Isku qor faahfaahin faahfaahsan oo faahfaahsan - Markii uu ku biiray ciidanka Confederate bishii Abriil 1861, Kennedy wuxuu noqday kabtanka Shirkadda E, 2aad South Carolina Regiment, oo uu hogaaminayo Col. Joseph Brevard Kershaw. Dagaalkii koowaad ee Manassas, waxaa ku dhacay kubad Minie ah oo si xun u dhaawacmay. Markii uu soo kabsaday, waxaa loo dalacsiiyay kornayl markii Kershaw loo dalacsiiyay brigadier general. Howlgalkii ugu horeeyay ee Kennedy uu ku hogaamiyo guuto wuxuu ka dhacay dagaal ka dhacay wadada sagaalka mayl ee u dhow Richmond, Virginia, bishii Juun 1862 intii lagu jiray Ololaha Jasiiradda. Ka dib dagaalkii saldhigga Savage
, waxa uu ahaa naafo dhowr todobaad ah sababtoo ah qandho. Waxa uu dib ugu soo laabtay gudihiisa xiligii uu ku jiray ololihii Maryland. Intii lagu guda jiray maalgashiga Stonewall Jackson ee Harpers Ferry, Kennedy wuxuu la jiray guutada Kershaw ee qabsashada Maryland Heights. Wuxuu hogaamiyay guurtidiisii weerarkii lidka ahaa ee Kershaw intii lagu jiray Dagaalkii Antietam, isagoo kaxeynaya qayb ka mid ah Union II Corps hortiisa. Si kastaba ha noqotee, wuxuu dhaawac xanuun badan ka soo gaaray weerarkii ugu horreeyay, oo lagu dhuftay cagta iyo Achilles tendon isagoo ka gudbaya xayndaab alwaax ah oo ku teedsan Hagerstown Pike. Mar kale oo uu ku soo kabsaday dagaal weyn, Kennedy wuxuu hoggaamiyay 2aad iyo 8aad South Carolina si ay u taageeraan Gen. Howell Cobb ee Marye's Heights, diiradda dagaalka ugu kulul ee Fredericksburg.