of a cavalry force being surprised as it was by Pleasonton. The battle established the emerging reputation of the Union cavalry as a peer of the Confederate mounted arm. Winchester After Brandy Station, a variety of Union sources reported the presence of Confederate infantry at Culpeper and Brandy Station. Hooker did not immediately act on this information. The day after the battle, Ewell's Corps began marching toward the Shenandoah Valley. Lee intended Ewell to clear the valley of Federal forces while Longstreet's Corps marched east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A.P. Hill would then march his corps through the valley as well. On June 12, the leading elements of Lee's army were passing through the Chester Gap. At the same time, Hooker still believed that Lee's army was positioned on the west bank of the Rappahannock, between Fredericksburg and Culpeper and that it outnumbered his own. Hooker had proposed to march on Richmond after the battle at Brandy Station, but Lincoln had replied that "Lee's army, not Richmond, is your true objective." Meanwhile, Ewell's Corps was passing Front Royal and approaching Winchester. The Union garrison was commanded by Major General Robert H. Milroy and consisted of 6,900 troops posted in Winchester itself and a detachment of 1,800 men east in Berryville, Virginia. The Union defenses consisted of three forts on high ground just outside the town. Milroy's tenure at Winchester had been marked by incivility toward the civilian population, who resented his oppressive rule, and the Confederate troops were eager to destroy his force. General-in-chief Henry Halleck did not want any Union force stationed in Winchester beyond what was necessary as an outpost to monitor Confederate movement and repeatedly ordered Milroy's superior, Maj. Gen. Robert C. Schenck of the Middle Department, to withdraw the surplus force to Harpers Ferry. Schenck, however, did not comply and, unaware that Lee's infantry were approaching, did not issue any orders for Milroy to withdraw immediately from Winchester before June 13. By then, Milroy's position was in extreme danger from a superior Confederate force. Ewell planned to defeat the Union garrison by sending Allegheny Johnson and Jubal Early's divisions directly to Winchester while Rodes' division maneuvered east to defeat the Union detachment at Berryville and wheel north toward Martinsburg. These movements effectively surrounded the Federal garrison by 23,000 Confederate troops. On the 13th, Milroy's telegraph connection with Harpers Ferry and Washington was cut by Ewell's