The threat that detached elements of the federal army, some in the Shenandoah Valley and some between the Shenandoah Valley and Richmond might coordinate with McClellan and overwhelm the defenders was clear to Robert E Lee who conceived a plan to be executed by Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley that would change the course of the war and in doing so he found a kindred warrior of virtually identical strategic comprehension who, as Lee would later write in eulogy for Jackson, "as straight as the needle to the pole, he went to the effectuation of my purpose."
Lee's purpose was one with Jackson's and is expressed in Lee's order to Jackson:
"Whatever movement you make against Banks, do it speedily, and if successful, drive him towards the Potomac, and create the impression as far as practicable that you design threatening that line."
In other words, threaten Washington and prevent the federal forces uniting in an attack against the out numbered Confederates defending Richmond. How Jackson might accomplish this was left to his genius.
