region and the nation.