So vainly shall Virginia set her battle in array; In vain her trampling squadrons knead the winter snows with clay. She may strike the pouncing eagle, but she dares not harm the dove; And every gate she bars to Hate shall open wide to Love. --Whittler. Lee captured Harper's Ferry with eleven thousand men, seventy- three heavy guns and thirteen thousand small arms. After he beat Hooker at Chancelorsville this valley was his route of invasion. After the battle of Gettysburg he fell back and pitched his camp here. In fact, it witnessed so many captures and defeats that it was known as the "Valley of Humiliation." It had to be wrested from the enemy before the Richmond Campaign could be carried out. General J. F. Johnston, commander of the forces known as the Army of the Shenandoah, was stationed at the outlet of the valley. Jackson, too, began his campaign in 1862. Being checked by Shields, he fell upon Fort Republic, defeated Fremont at Cross Keys, captured the garrison at Front Royal, drove Banks across the Potomac and alarmed Washington by breaking up the junction of McDowell's and McClellan's forces which threatened the capture of Richmond. Our campaign in search of beauty was a brilliant success, and from many points of vantage did we spy upon the vast expanse of golden grain and fresh green meadows in which cattle were grazing, or ruminating in the shade of friendly elms. Here gush clear springs, whose courses may be traced by tall waving ferns and creeping vines that weave their spell of green. Swift tumbling brooks have worn down the soil and enriched the valley. This valley was called the "Granary of the Confederacy" and a granary it really was, "for it was rich not only in grain but an abundance of fruit and live stock; and what more would the North want for the support of its army? It was in the possession of the Confederates; much wanted by the Federals, and in time came to be a great campaign ground of both armies"--the Belgium of America. What thrilling marching and counter-marching the lower valley might tell! What a history those villages must have had from 1861 to 1865! Perhaps at dawn they sheltered an army of "Yanks," at noon they may have been swarming with men from the South, while night, with her ever-watchful stars, looked down and saw them sleeping beneath the Stars and Stripes! In fact, it was traversed so often that the men from both armies called it, the "Race Course." So many were their journeys over the famous "Valley Pike" that they knew the various springs, houses, and in many instances, the citizens who lived there.