It was nothing like their early dreams of war.  Federal forces had invaded the Shenandoah Valley, and an army of Southern soldiers had been dispatched to protect their homeland.  Their objective was the Shenandoah Valley hamlet of Romney, where the Northern army was encamped - but the Valley weather, not the Yankees, proved to be the fiercest enemy.  Less than a year earlier, these sons of the South had rushed to arms, filled with romantic notions of gallantry and glory.  Now they faced the reality of life in the field.
Deep snow and bitterly cold temperatures had transformed their march into a grueling ordeal.  Reported a Confederate officer: "The road was almost an uninterrupted sheet of ice, rendering it almost impossible for a man or beast to travel, while by moonlight the beards of the men, matted with ice, glistened like crystals..."  Recalled another: "If a man had told me 12 months ago that men could stand such hardships, I would have called him a fool."
Despite the almost unbearable conditions, they persevered - led by a relentless warrior: General Thomas J "Stonewall" Jackson.  Determined to do his duty and rid the Shennandoah Valley of invaders, Jackson drove his troops forward day and night through the snow, wind and ice.  Soon, as if awed by Jackson's sheer willpower as much as the savage weather, Fedaral forces retreated without doing battle.  Left behind was a horde of supplies and weapons to be confiscated by the jubilant Confederates.  Months ahead, in the spring and summer to come, awaited greated glory: Jackson's brilliant, victorious Valley Campaign.  It too would be won by the same determination and endurance that had enabled Stonewall Jackson and his "foot cavalry" to win  the winter war.
Mort Kunstler notes: Directing the grueling march was General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, the old testament-style warrior who, by sheer force of his willpower and personality, was able to drive the men to do what was considered impossible.  The torch held by one of Jackson's aides shows the army strung out across the wintry landscape, and illustrates how far they still have to travel to reach bivouac.  This heroic struggle against the elements is what I have tried to portray in "The Winds of Winter."