Beginning on April 5 and continuing for approximately one month, an important siege took place at Yorktown. After a line of fortifications had been erected across the Peninsula from the Warwick River to Yorktown by the Confederate Commander John B. Magruder, General Joseph E. Johnston entrenched his army here. Union General George B. McClellan coming from Fort Monroe besieged the area for weeks and finally mounted his large size guns. With this action, Johnston withdrew since he was not equipped for such heavy fighting. As General Johnston's forces were retreating from Yorktown, they met an advance section of McClellan's army about one mile east of Williamsburg. Johnston was forced to fight at this time because he did not want them to capture his wagon train. Both armies fought valiantly, and neither side could get the advantage of the other. When night came, after a rainy day of fighting, Johnston retreated westward toward Richmond under cover of darkness. Two days later, Union General W. B. Franklin attempted to intercept Johnson on his retreat toward Richmond by landing just south of West Point on the eastern bank of the York River. However, General G. W. Smith came to Johnston's rescue and successfully drove Franklin forces back to the York River in order that Johnston could continue on his way to Richmond. On May 8, 1862, "Stonewall" Jackson decided to prevent two Union generals, John C. Fremont and Nathaniel P. Banks, from combining their forces. He selected a position on a mountain top near McDowell, a village in Highland County. When Fremont's troops arrived under the leadership of General R. H. Milroy, they rushed up the sides of the mountain, only to be attacked by the Confederate forces under Jackson and driven back to a retreating position. On May 23, Jackson successfully captured the town of Front Royal located in Warren County--an important area which had been held by Union forces under General Banks. This was a great blow to Banks as well as to his troops who rapidly retreated to Winchester. A unique feature of this battle was that among the opposing forces was the First Maryland Regiment, U. S. A. being attacked by the First Maryland Regiment, C. S. A. (Confederate States of America). Two days later, Jackson rushed Banks at Winchester and surprised his troops to such an extent that they were routed from the town and driven across the Potomac in panic. Jackson who had been ordered by Lee to strike at Banks unexpectedly and to create the impression that it would be utterly impossible for him to converge with Fremont had carefully and painstakingly carried out such an order. Jackson is considered by many as second in military stature only to Lee himself.