BATTLE OF WINCHESTER.

365 line (which seemed to be the only vulnerable points, for the right was too strongly posted to be moved by assault), the Nationals had to go through the narrow pass among wooded hills already mentioned. This was undertaken at ten o'clock, first by Ricketts's division of the Sixth Corps, followed by Grover's of the Nineteenth. These pressed forward vigorously over the rough country, in the face of a terrible storm of shells, and charging Early's center furiously, carried his first line, and inflicted upon him the loss of the gallant General Rodes, who was killed. Early quickly hurled upon the assailing columns two of his most powerful divisions, hoping to succeed in his plan of breaking the line and seizing the pass. The Nationals were thrown back in great disor der, and with heavy loss, the confusion and the bereavement being greatly increased by a heavy fire on their flank, as they reeled toward the pass from which they had emerged, and which the victors were striving to reach first. It seemed, for a moment, as if the day was lost to the Nationals, when Captain Rigby, with a sergeant and twelve men of the Twenty-fourth Iowa, on reaching a designated rallying point, turned and faced the pursuers. In the

space of a few minutes, scores of brave men were added to their number. At the same time, Grover ordered two guns of the First Maine Battery, Captain Bradbury, to a position in a gap. These opened upon the Confederates, who were pressing forward to seize them, and at the same moment the enemy received a volley in their rear from the One Hundred and Thirty-first New York, which Emory had rallied and placed in a projecting wood. This caused the Confederates to recoil, when the new-forming line poured upon them a shower of musketry that sent them flying back to their lines. This was followed by a rapid rallying of the broken columns, and re-forming of

366

BATTLE OF FISHER'S HILL.

the National line, with Crook on the right, flanked by the cavalry of Merritt and Averill. This second line speedily advanced. Desperate fighting ensued, and continued until about four o'clock in the afternoon, when a loud shout was heard from beyond the woods on the Union right. It was from Crook's (Eighth) corps-the Army of Western Virginia-who, with Torbert's cavalry, pressed forward in the face of a murderous fire, and charged heavily upon Early's left. At the same time there was a general charge upon the Confederate center by the infantry, and by Wilson's cavalry on Early's right, driving the Confederates back from the open space in front of Winchester to the fortified heights. Before five o'clock the latter were carried, and Early's broken and confused columns were "whirling through

Winchester" in full retreat, their faces turned toward Strasburg. They left behind them two thousand five hundred of their comrades as prisoners, with nine battle-flags and five pieces of artillery. The fugitives were followed until dark, when the pursuit ceased, and thus ended THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. Sheridan made his head-quarters that night at the spacious brick house of Lloyd Logan, in Winchester,' where he wrote a hasty dispatch to the Secretary of War, saying: "We have just sent the whirlenemy ing through Winchester, and are after them to-morrow. We captured two thousand five hundred prisoners, five pieces of artillery, nine battle-flags, and all the rebel dead and wounded.2 Their wounded in Winchester amount to some three thousand." Early did not halt until he reached the very strong position of Fisher's Hill, beyond Strasburg, about twenty miles south of Winchester.

Sept., 1864.

Sheridan kept his promise to be after the retreating Confederates, and he appeared in front of Fisher's Hill on the 22d" in full force. There Early was intrenched, with his left resting on the adjacent North Mountain. Sheridan made immediate preparation for a direct attack, and sent Torbert with two divisions of cavalry by way of the Luray Valley to seize New Market, thirty miles in Early's rear. IIe sent the Eighth Corps around to gain the left and rear of the position, and then advanced the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps against the left and front. There was much maneuvering in efforts to force the position, and it was four o'clock in the afternoon before a general attack was made. Then, under cover of a cavalry

1 This fine mansion stood on the corner of Braddock and Piccadilly Streets, in Winchester.

2 It was estimated that Early lost about 1,000 men, besides the prisoners. Among his killed were Generals Rodes and Godwin. Sheridan's loss was about 3,000.

This was considered the strongest defensive position in the valley. Fisher's Hill is a high eminencebetween the Massanutten and North Mountain ranges. The former rises abruptly from the general level near Strasburg, and extends almost to Harrisonburg, a distance of full forty miles, where the range as abruptly terminates. This mountain divides the Shenandoah Valley, one fork being called the Luray Valley, between the Massanutten and the Blue Ridge, and the other the Strasburg Valley, between the Massanutten and the North Mountain. At the mouth of this valley lies Fisher's Hill, its base washed by one branch of the Shenandoah River.

RAVAGES IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

367

attack, an impetuous assault was made on Early's left, which drove that part of his line from the North Mountain. At the same time his whole front was broken by a general attack, when his entire force retreated in much disorder, and fled swiftly up the valley, leaving behind them sixteen guns and over a thousand prisoners. So ended, in a complete victory for Sheridan, THE BATTLE OF FISHER'S HILL. Meanwhile Torbert and his horsemen had been held in check at Milford, in the Luray Valley, by a cavalry force under General Wickham, who had fought Wilson at Front Royal the Sept. 21, previous day. This check doubtless saved Early's army from total destruction by capture or dispersion.

1864.

Sheridan followed the Confederates sharply, chasing them with horse and foot to Port Republic,' where he destroyed Early's train of seventy-five wagons. Thence he sent his cavalry in pursuit as far as Staunton, where the remnant of Early's army sought and found shelter in the passes of the Blue Ridge. At Staunton the Nationals destroyed a large amount of army supplies, and passing on to Waynesborough, they laid waste the Virginia Central railway, and burned a large Confederate tannery. The cavalry was then recalled, and Sheridan with his whole army went down the Shenandoah Valley, executing on the way an order given by Grant to Hunter, to see to it that "nothing should be left to invite the enemy to return."" He soon placed his forces behind

1 See page 399, Volume II.

October 7,

2 Grant directed Hunter, whom Sheridan succeeded, to "take all provisions, forage, and stock," wanted for the use of his command, when he should move up the valley, and to destroy what he could not consume; "for," he said, "it is desirable that nothing should be left to invite the enemy to return." He enjoined him not to burn, but rather to protect the buildings. He was to inform the people that so long as an army could subsist among them, raids like Early's must be expected, and that the Government was determined to put a stop to them. This order Sheridan executed to the fullest extent, and he reported from Woodstock, thirty miles south of Winchester, saying: "In moving back to this point, the whole country, from the Blue Ridge to the North Mountain, has been made untenable for a rebel army. I have destroyed over 2,000 barns, filled with wheat, hay, and farming implements, and over 70 mills filled with flour and wheat; have driven in front of this army over 4,000 head of stock, and have killed and issued to the troops not less than 8,000 sheep." He also reported that since he entered the valley from Harper's Ferry, "every train, every small party, and every straggler, had been bushwhacked by the people, many of whom have protection papers." Lieutenant Meigs, his engineer officer, was thus murdered near Dayton. "For this atrocious act," says Sheridan, "all the houses within an area of five miles were burned."

Because of these devastations, a Richmond paper, echoing the sentiments of the chief Conspirators at that capital, proposed an atrocious scheme of retaliation. It was nothing less than the destruction of Northern cities by secret hired incendiaries. It was proposed to pay liberally for the service. "A million of dollars," said the Richmond Whig, "would lay in ashes New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Pittsburg, Washington, and all their chief cities, and the men to do the business may be picked up by the hundred in the streets of those very cities. If it should be thought unsafe to use them, there are daring men in Canada, of Morgan's and other commands, who have escaped from Yankee dungeons, and would rejoice at an opportunity of doing something that would make all Yankeedom howl with anguish and consternation." The enterprise was actually undertaken, and on the night of the 25th of November, 1864, an attempt was made to destroy New York City. Barnum's Museum, several hotels, and one or two theaters, were fired in the evening, by a combustible compound left by secret emissaries of the public enemies. Jacob Thompson, one of the conspirators, then in Canada (see page 45, volume I.), appears to have had the incendiary business in charge, and to have been engaged, in connection with those at Richmond, in the iniquitous scheme long before Sheridan's operations. So early as the beginning of August, he wrote to the Confederate "Secretary of War," saying the work would not probably begin before the middle of August.-[See A Rebel War Clerk's Diary, ii., 260.] The Richmond journals, impatient because the work had not been begun sooner, and stirred by Sheridan's operations, spoke out without reserve, as we have seen in the above extract.

368

EVENTS AT CEDAR CREEK.

Cedar Creek, about half way between Middletown and Strasburg, and made his head-quarters near, at the fine mansion of Benjamin B. Cooley.

Early rallied his troops, and his cavalry, under Rosser, hung upon Sheridan's rear as he moved down the valley. At length the latter ordered Torbert with his cavalry to turn upon Rosser. It was done." At the first charge the Confederates broke and fled, leaving behind them over three hundred prisoners, a dozen guns, and nearly fifty wagons. 1864. They were chased twenty-six miles. Three days later Early

• Oct. 9,

attempted to surprise Sheridan, who had halted near Fisher's Hill, when the Confederates were so severely chastised that it was supposed they would remain quiet for some time. With that impression Sheridan went to Wash ington on official business, leaving General Wright in temporary command of the army.

The Nationals were so strongly posted on the cast side of Cedar Creek, that they had no expectation of being attacked by any force known to be in the valley. They were upon three ridges. Crook's division was in front; Emory's was half a mile behind it; and Wright's, then under the temporary command of Ricketts, with Torbert's cavalry on its right flank, was to the

right and rear of Emory. Kitching's division lay behind Crook's left. The cavalry divisions of Merritt and Custer were thrown out to guard the right, and Averill's (then under Powell) picketed the north fork of the Shenandoah from Cedar Creek to Front Royal.

Strong as was this line and its position, it was soon broken and imperiled by Early, who felt keenly the humiliation to which Sheridan had subjected him. Having been re-enforced by Kershaw's division and six hundred

1 This is a view of Cedar Creek, within the lines of Sheridan's army, near the house and mill of Mr. Stickley, on the right side of the stream. The high hill in the distance was called the Shenandoah Peak, at the northern extremity of the Massanutten Mountain. On the hills between the creek and that mountain, the earth-works of the Nationals were plainly seen, when the writer made the sketch, in October, 1866.

BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK.

369

• Oct. 19,

cavalry from Lee's army before Petersburg, he determined to make a bold movement, swiftly and stealthily, against the authors of his misfortunes, to retrieve the loss of his reputation. For this purpose he gathered his forces at Fisher's Hill, and in secresy, behind a mask of woods, he formed them in two columns, for the purpose of making a simultaneous attack upon both flanks of the Nationals. He moved soon after midnight, in October, almost noiselessly along rugged paths that stretched over 1864. steep wooded hills, with horse, foot, and artillery, not daring to take the highway for fear of discovery. The divisions of Gordon, Ramseur, and Pegram, forming his right column, thus crept softly toward the National left along the line of the Manassas Gap railway. They twice forded the north fork of the Shenandoah, the last time at a point a little east of the mouth of Cedar Creek, when they turned in the direction of Sheridan's army. Early's left, composed of the divisions of Kershaw and Wharton, moved with equal caution toward the National right.

Oct. 19.

At two o'clock in the morning," General Crook was made vigilant by reports of mysterious sounds like the dull heavy tramp of a multitude of men moving cautiously, but he could obtain no positive information of the near proximity of an enemy. The rest of the army slumbered on in fancied security, while the Confederates, concealed by a dense fog that arose before dawn, reached their appointed places without being discovered. At the early morning twilight the order for attack was given, when the rattle of musketry on right, left, and rear, and the ringing battle-shout, summoned the Nationals from repose and to arms. But before they could take position in the trenches, the assailants, who had captured the pickets, were there. So furious and successful was their assault, that in the space of fifteen minutes Crook's corps was broken into fragments, and sent flying in wild disorder back upon the other corps, leaving seven hundred men as prisoners in the hands of the Confederates, with many cannon, small-arms, and munitions of war as spoils. Emory vainly tried to stop the fugitives, and keep his own line intact. Assailed in front, flank, and rear, and having one-third of the brigade of McMillen (which he had thrown forward to check the fierce torrent of the victors until the Sixth Corps could come up) killed or wounded, he, too, was compelled to give way, and leave several guns behind. These, with Crook's lost pieces, eighteen in all, were turned upon the fugitives with fearful effect, while Early's right column, led by Gordon, continued their flanking advance with vigor, turning the Nationals out of every position where they attempted to make a stand, and trying to wedge in between the corps so as to split the Union army. At the same time Kershaw and Wharton were fearfully pressing the National right. Perceiving the peril that threatened the whole army, Wright ordered a general retreat, which the Sixth Corps, yet in good order, covered with great skill. So ended THE BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK.

The whole army fell back to Middletown, a little village five miles north of Strasburg, the forces all tending in their route toward a concentration on the turnpike from which they had been pushed. At that town Wright rallied the broken columns, but there was yet too much disorder to give hope of the formation of a strong line, so he fell back a mile or so further, and left Early in possession of Middletown. There the Confederates stopped to VOL. III.-102