jackson's valley campaign, also known as the 1862 shenandoah valley campaign, was a campaign conducted in virginia's shenandoah valley in the spring of 1862 during the american civil war. it was led by a relatively unknown confederate general, thomas j. "stonewall" jackson. his success in this campaign made him one of the most famous southern generals. jackson marched his army up and down the shenandoah valley for ten weeks. during that time, his army fought in five battles, winning four of them. he defeated three different union armies. his movements tied down 70,000 union soldiers, a force four times larger than his own. these soldiers were needed by union general george b. mcclellan for his peninsula campaign. jackson's brilliant valley campaign is ranked among the great masterpieces of military strategy. jackson's campaign is still studied at the united states military academy at west point.