Betty --

The most likely source for current events during the war would have been newspapers. If you can tell me where the girl lived (town or county), I can tell you what newspapers she might have been reading.

Bradley Schmehl had made a series of paintings on the theme of Jackson's Valley Campaign. Of all the campaigns during the four years of war, this has to be one of the best known. It's been studied by historians and cadets at military schools across the globe as it demonstrates how a small, well-led and mobile force may defeat several larger ones sent against it.

The girl seems to be describing the Battle of Cross Keys, in which Jackson defeated the forces of Fremont and Shields, one after the other. Jackson's men routed Banks at Front Royal and Winchester three weeks earlier.

Titled "Jackson and His Disciples", the painting shown below depicts Jackson at Cross Keys, Va., June 14, 1862. We see the Confederate leader observing the Rockbridge (Va.) Artillery during the fighting. The minister who served as captain of the Rockbridge Artillery named his four brass Napoleon cannon for the first four books of the New Testament -- Mathew, Mark, Luke and John. In this painting, we see the gospel being preached to the Yankees.