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VERMONT BRIGADE 
 
 SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 
 
 18 6 4. 
 
 // 
 
 BV ALDACE F. WALKER. 
 
 BURLl>-aTON, VT. 
 
 •JHE FREE PRESS ASSOCIATION. 
 
 1869. 
 
u 
 
 J 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 IXTRODUCTION. 
 
 I- PnELIMINAHY. 
 
 II. FoET Stevens. 
 
 III. Snicker's Gap. 
 
 IV. Haeper's Ferry. 
 V. Sheridan. 
 
 VI. To Strasburg and Back. 
 
 VII. C'HABLESTOWN. 
 
 VUI. Camp Life and an Episode. 
 
 IX. Opequan. 
 
 X. Fisher's Hill. 
 
 XI. A Month of C^nrpAi.iNiNy. 
 
 XII. Cedar Creek. 
 
 XIII. ClINcLI'SION. 
 
^ 
 
 1 
 
fl 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ]']VER since the term'nation of the late war for the Uuion, so 
 lionorable in its oViject, and so successful in its result, the citi- 
 zens and citizen-soldiers of Vermont have hoped and expected 
 that some one, among the manj- who are in every way com- 
 petent for such a task, would gratify her people with a pub- 
 lished record of the history of her regiments. It is a debt 
 which they owe to the patriotism and self-sacrifice of their 
 native State. Her boundaries are narrow, and tlie number of 
 organizations which slie maintained in tlie field was compara- 
 tively small — seventeen regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, 
 tliree batteries of light artillery and three companies of sharp- 
 shooters, comprised the whole ; but as these, with the exception 
 of one three-months' regiment and five of nine-months' men, 
 vv'ere constantly replenished with recruits, the luimber of enlist- 
 ments was very large in proportion to the number of commands, 
 reaching a total of thirty-four thousand two hundred and thirty- 
 eight men. The admirable series of Annual Reports prepared 
 by our efficient Adjutant and Inspector-General, Peter T. Wash- 
 burn, contain a wonderfully pains-taking and accurate resume 
 cf the bare facts of the military life, the date of enlistment and 
 
vm INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of discharge, tlie promotion«, wounds, imprisonment, or deatJi, 
 of each one of those thirty-four thousand two hundred and 
 thirty-eiglit, save only seventy-five, not finally accounted for. 
 We may well be proud of those Reports, which have not been 
 equalled in any State, though it is to be feared that our Com- 
 monwealtli may, at some time, regret the too frugal distribution 
 of them, for which our economical legislatures from year to 
 year provided. 
 
 These Report-^, in addition to the marvellously exact rfgi- 
 mcutal rosters ju.-t uieniioned, contain also official reports of 
 most of the actions in which Vermont troops were engaged, fur- 
 nished by the various commanding officers, and a clear, thougii 
 concise, history of their operations during each year, prepnrt'd 
 by the Adjutant-General himself 
 
 But these official records, valuable as they are, compriee but 
 a trifling jjart of what should be preserved from the history of 
 tliose terrible years. Tlic musty volumes of a town derk'a 
 office, be they ever so minute in their details of biitlia, 
 marriages and deaths, of deeds and mortgages, of taxes anii 
 votes, give, after all, \ery little insight into the state of the 
 community itself v,-hen fifty years have passed. It is the daily 
 lite that we wish to recall, the thoughts, the feelings, the ci'^v 
 toras, the gossip — the vario\is incidents of every description, 
 'hat fill up the outlines, and make the difference betwccii a 
 chronological table and a history. All the corresponding det:ui 
 of the march, the camp, and the battle, our soldiers s'lowld 
 write out and preserve, while the precious memories are stlU 
 vivid. Critics may carp at their literary deficiencies, but iheir 
 fellow citizens will thank them cordially fur anything that 
 assists in perpetuating the remembrance of those days, when tlie 
 people fought their earnest war to save their beloved countrj^. 
 
INTRODUCTION'. IX 
 
 The elegant and vivid monograph of Lieutenant G. G. Eeno- 
 tJict on '• Vermont at Gettysburg," shows how interesting an 
 actor can make those scenes appear of which he was a part. 
 Tlie only regret one leels in its perusal is in the thought that 
 this is all that lias liithcrto been done in this direction by our 
 soldiers. 
 
 T\'ith an experience of but twelve months of actual campaign 
 service, Che writer of these pages cannot, of course, attempt to 
 execute such a general history of the Vermont troops as he 
 ibcls should be, and still hopes will be, soon compiled ; but no 
 such volume having been, as yet, presented or promised, he 
 rentures to ask, on behalf of his State, that it be quickh- done, 
 and meanwhile to add his mite by giving, as well as he is alile, 
 all that his qualifications will permit him to attempt, the his- 
 tory of six regiments for six months; fortunately for him, not 
 the least noted regiments, and not the least interesting anil 
 exciting months. 
 
 But he must explain that he feels it to be lia.'^ardons for him tc 
 nndertakeeven this comparatively trivial task, from the fact that 
 the regiment to which ho had the honor to belong, and which lie 
 had tlie honor to command at the battle of the Opequan, (the 
 proudest recollection of his life.) was not, from the tirst, a 
 aicmber of tlie Vermont Brigade. In fact, his regiment was 
 for a long time treated by the " Old Brigade" as an interloper, 
 with no claim to any share of the honor so justly due to the 
 Tcterans of the Peninsula and of Fredeiicksburg. This pos'tion 
 &nd treatment were felt most humiliatiugly bj' the 11th Vermont 
 when it was first enrolled as a member of the Brigade, on the 
 ]5th of May, 18G4, near Spotts^-lvania Court House. Originally 
 unlisted as an infantrj^ regiment, we had served under the title 
 
X INTUODL'CTIOV. 
 
 of the Isl Vermout Artillery, iu the defeuces of Washington, 
 for eighteen niontlis previous to our being ordered to take tho 
 field. The regiments which had been constantly at tlic front 
 were meanwhile jealous of our "soft thing," and the taunts 
 with which we were greeted when finallj' ordered to the service 
 for which we had enlisted, were certainl_y natural, and perhaps 
 just. It was hard however, to be suspected of a liability to tar- 
 nish tho fair fame of tlie Brigade. We too were from Vermont, 
 and why shoidd we be less brave than our former neighbors, 
 whose noble deeds had long been our constant boast ? 
 
 But b}" the time that the command had reached the Shenan- 
 doah Valley, by way of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and Peters- 
 burg, it was our belief that this feeling was passing away, 
 and that the " Old Brigade " was beginning to acknowledge 
 itself cordially glad of the timely reinforcement. It is certain 
 that, while deficient in the fighting experience which went so 
 far in enabling a good soldier to accomplish the most with the 
 least comparative danger, tlie 11th Vermont never, for an 
 instant, showed anj- unsoldierly lack of bravery. The writer 
 trusts that now, after the final campaigns, resulting in the cap- 
 ture of Petersburg and Lee, and the joint happy discharge of 
 the Brigade, including his regiment, it will not be regarded as 
 presumptuous for him to assume the role of Brigade historian 
 for a portion of the period of his service as a member of it, even 
 tliough liis memoranda and his memory ma}- be especially par- 
 ticular respecting his own command, while merely general con- 
 corning the other older regiments. Xo one honors the "old" 
 regiments more than ho, and he will do his best to be fair 
 towards all. Meanwhile, if his own regiment seems to be made 
 mucil of at the expense of any of the others, he asks tliat it l.>e 
 
r^ 
 
 PRELIMINARY, 25 
 
 ill less than six months it was in the thickest of the 
 important battles at the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, 
 Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Charlestown, the Opequan, 
 Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek, besides a larger num- 
 ber of minor affairs in which the Brigade was 
 engaged, the total number of Yermonter.s killed and 
 wounded under its lead and during that brief period 
 reaching the terrible aggregate of three thousand one 
 hundred and sixteen. 
 
J.' 
 
INTRODUCTION. , xi 
 
 kindlj- considered in bis favor that every man loves his own ; 
 that it cannot be otherwise than tliat he should have been 
 especially impressed by its exj^loits which he saw, rather than 
 by others equally worthy, of which he only heard, or, perhaps , 
 of which he failed to hear ; and that during the period under 
 consideration the 11th actually constituted about one half of the 
 entire Brigade; and having introduced this somewhat delicate 
 subject, he cannot refrain from saying that, after a few months 
 field experience, his regiment became again disposed to punc- 
 tiliously insist on its full official designation of 1st Artillery 
 11th Vermont Volunteers, aud its members gloried in their 
 
 nickname of '"Heavies." 
 
 A. F. W. 
 
y 
 
I' J< i: L IMINA R y. 
 
 Tlir; part Uiln'.u in the lato war )>y ih'i \'<;rmorit 
 IJrigado can never be for;/otten while thanks remain 
 for any Northern Holdiers. In the war for Independ- 
 ence the " Green Mountain lioys " made their name 
 historic ; in the war for I'ne L'nion their descendants 
 revived the ancestral friory, and earned ne'.v honor for 
 their State, Without the assistance of the metropolitan 
 press, without political influence, and under officers 
 unknown to fame, this organization fairly fought its way 
 into prorninence and became the theme of universal 
 praise. Citizens of the model Republic of our thirty-six 
 llepublican States, these soldiers might have been ex- 
 pected to do their duty always, and well. They added to 
 that the exhibition of uniform and most unusual capacity 
 to meet the emergencies of war, and a remarkable 
 quality of steady quiet courage, comparison with which 
 was the highest honor. If a good reputation was ever 
 honestly earned, if any martial renown can ever stand 
 the test of candid investigation, that reputation and 
 that renown belong to the A^irmont Brigade. 
 
14 niELIMINARY. 
 
 The consolidation of various regiments from the same 
 State into one command, might, with profit to the sei*- 
 vice, have been carried much further than it was. Its 
 success, in brigades formed solely from citizens of 
 Wisconsin, Michigan, New Jersey and Vermont, was, 
 in each instance, complete. It was urged against the 
 plan that if it were generally pursued, some severe loss 
 might chance to suddenly fall upon one community, 
 which would be distributed among various States, if 
 troops from diiferent sections were commingled ; and 
 also that emulation within brigades would be promoted 
 l)y uniting stranger regiments, from different parts of 
 the countiy ; but the result proved that the average 
 mishaps were, on the whole, very evenly distributed 
 throughout the army, and that the larger the command 
 into which a spirit of unity could by any means be 
 infused, the greater the good effect of the natural strife 
 for excellence in competition with others. A leader's 
 name, a past joint danger or success, sometimes pro- 
 duced this harmony ; but the most ready and effective 
 method, which was unfortunately too rarely adopted, 
 was that which gave us the Vermont Brigade. 
 
 Memories of home were strong in every soldier's 
 heart ; personal acquaintances and friends of friends 
 abounded in every regiment thus united ; the honor of 
 the State was felt to be at stake, in a higher degree, 
 upon the deeds of the combined command; and when, as 
 in our case, the organization comprised so proportion- 
 ately large a portion of the entire offering of our 
 Commonwealth for the three years' service, the effect 
 
PKELIMINAKV. 15 
 
 of tliese statu considerations became almost inconceiva- 
 bly strong. 
 
 It was notably recognized in the famous order 
 of brave John Sedgwick, in the Wilderne?s : "Keep 
 the column closed up, and put the Vermonters 
 ahead!" 
 
 There was a " Second Vermont Brigade," consist- 
 ing of five regiments of nine months' troops, wiiich, 
 under Stannard, did a marvellous feat at Grettysburg, 
 their only battle-field. Their record is to be found 
 elsewhere. 
 
 The Vermont Brigade was organized in 1862, and 
 was then composed of the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th and 6th 
 regiments of Vermont Infantry Volunteers. Major 
 General William F. Smith (Baldy Smith) was the origi- 
 nal Colonel of the od, and for a long time commanded 
 the Division to which this Brigade was assigned. Major 
 General Brooks, who afterwards commanded the 10th 
 Army Corps, was its schoolmaster ; his stern discipline 
 and lion-like bravery led it honoi'ably through the 
 Peninsular campaign, and the subsequent battles of 
 Antielam and Fredericksburg. 
 
 While the Brigade was confronting Spottsylvania 
 Court House, in May 1864, the 11th Vermont was 
 added. This regiment at that time exceeded in num- 
 bers the entire Brigade it joined, which had just sacri- 
 ficed its larcfcr half in holdino; to the end, against 
 Longstreet's repeated attacks, the celebrated plank road 
 in the Wilderness. That wonderful feat of arms, which 
 left one Vermont regiment ])ut five oflicers, and another 
 
16 PRKLIMINARY. 
 
 only three, out of over twenty in each when they crossed 
 the Rapidan, gives a fair exhibition of the fighting 
 qiiality of the Vermont Brigade. 
 
 The campaign in the Shenandoah A^alley was the 
 brightest period in our history. The men were gener- 
 ally well clothed and well cared for ; the season and 
 the country were alike delightful ; the successes there 
 obtained were palpable and complete. The battles of 
 the Army of the Potomac had previously been terrible 
 in carnage, and unsatisfactory in result ; very rarely, if 
 ever, had it witnessed the entire discomfiture of the 
 enemy, and his confused retreat ; and when, by the per- 
 severance of Grant, Lee had, at last, been pushed to the 
 wall at Petersburg, the very wall itself seemed a perfect 
 barrier and a complete defence. 
 
 But under Sheridan all this was changed. The fight- 
 ing was equally bitter, but we enjoyed on every occasion 
 the unwonted excitement of entire and glorious success. 
 The inspiration which that General gradually infused 
 into his army, was unprecedented in our country's his- 
 tory; its fruit appeared long afterwards at Sailor's 
 Creek, when two Divisions of the Sixth Corps unex- 
 pectedly seeing Sheridan leading their charge, broke 
 forth into the wildest cheers, and captured Ewell with 
 nine thousand men. 
 
 The A^ermont Brigade, in July, 1^04, was officially 
 known as the Second Brigade, Second Division, Sixth 
 Army Corps. 
 
 Major General Horatio G. Wright was the Corps com- 
 mander, having recently succeeded the lamented Sedg. 
 
PRELIMINARY. 17 
 
 wick, who had won in a remarkable degree the esteem 
 and affection cf his men, and who was rarely spoken 
 of save as " Uncle John." It was a hard post to fill, 
 and some quiet gi'umbling was, of course, occasionally 
 heard ; but General Wright, although sometimes unfor- 
 tunate while holding independent command, was an 
 exceedingly careful and pains-taking officer, promiit and 
 energetic almo;>t to excess ; his great desire to be punc- 
 tually ready, and to thoroughly accompli.'-h the end of 
 the moment, occasionally causing his men to think him 
 unnecessarily severe. He was known among his supe- 
 riors as a most admirable executive officer ; first in the 
 Department of the South, and afterwards as a Division 
 commander under Sedgwick, and as a Corps commander 
 under Meade and Sheridan, he did yeoman service for 
 our cause. 
 
 Brigadier General George W. Getty, v.'.io was bre- 
 yetted Major General in the Shenandoah campaign, 
 commanded the Second Division. It may be said with- 
 out hesitation, that the army did not contain a better 
 Division General than he. True in all soldierly in- 
 stincts ; conspicuous for personal counige on the battle 
 field ; repeatedly wounded in action ; careful in disci- 
 pline, but uniformly kind and courteous to all ; almost 
 silent in general conversation ; the impersonation of 
 modesty ; frequently overslaughed by men of much infe- 
 rior worth, who, zealous lor promotion, would condescend 
 to fish for it in filthy waters, — but never complaining ; 
 intent on his duty, and forgetful of himself; a native of 
 the District of Columbia, a West Point graduate, the 
 
18 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 husband of a Virginian, whose rehatives at Staunton, in 
 full sympathy with the enemy, were reached by our 
 cavalry during Sheridan's campaign, — but with so many 
 Southern associations, an earnest patriot ; always to be 
 found at the head of his men, who trusted in him 
 implicitly ; he was, all in all, the model of an educated 
 American soldier gentleman. 
 
 Our Brigade was commar.dcd by Brigadier General 
 (subsequently Brevet Major General) Lewis A. Grant, 
 a Vermont lawyer, who entered the service as Major of 
 the 5th ; whose bravery and whose energy were never 
 questioned ; who had, by diligent study, made himself 
 so thoroughly acquainted with the red tape of the Regu- 
 lations, that he became a martinet in his disposition to 
 require the performance of many of its absurdities, 
 which arc especially ridiculous in a field campaign ; but 
 who, with all his fussiness, was entitled to great credit 
 as a hard worker and a vigilant commander. The fact 
 is that there is a love of minutiae and a sense of the 
 beauty of infinite detail, incorporated, by force of habit, 
 into the very life of a regular officer, which few volun- 
 teers could appreciate, and which they were very much 
 disposed to sneer at sub rosd, while recognizing the 
 great benefit derived, in time of war, from a corps of 
 educated soldiers. For instance, a distinguished Division 
 commander in the Sixth Corps, whom the writer lately 
 accidentally met, joined enthusiastically in praising that 
 organization, and said that it was acknovi^ledged to be 
 without a peer. My mind, of course, at once reverted 
 to our brilliant battles and herculean marches, but he 
 
PRKLIMINAKY, 
 
 19 
 
 proceeded to explain. " General Hancock's Second 
 Corps," said he, " was the only one that assumed to 
 compete with us, and even he admitted to me, on the 
 occasion of one of our reviews, that he could never get 
 his artillery batteries to march with as perfect a line as 
 ours did !" It was certainly the faintest basis one 
 could imagine on which to found a claim for military 
 preeminence, and the gravity and earnestness with 
 which it was asserted, made it appear almost ludicrous. 
 Such attention to trifles was esteemed by officers fresh 
 from the careless life of the citizen, as certainly folly, 
 almost scandal, in the time of our country's danger. 
 We could, of course, value a clean gun and orderly 
 accoutrements, while excellence in drill was willingly 
 sought for and highlj^ enjoyed by the volunteers ; but a 
 life spent in peaceful soldiering, where the only possible 
 competition was in such matters as the comparative 
 brilliancy of brass shoulder-scales, or the dressing of the 
 . ranks of half-a-dozen parallel six-horse teams, had in- 
 spired the officers of our regular army with a veneration 
 for such nonsense, which tended greatly and unjustly 
 to lower our estimation of their military capacity. They 
 could fight too, and they proved it. 
 
 Now General L. A. Grant was constitutionally a 
 Regular in such matters, without a Regular's experience 
 and power of adaptation. This explanation may serve 
 to make clear that the leputation for old-maidishness 
 which he acquired among his troops, would, by many, 
 be regarded as the highest compliment. On the battle 
 field, the care with which he always provided for a 
 
20 
 
 PRtlLIMIXARV. 
 
 skirmish line in his front, was especially noticeable, and 
 though his Brigade was sometimes overwhelmed, it was 
 never surprised. 
 
 The commanding officers of the various regiments 
 were as follows : of the 2d, which was a " veteran " 
 regiment, the three years of its first enlistment having 
 expired, Lieutenant Colonel (afterwards Colonel) Amasa 
 S. Tracy ; of the 3d, Colonel Thomas 0. Seaver ; of 
 the 4th, Colonel (since Brevet Brigadier General) 
 George P. Foster ; of the 5th, Captain Eugene A. Ham- 
 ilton, this regiment having lost all its field officers in 
 the preceding campaign ; of the 0th, Lieutenant Colonel 
 Oscar A. Hale; and of the 11th, Lieutenant Colonel 
 George E. Chamberlain, its Colonel, (afterwards Briga- 
 dier General,) James M. Warner, having been shot 
 through the neck at Spottsylvania, and appropriated by 
 the Washington authorities on his reporting for duty, 
 being assigned to the command of a Brigade in the 
 northern defences of that cit3^ This regiment, the • 
 11th, on account of its comparatively large size served 
 in two battalions, Avhich were manoeuvred as inde- 
 pendent regiments, though usually side by side, com- 
 manded respectively by Major (afterwards Colonel) 
 Charles Hunsdon, and Major (subsequently Lieutenant 
 Colonel) Aldace F. Walker. 
 
 Of the men composinsr the re";iments thus cora- 
 raandod, little need now be said. Their actions will 
 speak for them as this account proceeds. Gen. Sheri- 
 dan insists on every occasion that it was the private 
 soldiers who fought the war : certainly whatever credit 
 
■ PRJU.IMINAUY. 21 
 
 the officers of the Vermont Brigade attained was little, 
 ill comparison with the glory earned by the rank 
 and file. 
 
 Its officers and men were almost all native-born Ver- 
 monters. Love of country gave it zeal, and the 
 strength of the hills filled it with might. Its foreign 
 admixture was very small; a few Irishmen, nature's 
 cosmopolitans, and a few Canadians lured from over 
 the border by the eucrmous bounties oifered for re- 
 cruits, were all. And in every soldierly quality no 
 class of men is equal to the iuielligent, reading, prop- 
 erty-holding citizen, who wears his uniform to show his 
 convictions, and uses his good sense in performing his 
 daily duty. 
 
 An apparent [laradox appeared wliich has been so 
 generally noticed that it may be set down as one of the 
 striking lessons of the war ; the moi-e cultured, re- 
 fined and delicately nurtured the soldier had been at 
 home, the better he seemed to endure the hardships of 
 the campaign. The scholar would almost invariably 
 outwear the laborer. And these soldiers to a man 
 were scholarly enough to understand their errand and 
 to know that individual duty done was the surest 
 earnest of the peace they longed for. 
 
 Among their associates in the Corps, our Brigade was 
 held in the highest estimation. The writer remembers 
 that while walkino; the midnight rounds of our Peters- 
 burg picquet line one frosty night, he stopped to warm 
 himself for a moment at an outpost fire. The five 
 veterans on duty there were keeping themselves awake 
 
22 i-KELIMrXACY'.' 
 
 by reiuiiidii)g each other of this and that reminiscence 
 of the past four j'ears, and as some unusually vivid 
 recollection was suggested, one exclaimed with the em- 
 phatic approval of the balance of the group, " Then's 
 when we wanted the Vermonters !" 
 
 In claiming such a character and reputation the Ver- 
 mont Brigade does no injustice to other troops which 
 fought at their side. Except in an occasional instance 
 of striking inferiority, little distinction could be made 
 among the regiments from the north as they succes- 
 sively became merged in the army; certainly no one 
 ever supposed that soldiers from Vermont were intrin- 
 sically better soldiers than those from New Hampshire, 
 or Massachusetts, or Wisconsin, or any other State, if 
 native-born, but the Vermont Brigade, in being thus 
 consolidated, had a better opportunity than was usual, 
 so that its regiments soon became harmonious, recipro- 
 cally trustful in each other, confident in themselves, and 
 were at last recognized throughout the Army of the 
 Potomac as composing an organization to be uniformly 
 spoken of with esteem, and even to be regarded with 
 affection as an honor to the whole command. 
 
 On the march, if the pace was for any reason hur- 
 ried, the surmise was a common one that " the Ver- 
 monters must be leading to-day," for their stride was 
 tremendous. In camp they were always courteousl}' 
 treated by their neighbors, and were good neighbors 
 themselves, though it must be allowed that the state of 
 discipline exhibited by the Brigade on the march or in 
 camp never approached very closcl}- the Cromwellian 
 
I'KKLIMINAKV. lio 
 
 ideal ; in I'aet the reiciments were organized somewhat 
 on the town-meeting phm, aiid the men were rather 
 deferred to on occasion by the officers ; not that there 
 was any especially noticeable laxity, there was too 
 much good sense for that, but there was hardly the 
 least rigidity, and camp-life on the whole Avas of the 
 easiest possible description. It was on the battle-field 
 that the Brigade gained its glory, and even then it did 
 not excel in feats of unusual or surpassing brilliancy ; 
 the troops which most notably succeed in the charge 
 are those whose natural courage is tempered and re- 
 strained by complete official control : the most remark- 
 able charge of the Vermont Brigade might have proved 
 a fiasco if the enemy had not been utterly demoralized 
 by its disorderly impetuosity ; the occasion referred to 
 was on the morning of April 2, I8G0, when the Sixth 
 Corps executed what General JMeade pronounced " the 
 decisive movement of the campaign " against I'eters- 
 burg, and Avhen the A'ermont Brigade, being the point 
 of General Wric-ht's well-driven wedo-e, broke the 
 line of the enemy's fortifications with a rush so eager 
 and so unrestrained that its ranks were re-formed only 
 after miles of pursuit and hours of victor}'. 
 
 The distinguishing characteristic of this command, 
 and the secret of its acknowledged preeminence on the 
 battle-field, was its most remarkable tenacity. It was 
 seldom if ever driven back by a direct assault, though 
 it passed through a field experience second to none, and 
 it presently became justly and most honorably known 
 us always and entirely to be relied upon. Such steadi- 
 
24 I'J'tELI.Ml.NARV. 
 
 ness in critical positious, perseverance against all odJs, 
 and inability to admit defeat were the sources of its 
 renown. Years of fighting proved the paramount value 
 of such qualities, and brilliancy was at last admitted on 
 all hands to be less important and less serviceable than 
 steady, persevering, confident pluck. 
 
 No description of the organization In whi>-ii we 
 served would be complete unless it mentioned the 
 system of badges used to distinguish its subdivisions. 
 The badge of the Sixth Corps was the simple Greek 
 Cross, (see cover.) Flannel cloth for the purpose 
 WSLS issued by the Quartermaster's Department on 
 the usual requisitions. This cloth, unless some more 
 elaborate material was procured, was worn by every 
 member of the different Divisions in the tliree national 
 colors. First Division red, Second Division white, 
 Third Division blue. Each General officer was fol- 
 lo"wed by a mounted orderly bearing a headquarters 
 flag which showed at a glance the command to which 
 he was attached. Thus the Corps commander's flag 
 was a white cross on a large blue pennant ; the 
 flags of the Division Generals were square, — of the 
 First, a red cross on a white ground, of the Second, 
 a white cross on a blue ground, and of the Third a 
 blue cross on a white ground : while the Brigade 
 commanders were attended by smaller triangular flags, 
 each in the Second Division showing our white cro.>-s, 
 and that of our second Brigade being upon a red 
 ground. The flag we followed during the campaign 
 of 18G4 now hangs in the State House at IMontpelier: 
 
I[. 
 
 FORT STEVENS. 
 
 The Sixth Corps, for the first time detached from the 
 Army of the Potomac, took ship at City Point on the 
 10th of July, 18G4, (Col. Perley P. Pitkin, the first 
 quartermaster of the Second Vermont, but at this time 
 in charge of all the land and water transportation of 
 General Meade's army, superintended the embarkation,) 
 and reached "Washington in the evening of the following 
 day. It disembarked to the music of Early's artillery 
 on the morning of the 12th, and promptly marched up 
 Seventh Street through the city, and out the pike to 
 the front. We found the citizens in a state of great 
 and not surprising consternation. The cannon of 
 the enemy, whose camp was only five miles north from 
 the Capitol, had been heard continually for two days, 
 and it was known that the works were insufiiciently 
 manned ; a few green hundred-day regiments, the 
 scrapings of the convalescent camps, and some civilian 
 government clerks and employees hastily armed in the 
 emergency, comprised the entire garrison of the sixteen 
 
28 FORT STEVENS. 
 
 miles of forts and works that encircled the city on the 
 north of the Potomac. And the lines on the south of 
 the river of equal extent had likewise to be occupied 
 with the slender force at hand, although the rebels were 
 not in force in that direction. 
 
 Therefore the sight of the Veterans of the Sixth 
 Corps was an intense relief to the constitutionally timid 
 Washingtonians. We passed through crowded streets; 
 cheers, good wishes, and fervent God-speeds were 
 heard on every side. Citizens ran through the lines 
 with buckets of ice-water, for the morning was sultry ; 
 newspapers and eatables were handed into the column, 
 and our welcome had a heartiness that showed how 
 intense had been the fear. 
 
 We pushed on rapidly through the dust, and were 
 soon at the threatened point, Fort Stevens, on the 
 Rockville pike, a little west of the centre of the north- 
 ern defences. This Fort, with two or three others in 
 the vicinity, was in great measure constructed by 
 the 11th Vermont, and just here that regiment had 
 spent a year and a half of its military existence. Long 
 practice had made its officers and men entirely familiar 
 with the range and capacity of every gun, howitzer, and 
 mortar, but they had the mortification of seeing the 
 artillery entrusted to troops who could hardly load 
 heavy ordnance with safety ; when, by the lucky 
 chance of its return to what seemed to it like home, 
 great good might have been secured as the fruit of its 
 early labors, unfortunately no use was made of the 
 skill its members longed to exercise. 
 
FORT STEVENS. 29 
 
 The Corps was kept concealed in a forest behind the 
 lines, while a grand Council of War decided how the 
 so timely reinforcements should be employed. President 
 Lincoln, Secretary Stanton, General Halleck, General 
 McCook, General Meigs, General Wright and others, 
 had carefully discussed the situation and had diflPered 
 materially as to whether a vigorous attack should be 
 made by the entire corps, or whether the enemy's 
 position should be first developed by a strong skirmish- 
 line. The latter plan prevailed, and rather late in the 
 afternoon the attacking party filed down the pike in 
 front of the fort and rapidly deployed. Minute details 
 of this affair cannot here be given, as the Yermoni 
 Brigade was not involved. The sally was made by 
 General IJidwell's Third Brig:.^^'^ of our Division and a 
 company of about seventy-five who were selected from 
 the various regiments of the Division and attached to 
 General Getty's headquarters as sharpshooters, under 
 command of Captain Alexander M. Beattie of the Third 
 Vermont. 
 
 The pseudo-soldiers who filled the trenches around 
 the Fort were astounded at the temerity displayed by 
 these war-worn veterans in going out before the breast- 
 works, and benevolently volunteered most earnest 
 words of caution. The enemy's skirmishers were at 
 this time within sis hundred yards of the Fort in 
 strong force, and their bullets, which were plenty, 
 were assisted by shell from artillery planted be- 
 hind them. 
 
 In a few minutes all was over. Our brave men 
 
so FORT STEVENS. 
 
 charged handsomely, for they meant business and 
 knew how it was done ; the enemy after a bitter little 
 contest fell back out of sight, leaving us to establish 
 our picquets for the night where we would. The 
 Vermont Brigade relieved the charging party for this 
 purpose, and the dignitaries in the Fort returned to 
 their homes, having witnessed as pretty and well con- 
 ducted a little fio-ht as was seen durino; the whole war. 
 President Lincoln was present on General Wright's 
 invitation, which he says he bitterly repented having 
 given, when to his surprise it was accepted. The 
 President persisted in standing on the parapet, though 
 an oflEice"r was wounded by his side, and his danger was 
 a source of great anxiety to the General, who at last 
 suggested that he should have to remove him by force, 
 an idea which seemed greatly to amuse Lincoln. He 
 at last consented to stand on the banquette, looking 
 over the parapet, but was under fire to the end of the 
 action. 
 
 The object proposed in this affair was to make 
 such a display of force as would convince Early that 
 Washington did not propose to submit to be tamely 
 captured, and to relieve our line from the annoyance 
 of the enemy's sharpshooters. It succeeded even 
 better than was hoped, since as its result the rebels 
 abandoned the vicinity at once. That night Early 
 rapidly retreated, and there can be no doubt that the 
 arrival of the Sixth Corps, with its prompt oflfensive 
 movement, was the immediate cause of his withdrawal 
 from before the city he had so bombastically threat- 
 
FORT STEVENS. 31 
 
 ened to destroy. There can also be little doubt that he 
 might have taken it on either of the two days he spent 
 in its neighborhood before our arrival from Petersburg. 
 
 In this affair the Vermont Brigade lost one man 
 killed and one wounded from the Third, one wounded 
 from the Fifth, and three wounded from the Eleventh, 
 all serving at the time in Captain Beattie's company 
 of sharp-shooters. This company lost quite severely 
 in driving the rebel marksmen out of a house near 
 our lines, from which they had greatly annoyed 
 the Fort, and which was riddled with bullets and 
 cannon balls. 
 
 The total loss was about two hundred and fifty killed 
 and wounded on each side. At one point half a mile 
 from the Fort, where the enemy had thrown up a little 
 entrenchment of earth and rails across the road, a large 
 number of his dead were foiuicl, and the struggle there 
 m.ust have been quite severe. A large number of his 
 wounded were left behind in the houses near Silver 
 Spring, on his hasty retreat. 
 
 Our dead were afterwards carefully collected, and 
 interred in a lot just in front of the Fort, purchased 
 for a cemetery by the government. The battle-field 
 is now one of the objects of interest to Washington 
 sight-seers. 
 
 All this was in the District of Columbia, and it served 
 to give the semi-rebels in that vicinity a practical taste 
 of the horrors of war. Perhaps a dozen dwellings of 
 well-to-do citizens were destroyed because they ob- 
 structed the range of cur guns ; one situated directly 
 
III. 
 
 SNICKER'S GAP. 
 
 AtTKR their demonstration against the Capitol, the 
 enemy made their way to the north-west, proposing to 
 cross the Potomac near Poolesville, forty miles or so 
 above "Washington. We lost some time in order to 
 be satisfied that Eai-ly had not gone to Baltimore, 
 as the presence of a squad of rebel cavalry on the 
 Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad 
 seemed to indicate, and then the Sixth Corps was 
 ordered out in pursuit, of course too late to overtake 
 more than the rear guard which Early left on the 
 north side of the Potomac. For a few days Ceneral 
 Wright was the commander in the field, being directed 
 by General Grant to go outside the works with all 
 the available force at the disposal of the Washington 
 authorities, and to follow up the enemy until he was 
 convinced that they had completed their raid and 
 returned to Richmond ; but when so convinced, to 
 retrace his steps and re-embark for Petersburg. 
 Wright's independent command lasted only a week. 
 
36 snicker's CiAP. 
 
 but our exertions for the next forty days were tre- 
 mendous, and we accomplished apparently nothing. 
 Marching almost constantly, frequently by night as 
 well as by day, we nearly exhausted all our energies, 
 while gaining no credit whatever for our wearisome 
 struggles. The army knew no better than the country 
 at large what it was doing so vigorously, and we have 
 never even yet been able to entirely comprehend our 
 mysterious manoeuvres. 
 
 Of course it is not the writer's intention, or within 
 his ability, to give a military criticism of the operations 
 of the Army of which our Brigade formed a part, but 
 its services cannot be understood or narrated without 
 continual reference to the general campaign, and the 
 movements of the Army will frequently sufficiently 
 describe the movements of the Brigade. 
 
 It is the more satisflictory thus to be compelled to 
 touch upon the conduct of affairs at large, because the 
 history of Sheridan's Valley campaign has never been 
 even partially written, though well worthy the closest 
 study as a continual daily exhibition of the highest 
 military science : meanwhile the mazy period before 
 the rising of his brilliant star must be hastily threaded 
 through, although the task will be laborious and un- 
 profitable except by way of contrast. We shall be 
 enabled thus at least to see IIow not to do it, and How 
 it was done. 
 
 It may here be said that but one newspaper corres- 
 pondent fairly reported the movements and actions of 
 this Army under cither Wright, Tfunter, or Sheridan ; 
 
snicker's gap. 37 
 
 Mr. Jerome B. Stillson of the World. A reprint of 
 his letters would perhaps be as good a general history 
 of these campaigns as could be given. 
 
 That first night's march from Washington, July 13, 
 1864, was one of the most fatiguing we ever performed. 
 The Vermont Brigade was selected as rear guard to 
 bring up the stragglers and the trains. The position 
 occupied in a marching column makes a vast deal of 
 diiFerence in the ea&e with which the journey is per- 
 formed : the head of the army, which always moves by 
 the flank, or four abreast, being greatly preferable, for 
 various reasons : chiefly because the obstructions con- 
 tinually met with from fences, bridges, fords, mud-holes, 
 broken wagons, and a thousand other causes, compel the 
 rear of a column to crowd up to a halt while the regi- 
 ments which have passed advance steadily, so that the 
 troops behind, as they successively surmount the difl[i- 
 eulty, are compelled to make great exertions in order 
 to properly close up the marching column ; this alternate 
 crowding and hurrying being excessively annoying as 
 well as fatiguing. In order to distribute the inequality, 
 the Divisions in our Corps always marched in numerical 
 order, leading by turns ; the Brigades in each Division 
 followed the same rule, and also the regiments in each 
 Brigade were each successively in advance for a day, 
 the regiment, Brigade and Division, at the rear one day 
 taking the lead on the next. The advantages of this 
 system were so great that it was pursued even by the 
 ambulances and the wagons of the trains. 
 
 On the march in question it was the luck of the 
 4 
 
38 snicker's gap. 
 
 Vermont Brigade to be last of all, and orders were 
 even received for it to follow the train. This was 
 interpreted to mean that we should go in the fields or 
 in the road itself on each side of the rearmost wagons, 
 assisting them if necessary, and for ourselves, scram- 
 blino; alono as best we could. 
 
 Exhausted already with picquet duty for a night and 
 a day, we got off about three o'clock p. m. ; at nine we 
 reached Fort Reno, having made in six hours less than 
 three miles. Here we found Colonel Warner in com- 
 mand, and after a look at his headquarters and a hasty 
 greeting, plunged forward through the 3Iaryland 
 woods and gullies into the darkness. The wagons soon 
 became entangled, mired, and frequently upset. The 
 mules and drivers were green, our old teams having 
 been left at Petersburg. The road was narrow and of 
 itself difficult. The men presently began to steal out 
 of the columns and lie down to rest. Many were 
 actually lost in the forests as we hurried on, and this 
 horrid confusion continued all the night long. When 
 we halted for breakfast we had marched 21 miles. The 
 balance of the Division was then just ready to com- 
 mence its next day's march, having rested for hours, 
 and after barely time for a cup of coffee we struggled 
 forward under the July sun, our system of rotation 
 then placing us in advance of all. That afternoon we 
 reached Poolesvillc, the last few miles of our journey 
 being enlivened by the cannonading of a section of artil- 
 lery, which, with a little cavalry as our advance guard, 
 was driving the rear of the enemy toward the river. 
 
snicker's gap. 39 
 
 Having thus marched forty miles iu twenty-four 
 hours, we lay still the next day (the 15th) near Pooles- 
 yille, grumbling because our haste had been apparently 
 so profitless. Here the 3d Regiment, with Colonel 
 Seaver, left the Brigade, their three years' service 
 being completed : a command of respectable size, 483 
 officers and men, (218 on duty,) under Lieutenant 
 Colonel (afterwards Colonel) Horace W. Floyd, re- 
 mained however, composed of men who had re-enlisted 
 and who had joined the regiment as recruits, still known 
 as the od Vermont. 
 
 On the 16th of July we crossed the Potomac at Con- 
 rad's Ferry ; our skirmishers in advance driving a few 
 rebel videttes up the hills on the southern bank, and our 
 artillery shelling them as they galloped away. On our 
 way to the river we passed through a corn-field already 
 so high that the tassels waved against the shoulders of 
 the horsemen. 
 
 The scene at the ford was new and exhilarating ; the 
 river is quite wide at this point and about thigh deep : 
 the horses were loaded double or treble, and most ot 
 the footmen, not having the fear of women before their 
 eyes, carried their clothing upon their shoulders ; brig- 
 ados were crossing in several places for a mile up and 
 down the river ; every one greeted the unusual sensa- 
 tion of the slippery rocks and the gurgling water with 
 shouts and laughter ; the burdened men were here and 
 there overthrown by the swift current, and occasionally 
 one would slip from a staggering horse and be burried 
 for an instant in the stream, to the intense amusement 
 
40 snicker's gap. 
 
 of all but the unfortunate : in such a gleeful humor 
 we re-entered Virginia, and laid ourselves out to dry 
 upon her sacred soil. 
 
 Presently we went on through Leesburg, perhaps 
 fifteen miles beyond the river, to the summit of the 
 Catoctin Mountains, which we found to be a ridge of 
 cultivated hills running north and south across the pike 
 on which we were moving towards "Winchester. 
 
 About this time General Wright's command, which 
 had hitherto consisted only of the First and Second 
 Divisions of his own Corps, was joined by his Third 
 Division under Ricketls, just from Baltimore, by a Di- 
 vision of the Nineteenth Corps under Emory, fresh 
 from New Orleans and the Red River, and by two 
 small Divisions, commanded by Colonels, under Crook, 
 which were known at headquarters as the Army of 
 Western Virginia, but were incorrectly called by the 
 rest of the army and the correspondents, the Eighth 
 Corps ; they were composed of Ohio and West Virginia 
 troops which for a long time had served in this vicinity. 
 
 On the 17th Crook reached Snickersville, but failed 
 to force the Gap bearing the same euphonious name ; 
 on the 18th the rest of the army followed, and the reb- 
 els crossed the mountain. 
 
 That day we obtained our first view of the celebrated 
 Valley of the Shenandoah. Snicker's Gap, through 
 which we passed, is really very little of a gap, being a 
 slight depression where the pike crosses the Loudon 
 Mountains, or the eastern Blue Ridge. We were 
 marching towards the west, and were halted on a plat- 
 
snicker's gap. 41 
 
 eau about half way down the mountain on the western 
 side. We thence for the first time overlooked a coun- 
 try with the topography of which we afterwards became 
 entirely familiar : that beautiful Valley, the garden of 
 Virginia. It extended north to the Maryland Heights 
 across the Potomac, south as far as we could clearly 
 see, and twenty miles or more in width to the western 
 Blue Ridge, beyond the city of Winchester, whose 
 spires we could perceive in the distance glistening on 
 the plain. The surrounding country dotted with houses 
 and groves and waving fields, well watered with wan- 
 dering brooks, the fertile farms with harvests even then 
 ripening in abundant premise, the occasional glimpses 
 of the blue Shenandoah rushing past the very foot of 
 the mountain, on the rugged side of which we stood, 
 and the blue hills bounding the landscape where it faded 
 into indistinctness, made up a most glorious view» 
 scarcely equalled on the continent in its mellow beauty.. 
 
 Meanwhile Crook, exploring across the river, had 
 become entangled in what was called in the dialect of 
 his troops, a right smart little fight ; and though he was 
 supported by Ricketts and assisted by sundry batteries- 
 on our side of the river, his men were driven back in 
 intense disgust. It was generally understood however 
 that we were under orders to discover but not to fight. 
 
 On the next day, the 19th, Wright finding the fords 
 in our front commanded by the enemy, cast about 
 towards Harper's Ferry to the north, or through Ashby's 
 Gap to the south, for a circuitous route whereby he 
 might enter the Valley with his army, the men mean- 
 
42 snicker's gap. 
 
 while hunting for raspberries on the mountain side. 
 On the morning of the 20th to our surprise Early was 
 gone. The whole army at once forded the Shenandoah, 
 or the Shining Door, as the soldiers atrociously called 
 it, and moved westerly towards Berryville and Win- 
 chester. We went out three or four miles and found 
 no enemy. Early had apparently returned in haste to 
 Richmond ; the cavalry could find no trace of his 
 whereabouts. 
 
 That day every body robbed a bee-hive, and hard-tack 
 was eaten with sweet-meats ; ask the members of the 
 Vermont Brigade for a list of the natural productions 
 of the Shenandoah Valley, and every man will begin 
 his answer with honey. 
 
 In the afternoon orders were decided upon and issued 
 that changed the entire appearance of the game. Ap- 
 pearances indicated that Early had returned to Lee ; 
 our instructions were to see him fairly off in that direc- 
 tion, and then to anticipate him in reaching Petersburg 
 if we could. All the General Officers coincided in the 
 opinion that the object of the expedition was accom- 
 plished. 
 
 Crook's command was therefore sent on towards 
 Winchester, being ordered to report to Hunter who had 
 somehow turned up at Harper's Ferry in command of 
 the Department, while the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps 
 were ordered to return to Washington with all speed, 
 where transports were awaiting us. 
 
 The conclusion that Early had abandoned the Valley 
 seems to have been hastily reached, and perhaps was 
 
snicker's gap. 43 
 
 founded rather on what he was expected to do, than on 
 actual information obtained concerning his movements. 
 It will be remembered that we had been in full view of 
 the rebel army on the previous evening. 
 
 But we faced about at once, reforded the wide and 
 rapid stream, and with soaked shoes and dripping 
 clothes began a long and tedious march. Blisters were 
 raised on every foot in the first half mile up the moun- 
 tain side. The road was a series of loose rovxgh rocks, 
 for weeks at a time in the rainy season the bed of a 
 mountain torrent. Animals were suifering as well as 
 men ; many of them were shoe-less, and no forage 
 whatever was issued for this campaign. It was midnight 
 when we reached the summit. The descent was easier 
 and more rapid. Faster and faster we hurried on ; 
 we came up with the Nineteenth Corps and went past 
 it in the darkness while it was doing its Louisiana best. 
 Thus we raced through Snickersville, across a ten 
 mile valley, soldiers frequently asleep in the ranks, and 
 the artillery crowding the road with the troops, past a 
 little town where we had cheered so heartily, three days 
 before, three children who saluted us with a miniature 
 edition of the Stars and Stripes, the only Union flag we 
 found in all Virginia save those we carried there ; 
 through a rugged region where every citizen was a 
 guerilla, and our ranks were counted file by file as we 
 passed, and where a few tired soldiers, unable to keep 
 the pace, dropped to the rear and were instantly 
 gobbled up and hurried to the Libby ; till daylight found 
 us once more at the western foot of the Catoctin. We 
 
44 snicker's gap. 
 
 climbed the mountain wearily, expecting every moment 
 the order for the breakfast which we did not get, and 
 went down its eastern slope still hungry, and kept on 
 without any halt until we reached the village of Lees- 
 burg at nearly noon — a most extraordinary march 
 whereby wc hope that we helped to "save the country." 
 In the afternoon we went on a few miles further across 
 Goose Creek, and the next day through Drainsville 
 twenty -five miles further still. The picquet detail here 
 found the memory of the Vermont Cavalry regiment 
 distinct and pleasant in the recollection of the hospitable 
 citizens. The third day (July 23d,) we re-crossed the 
 Potomac at Chain Bridge and went into camp again in 
 the northern defences of Washington. The 10th Ver- 
 mont in Ricketts' Division which left Petersburg some 
 time before us and joined us at Leesburg, claim, in 
 the thirty days next preceding this, to have marched 
 600 miles, besides fighting the battle of the Monocacy. 
 The Vermont Brigade in ten days had marched much 
 faster and further than ever before, and had apparently 
 nothing to show for it, except the unwelcome orders we 
 expected on reaching Washington, for an immediate 
 re-transportation to City Point, and the false information 
 that the Shenandoah Valley was free. 
 
IV. 
 HARPER'S FERRY. 
 
 Tuus we obtained our first glimpse of the Valley of the 
 Shenandoah, and it seemed probable that we should see 
 it no more. But our departure for Petersburg was 
 suspended, as reports were received that Early, instead 
 of returning to Richmond, was again threatening Harp- 
 er's Ferry and Martinsburg, having driven Crook out of 
 Winchester with quite severe loss. We now spent three 
 days in Washington waiting for developments. Mean- 
 while Colonel Warner at his urgent request was relieved 
 from duty at Fort Reno and took command of his regi- 
 ment, the 11th Vermont, which was at the same time 
 detached from the Brigade, and assigned to the occu- 
 pancy of eight forts, from Fort Stevens to Fort Lincoln, 
 being those which it had formerly garrisoned. It 
 performed garrison duty under these orders for one 
 night, and on the 26th, was again ordered to report to 
 the Sixth Corps on the Rockville Pike " for temporary 
 duty " the order said, but the temporary part of it was 
 soon forgotten. Meanwhile shoes and clothing had been 
 issued to all the troops of the Corps, except this regiment 
 which made the next campaign nearly barefoot ; and the 
 paymaster had visited the Brigade with the exception 
 of the unfortunate Eleventh which was left penniless for 
 four months longer. 
 
4G IIAKPEU'S FERRY. 
 
 On July 26th, the Corps was moving rapidly through 
 Rockville on the road towards Frederick City ; the 
 Eleventh caught up with the Brigade on the 27th and 
 camped at Hyattstown ; on the 28th we forded the 
 Monocaey, passed through Frederick and reached 
 Jeflferson beyond the South Mountain at 11 p. M. ; and 
 on the 29th we proceeded by Sandy Hook, along the 
 banks of the Potomac and between the lofty mountains 
 to Harper's Ferry, crossed the long pontoon bridge, 
 climbed Bolivar Heights and at last went into camp near 
 Halltown, four miles from the river and once more in 
 the Shenandoah Yalley. We were seventy-five miles 
 from Washington by the route we had taken, and had 
 made the distance in two days and twenty hours. 
 
 There is a very strong position where we rested, with 
 which we afterwards became more familiar ; a line of 
 hills, descending to the south-west, extends across the 
 angle formed by the intersection of the Potomac and the 
 Shenandoah. Here we camped for a night, wondering 
 in army dialect why this was thus, Grcneral Hunter 
 was then in command with nearly the same army which 
 Wright had taken to Snicker's Gap and there disbanded. 
 
 The next day, the 30th, we returned to Harper's 
 Ferry and lay on Bolivar Heights, bleaching or burning 
 rather in the sun, while we recalled the history of the 
 celebrated village, and of the wonderful mountains 
 which, on the North and the East, tower above it. We 
 understood how basely Miles had surrendered his com- 
 mand in 1862 on account of a threatening occupation of 
 the Loudo'n mountains by the enemy, even while his guns 
 
HARPEU'S FERRY. 4-7 
 
 on Maryland Heights still fairly commanded the whole 
 position. We saw the spot down by the canal whore 
 brave Colonel Stannard was discovered and recaptured, 
 as he was attempting to quietly withdraw the 9th Ver- 
 mont from the disgraceful scene. We gazed on the 
 public buildings in ruins, and the sacked and riddled 
 dwellings, with their mute sad story which needed no 
 interpreter. And we remembered how the rash scheme 
 of old John Brown, merely anticipating his time, had 
 here thrown Virginia, mother of Presidents, into a par- 
 oxysm of fear, with its terrible combination of twenty 
 negroes, five white men, and a cow. 
 
 Meanwhile Early had recrossed. the Potomac above us 
 towards Hagerstown, and on this same July 30th, 
 Chanibersburg in Pennsylvania was burned to ashes by 
 the robber McCausland, who informed a clergyman there 
 that "he was from hell," and doubtless told the truth. 
 Our army was the sole defence of Baltimore and Wash- 
 ington, and must instantly be thrown between those 
 cities and the threatening enemy. 
 
 Towards night we started back on onr weary route, 
 halted for supper in Harper's Ferry ; spent long hours 
 in crowding troops and trains across the narrow bridge 
 in the darkness, hardly making five miles all the night 
 long, though vainly striving to make ever so little pro- 
 gress in the press of men and horses, wagons and guns, 
 so that at daybreak we had our journey yet to perform. 
 That Sabbath day's journey was the hardest march we 
 ever made. The heat was intense ; the day was the 
 very hottest of all the season ; the clouds of dust were 
 
48 harper's ferry. 
 
 actually blinding ; the pace almost a gallop ; the poor 
 men struggled bravely, ambulances were crowded, shady 
 spots covered with exhausted soldiers, men falling out 
 of the ranks at every rod, overpowered with the heat 
 and positively unable to proceed ; actual cases of sun- 
 stroke by the score and by the hundred ; a great 
 scarcity of water ; tut no halt or chance for rest until 
 towards night we reached Frederick City : that is, the 
 mounted officers and the regimental colors, accompanied 
 by from five to twenty of their respective regiments : 
 it was straggling without precedent, or subsequent for 
 that matter, but every man had done his best, and on 
 the next day the ranks were full again. 
 
 After this effort Hunter remained quiet for a week. 
 Early meanwhile foraging in Western Maryland and 
 Southern Pennsylvania. The Sixth Corps shifted its 
 camps once or twice for sanitary or other considerations, 
 the last few days of rest being spent on the banks of 
 the beautiful Monocacy. 
 
 Meanwhile the issues of clothing were completed ; 
 the weather became cooler; and, lounging in the shade, 
 or bathing in the stream, we for the time forgot our 
 hardships and en;03^ed our lot. 
 
V. 
 SHERIDAN. 
 
 On August Gtli Lieutenant General Gi'ant visited 
 Major General Hunter at his headquarters near Mono- 
 cacy Station. The interview was without ceremony or 
 display, but it had an important object, for a special 
 train from Baltimore arriving about 11 p. m. brought a 
 new member to the council in the person of Major 
 General, now Lieutenant General Philij) H, Sheridan. 
 The three officers went on to Harper's Ferry in the 
 night ; in the morning Grant and Hunter returned, and 
 Sheridan assumed command of the Army. On the 8th, 
 (the next day) he telegraphed to headquarters the re- 
 sult of a i-econnoissance towards Berry ville. 
 
 At this time every one is familiar with the career ot 
 General Sheridan, but when he commenced the campaign 
 iu which he earned his first celebrity, he was almost as 
 little known to the army as to the country at large. 
 In the early years of the war he had been a Quarter- 
 master, with aspirations to become a Major ; afterwards 
 a Colonel of Cavalry ; then as a Brigadier he command- 
 ed an Infantry Division at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga 
 and Chattanooga, where he attracted the attention of 
 General Grant, who with his usual sagacity gave him 
 the command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the 
 Potomac with two stars on his shoulders. In May and 
 5 
 
50 SHERIDAN. 
 
 June 18G4 he had handled his Corps bravely and well, 
 had done some hard riding and some desperate fighting, 
 but generally while detached from the rest of the army 
 which knew little of his services except through the 
 newspapers, and, in reading of them, made the usual 
 Cavalry allowances. So that our army now welcomed 
 his General Order No, 1 with no enthusiasm, and with 
 almost entire indifference — in fact we were, on the other 
 hand, a little afraid of him, for his only reputation 
 hitherto was that of a desperate reckless fighter, and 
 the immediate active campaign his arrival seemed to 
 forebode was [anything but a pleasant anticipation. 
 When he fought his first general engagement forty-three 
 days from this time, we had learned that he knew more 
 of war than simply the shedding of blood, and was a 
 model of strategic caution as well as of decisive energy. 
 We did not then know the nature of the orders under 
 which he was to act ; they have since been published, 
 and were to the effect that he must drive the enemy to 
 the South and clear the Shenandoah Valley, leaving 
 '• nothing to invite the enemy to return. " These orders 
 were at last obeyed, though it was months before the 
 end could be successfully accomplished, as the rebels 
 were reinforced before we were able to bring on an en- 
 gagement, and we were thus thrown on the defensive 
 again. But there never was a defensive campaign so 
 offensively conducted. The next month and a half was 
 occupied in a rapid ceaseless game of fence with his 
 antagonist, in which Sheridan though sometimes crowd- 
 ed, never lost the control, and which culminated after 
 
SHERIDAN. 51 
 
 a final week of tantalizing thrusts at every side of the 
 enemy's armor, in the terrible day at close quarters 
 before Winchester, when after one of the most desperate 
 struggles and admirable field-days of the war, the rebels 
 fled from the lower Shenandoah in confusion, never to 
 return. 
 
 In order to give a truer understanding of the cam- 
 paign on which we were about to enter, a hasty esti- 
 mate of the strength of the opposing armies will be 
 given : Of Infantry we had three small Divisions in 
 the Sixth Corps, which had already during the current 
 year fought its way to Petersburg in the Army of the 
 Potomac ; one comparatively large Division of General 
 Emory's Nineteenth Corps, with little field experience ; 
 and two fragmentary Divisions under Crook, well used 
 to the work and the mountains. An extremely liberal 
 estimate of these six Infantry Divisions would give them 
 4000 men each or 24,000 in all. "We were soon after- 
 wards joined by another Division of the Nineteenth 
 Corps, 4000 men ; and by two Divisions of Cavalry from 
 Sheridan's old Corps under Merritt and Wilson, which 
 with Averill's little Division already with us, were con- 
 solidated into a Cavalry Corps under Torbert. There 
 were perhaps 8000 of these troopers, making 36,000 in 
 the entire army. It was weakened however by safe- 
 guards, hospital attendants, teamsters and train guards, 
 details and bummers of every imaginable description ; 
 so much so that it is very doubtful if at any time 
 30,000 men could have been found actually under arms. 
 It was the great vice of the Northern Army that nearly 
 
52 SUEKIDAN. 
 
 or quite one-fiftli must always be deducted from the 
 ■paper strength ''present for duty" in order to ascertain 
 its actual fio;atiu!]; number ; while the rebels, with far 
 wiser economy, strenuously kept a musket in the hands 
 of every practicable man. 
 
 At the time in question Early had four Divisions of 
 Infantry, Rhodes', Gordon's, Ramseur's and Brecken- 
 ridge's ; the last was described in their newspapers as 
 being, not as was erroneously reported, a Corps, but mere- 
 ly an unusually small Division of only 5000 men. At 
 this estimate as the number in a representative Division, 
 ■20,000 will certainly be a reasonable estimate for the 
 total of his foot. I have put the rebel Divisions but 
 1000 larger than our own, whereas they frequently 
 contained four or five Brigades, while only two of 
 Sheridan's Divisions comprised three Brigades — the rest 
 having but two each. Early also had several unattached 
 Brigades of Cavalry, and was reinforced about August 
 17th by two more Divisions, namely, Kershaw's and 
 Fitz Lee's. On September 1st, after this addition, 
 "Druid," the celebrated rebel correspondent of the 
 World in Baltimore, gave a long and careful estimate 
 of Early's strength, putting it at 35,000 ; it will be seen 
 that allowing 5000 for his first allowance of Cavalry 
 these figures are the same as those I have given, and 
 Druid's estimate was made as small as possible for 
 political reasons. Wo were probably the strongest in 
 artillery, but our actual fighting strength did not exceed 
 that of the enemy, if it equalled it. On September 
 3d, Sheridan says, " the difference of strength between 
 
SHERIDAN. 53 
 
 the two opposing forces was but little, " and a battle 
 was then avoided until decided on by the Lieutenant 
 General, after a personal inspection of the field. 
 
 On August 10th, however, before the arrival of Ker- 
 shaw and Fitz Lee and before the remaining Division of 
 the Nineteenth Corps had joined us, we were probably 
 60C0 stronger than the enemy, an excess which certainly 
 warranted a forward movement. With this view there- 
 fore General Sheridan at once concentrated his army 
 before Harper's Ferry. 
 
 On this occasion our Urigadc performed the journey 
 from Monocacy in a train of cattle cars, waiting all 
 night in the rain for our turn, but glad enough to escape 
 the march. We took up our old position at Halltown 
 until the arrival of cavalry from City Point, and the 
 Sixth Corps with very good reason now began to call 
 itself " Harper's Weekly. " 
 
VI. 
 
 TO STRASBURG AND BACK. 
 
 On the IQlh. of August the whole army moved out 
 from Harper's Ferry and camped at Clifton, the name 
 of a large plantation near Berryville. We marched, to 
 our surprise, through the open forests and across the 
 fields, scarcely seeing a wagon during the whole day. 
 On the 11th we advanced, still diagonally across the 
 country, as far as Newtown, leaving Winchester at our 
 right. It was expected that the enemy would make a 
 stand ; we were therefore under orders to force the 
 passage of the Opcquan which covered their front, and 
 bring on an engagement by striking for his right and 
 rear. Bat he w^as too wary for that, slipping by us to 
 the south. On the 12th we came up with him again at 
 Cedar Creek, just beyond Middletown. These marches, 
 though long and rapid, were made in most admirable 
 order and with comparatively little fatigue. Our new 
 commander was much complimented therefor, it being 
 noticed that the columns did not interfere, and that the 
 trains were made subordinate to the troops ; but an order 
 issued about this time by General Wright was of great 
 value to his Corps. It prescribed ten minute halts 
 every hour while on the march, with an hour for dinner 
 at two, and a regular time for breakfast and for break- 
 ing camp ; it also gave instructions to the various 
 
TO STRASBDRG AND BACK. 55 
 
 Generals concerning raarching distances between Brig- 
 ades and Divisions, and contained directions in regard 
 to various minor matters of little consequence in them- 
 selves, but uniformity and regularity in the performance 
 of which added much to the ease of our journeyings. 
 The only fault with the order was its two o'clock dinner, 
 breakfast of course being at daybreak. The hour was 
 however frequently anticipated if water was found 
 earlier. 
 
 The Shenandoah Valley was also a far easier place 
 in which to march than Eastern Virginia or Maryland. 
 There was little dust in the roads, and moreover we 
 were often able to march in the fields where the soft 
 turf was a great relief to weary feet, and where frequent 
 trees and groves shaded the columns from the sun. The 
 supply of water was abundant, and the roads on which 
 the tiains moved were generally excellent, the turnpike 
 from Winchester to Staunton, eighty miles, being prob- 
 ably the best macadamized road in the country ; it 
 accommodated two parallel columns of army wagons 
 through its entire extent, while outside the fences on 
 either side the frequent passing and re-passing of armies 
 had worn bare two hard wide paths where marching 
 had little discomfort. 
 
 Middletown is on the main turnpike between Win- 
 chester and Staunton, fifteen miles above Winchester 
 and forty miles or more from the Potomac. It should be 
 distinctly remembered that the Shenandoah runs north, 
 forgetfulness of which fact has led to curious confusion 
 in despatches as well as ideas ; even General Sheridan 
 
56 TO STRASBURQ AND BACK. 
 
 telegraphed that he was pursuing the enemy "down" 
 the Valley — towards the headwaters of the river. 
 Below Middletown it flows close under the mouniain at 
 the very eastern side of the Valley, and is ten miles 
 away from the pike. Just above Middletown the 
 Massanuttan mountains, springing up abruptly, divide 
 the Valley southward into two, the upper Shenandoah 
 and the Luray, the latter being the eastern subdivision 
 and the least important. Front lloyal lies at the en- 
 trance of the Luray ; Strasburg, two miles beyond the 
 entrance of the upper Shenandoah, which debouches into 
 the Shenandoah Valley proper midway between Stras- 
 burg and Middletown. Cedar Creek flows across the 
 very mouth of the upper Valley. The ground is hilly 
 on both sides of the Creole, and on its further side we 
 now found Early's army. 
 
 Sheridan promptly sent over a skirmish line, which 
 engaged the enemy in the usual desultory way. Skir- 
 mishing, as it became reduced to a science, depended on 
 two general rules : every man must keep concealed as 
 much as possible behind trees, logs, fences, buildings, or 
 what not, and each party must run upon the approach 
 of its opponent with anything like determination. If a 
 skirmisher should show himself unnecessarily he stood a 
 great chance of getting hit, and if he waited until 
 the enemy came within forty or fifty yards, it was ex- 
 ceedingly dangerous either getting away or staying. 
 The skirmish line was conducted on principles that 
 looked to personal safety in a great degree, and was the 
 favorite position of the experienced soldier. If however 
 
TO STUASBUKG AND 15ACK. 57 
 
 the holding of the position was essential, which was 
 seldom the case, the men knew it intuitively, and the 
 skirmish line required a battle line to drive it. 
 
 On the next morning, the 13th, the enemy had van- 
 ished, and the whole army crossed the creek to Stras- 
 burg. But that day's march was short, for he had fallen 
 back but five miles and was in position at Fisher's 
 Hill. This extraordinary natural flistness will be des- 
 cribed subsequently. It is sufficient here to say that 
 both from the reconnoisance made at this time, and 
 from the examination of the stronghold after the battle 
 of Fisher's Hill, every one was convinced that it would 
 have been folly to attack it at the time in question, for 
 an army holding it is more than doubled in strength. 
 And Shei-idan promptly came to that conclusion, falling 
 back the same day to the camp of the morning on the 
 northern side of Cedar Creek. Then followed a day or 
 two of manoeuvring with skirmishers and artillery, but 
 no enemy appeared in force. At the time of a sharp 
 little picquet fight on the 14th we thought the rebels 
 were certainly coming ; a subsequent advance by the 
 whole skirmish line from right to left, made in splendid 
 style in full view of the army, proved that no line of 
 battle had as yet left the Hill. Two men from the 
 Second Vermont were wounded in this affair. 
 
 Meanwhile the Cavalry Corps was watching the Luray 
 f'fy^ at Eett Royal, and on the IGth, Monday, it was des- 
 perately attacked by rebel cavalry and Kershaw's 
 infantry. Torbert and Merritt held their ground and 
 captured two hundred prisoners, from whom the fact 
 
68 TO STRASBURG AND BACK. 
 
 was learned that Fitz Lee as well as Kershaw was ia 
 the Luray with two large Divisions fresh from Ilich- 
 moud, and that without doubt on the morrow they would 
 force through our cavalry guard and plant themselves 
 upon Sheridan's lines of supply. Mosby was also vig- 
 orously attacking our trains near Berryville, and ra- 
 tions were short alr3ady. The tables were turned like a 
 grand transformation scene in a pantomime. Sheridan 
 suddenly found himself in the most dangerous position 
 of the whole campaign. He had been pursuing an infe- 
 rior enemy and inviting a fight, but here was Early in 
 both Valleys instead of one, with a force decidedly 
 superior to our own, (Grover's Division of the Nine- 
 teenth Corps not yet having joined us,) and ten thousand 
 rebels already on our flank, pushing for our rear ; four 
 days' rations ordered to last five, and great improbability 
 about receiving any supplies on the sixth even ; there 
 was no more thought of pursuing a fleeing foe from the 
 Valley, for we were nearly surrounded ourselves, and 
 our capture entire confidently counted on by the 
 enemy. 
 
 If wc wished to escape from our predicament it waa 
 evident that we must run for it, and we did. The next 
 morning, the 17th, we were the other side of Winches- 
 ter, making the best possible time for our " base." The 
 New Jersey Brigade and a few Cavalry faced about to 
 see if any one was coming; in an hour they were scat- 
 tered in all directions, the vigor with which they were 
 pounced upon showing the disappointment felt by the 
 enemy at the escape of the rest of us. On the 18th, at 
 
TO STKASBUr.G AND BACK. 59 
 
 noon, we halted for "brcakfost" near Clifton, and ate 
 what remained of our rations— nothing in most cases — 
 as the fifth day of the four was already passing. Then 
 we resumed our march reaching the neighborhood of 
 Charlestown at 10 p. m., being deluded all the afternoon 
 by rumors that the supply train was only three miles 
 ahead ; we got a hearty supper at last, though a late 
 one. 
 
 Ten miles from Harper's Ferry the whole army faced 
 to the South in a good position, on our own ground at 
 last. For the past two days officers and men had lived 
 principally "on the country. " It would not have been 
 so bad living either, if we had not been in such a 
 tremendous hurry, for green corn was then excellent 
 and plenty, while flour and fruit abounded at the mills 
 and about the houses. " Three days rations to last 
 four " was always the order on the next advance, and 
 the experience of the last two days had taught us how 
 to obey the order without suffering, by merely usin<T a 
 little foresight. It was a hard system for the citizens, 
 but yet severer measures were in store for them. 
 
 We spent the 19th and 20th quietly at Charlestown, 
 the precise locality being designated as Welch's or 
 Flowing Spring ; a large harvest of guerrillas was mean- 
 while gathered in the vicinity ; Sheridan had a barn 
 full of them in rear of the Sixth Corps' headquarters. 
 On the 21st an affiiir occurred which was only a skir- 
 mish, to the army at large, but which was inscribed 
 upon the flags of the Vermont Erigadc as the IJattlo CjvfcvC.? 
 of Charlestown, 
 
VII. 
 
 C H A R L E S T O W N . 
 
 On the morning of August 2l£t, the Brigade was 
 stationed at the edge of a wood two miles south-west 
 from Charlestown. It happened to be quite near the 
 picquet line, which described a grand curve around our 
 left flank as it covered the army front perhaps half a 
 mile from our camp ; the ground the picquets occupied 
 was undulating, and there being no high hills or prom- 
 inent positions, they were posted on the crest of one of 
 a series of rolling ridges in no w:;y superior to others 
 in its front. 
 
 The constant reconnoisanccs which our leader had 
 indulged in for the last two weeks were a new sensation 
 to both armies ; Early now attempted the same method 
 of getting information, but discovered nothing at all, 
 scarcely any troops excepting our own Brigade being 
 displayed on our side, though for a short time a general 
 engagement seemed imminent. 
 
 The commencement of the skirmish was startling 
 enough. AVhile the army was making preparations for 
 the usual Sunday morning inspection, the picquets sud- 
 denly broke out into a hasty fusillade, and then falling 
 back in confusion were seen making rapidly for camp 
 across the fields. Horses were hastily saddled, tents 
 struck, knapsacks packed, and lines formed; General 
 
fUAULliSTOWN. GI- 
 
 Getty and his staff rode through our camp, and dirccted- 
 General Grant to move out at once and re-cstahlish the 
 picquet line. The order was simple, but its execution 
 seemed likely to be difficult, for the line had been 
 driven in for nearly or quite a mile in extent along the 
 semi-circle of which our position was the centre, and 
 whether by a line of battle or a skirmish line was 
 entirely unknown, as well as in what direction we were 
 to expect the strongest hostile force. Whatever was 
 done must be done as an experiment ; fortunately the 
 disposition first directed by General Grant led to a 
 successful result. 
 
 Without a moment's delay after receiving these orders, 
 the Brigade filed out of the woods and into the fields in 
 front of our left, in the direction of the heaviest fire ; 
 the Third, Fourth and part of the Sixth deployed as 
 skirmishers and dashed forward rapidly, while the 
 other regiments followed in line of battle more deliber- 
 ately on various radii of the curve assumed by the skir- 
 mishers. Directly beyond the field in which we formed, 
 there was a hill sloping towards us and covered by a 
 large corn-field, of so high a growth that a man passing 
 through it could not be seen ; it soon appeared that it 
 concealed a uniform line of rebel skirmishers extending 
 over our entire front, and which had almost reached our 
 camp itself. Our advance exchanged volleys with 
 them, plunged recklessly into the waving corn, and dis- 
 appeared. Presently the grey coats of the enemy were 
 seen as they, retreating, clambered over the fence at 
 the further side of the field and vanished beyond the 
 6 
 
62 ClIAELESTO^VN. 
 
 hill. The rest of the Brigade excited by the success 
 of the charge followed eagerly. The regiments on the 
 right halted as they regained the summit of a second 
 hill where the picquets had heretofore been posted, for 
 the enemy in turn had re-formed on a similar ridge close 
 in their front ; but the regiments on the left continued 
 to rush forward with more enthusiasm than discretion, 
 until General Getty, who had feared such an excess of 
 zeal and who in person closely followed the movement, 
 succeeded in brino-ino; them to a halt and ordered them 
 back to the proper place. He afterwards told the 
 writer that his orders were sadly disobeyed that morn- 
 ing : that he ordered the re-establishment of the pic- 
 quet line, and before he could reach the troops on 
 horseback they were half a mile beyond it, in the very 
 |\j^j^ face of Ehodes' Division drawn up in line of battle. 
 The offence was of a nature easily forgiven, though the 
 consequences might have been serious except for the 
 personal exertions of General Getty, assisted by Colo- 
 nel Hazard Stevens of his staff. The regiments had 
 been simply directed to advance, the orders about re- 
 establishing the picquet line not having been communi- 
 cated to them from Brigade Headquarters. 
 
 As the left of the line withdrew to connect with the 
 other regiments, the enemy in turn advanced firing 
 heavily, and now a general musketry battle opened 
 alono- the whole position. By this time all the Brigade 
 had reached the front line, and, beconiing deployed, 
 covered the whole mile as skirmishers. The enemy at- 
 tacked us from behind trees, ridges, fences, and walls 
 
CIIARLESTOWX. 63 
 
 with a force that could not clearly be made out, and 
 with a vigor that expressed their disappointment at 
 finding themselves no better off than in the early morn- 
 ing. But the Vermont Brigade, though pressed most 
 dangerously, would not give way. The men hastily 
 collected rails for feeble breastworks and scraped out 
 hiding places in the sandy soil, being determined as 
 they said to make a day of it. They recalled the skir- 
 mish near Funkstown in the Antietam campaign, when 
 they had under very similar circumstances held a skir- 
 mish line successfully against repeated line-of-battle 
 charges, and the experience of old campaigners was 
 manifest in every action. The regiments at the extreme 
 right were comparatively little annoyed and had excel- 
 lent cover. The Sixth, about the centre of the line, 
 was thrown well to the front owing to the contour of 
 the ground, and the enemy got very near. It lost more 
 than any regiment in the Brigade. One battalion of 
 the Eleventh was well protected, while the other was in 
 a position entirely exposed to the enemy's fire, the men 
 lying in the grass by the side of a large brick house, 
 and only able to get together a few rails for shelter, 
 while the rebels from behind a stone wall at short range 
 were annoying them terribly. It lost both its color frj ^ 
 bearers, Sergeant Daniel B. Field, who was instantly 
 killed, and Sergeant John C. Pellett, besides many other 
 men and officers. As might have been expected, Gen. 
 Getty, whose horse had been shot while he was extri- 
 cating the left of the Brigade from its previous predica- 
 ment, came round on foot to inspect the situation, and 
 
 i(Mv 
 
<f(M>M 
 
 64 ClIAKLESTOWN. 
 
 as he was conversing with an officer on the loss of 
 his favorite animal, a bullet whistled between the two ; 
 he merely interrupted his story to say in his quiet de- 
 liberate way, " That came pretty near you, Major ! " 
 
 He now authorized us to occupy with sharpshooters 
 the house above mentioned, known as the Packett 
 I'^irTs-'*.-' House, and which had been hitherto under the care of 
 
 a safeguard. Among the inmates were several young 
 ladies, one of whom, tall and beautiful, dressed in 
 mourning, and especially noticed for her bravery in 
 the trying scenes that followed, was understood to be 
 a daughter of Col. Washington, the vendor of Mount 
 Vernon, who had been killed in the rebel service. 
 These people were all at once notified to leave, and 
 could then have done so with perfect safety, but they 
 were overcome by the perversity of fear and could not 
 be induced to go : though urged, reasoned with, and 
 entreated, they insisted upon taking refuge in the cellar 
 of the house. Still, as the fight was with musketry 
 alone, there seemed to be no danger for them behind 
 the heavy basement walls. 
 
 All the windows that faced the enemy were opened 
 and filled with picked marksmen. The house at once 
 became the focus of fire from the rebels in our front, 
 -and the troops on either side now had comparative rest, 
 while there was a constant rattle of bullets against the 
 walls of the mansion. Continual efforts were made to 
 induce the owner of the premises and the women to 
 retire to our camp, but in vain. 
 
 Presently, about noon, wc were startled by the report 
 
. CHARLESTOWN. 65 
 
 of a cannon, and a shell screamed over our heads. We 
 understood at once that our position was a great an- 
 noyance to the enemy and that the missile was intended 
 as a warning for us to withdraw. Of course this in- 
 creased our determination to remain, and our answer 
 was a vigorous volley from the windows. A second 
 shell was tried with no better success. Again and 
 again it was repeated, until finally the guns were de- 
 pressed so low that one of the chimneys of the house 
 was struck and fell with a terrible crash, the bricks 
 flying in every direction. At this loud cheers were 
 heard from the rebel lines ; our only answer was still 
 from the muzzles of our muskets. The eyes of all on 
 both sides were now fixed on the mansion, as shell after 
 shell plowed through its walls and exploded in its 
 rooms. One hole torn in its side was used as a loop- 
 hole by some brave fellow, not half a minute after the- 
 shell had entered, and the act was cheered vehemently 
 by the soldiers without. Twice the interior of the 
 house was sot on fire, but the flames were extinguished 
 by our men. Several shells reached the basement, for- 
 tunately exploding in different compartments irom those 
 occupied by the trembling citizens who now ran from 
 the house to the rear weeping and shrieking. I have 
 understood that the rebels, with their well-knowa' 
 tenderness, censured us lor subjecting these females 
 to such danger. It is certain, however, that our occu- 
 pation of the house was absolutely necessary, and even 
 decisive of the day's operations, and that everything in 
 our power was done to save this family, well-known as 
 
w. 
 
 V-'W- 
 
 h (:• 
 
 GG c^ARLESTO^yN. 
 
 rebels, from the weapons of their friends. None of 
 them were injured. During this same season Lieuten- 
 ant Edward B. Parker of the Eleventh Vermont was 
 dragged down and actually killed by blood-hounds in 
 South Carolina. If the southerners raise the question 
 of comparative humanity they open a wide door. 
 
 At last after fourteen shells had struck the building 
 ■and its front was spotted all over with the dents of rifle 
 balls, a final death-bearing missile exploded in the very 
 room occupied by most of our men, killing one and 
 wounding others, strange to say the first that had been 
 injured in the house. Hitherto in the excitement no 
 one had thought of abandoning the position, but it 
 was now seen to be prudent to do so ; the order to 
 
 evacuate was o-ivcn-, and the cannon troubled us no 
 to ^ 
 
 more. 
 
 But at once the musketry re-opened all along the line 
 with renewed vigor, and the battle continued until the 
 evening fell. Two mules were employed all day bring- 
 ing up ammunition ; the Brigade consumed 50,000 cart- 
 ridges. So steady and constantly severe a fire has 
 rarely been known ; as the result we regained our lost 
 position and held our ground successfully. 
 
 Another incident perhaps worth mentioning occurred 
 that afternoon. About six o'clock a few of our officers 
 were quietly lunching on the rear piazza of the shattered 
 house from bread and milk and sweetmeats furnished by 
 the owner who had returned thoroughly subdued, when 
 their attention was called to a regiment from another 
 Division passing out before the left of our line. Our 
 
CIIARLESTOVrX. 
 
 67 
 
 men had no disposition to follow, though taunted with 
 having spent the day fighting a phantom. The new 
 comers marched boldly on, up a somewhat steep ascent, 
 but preserving a capital front, until they approached the 
 stone-wall mentioned above, when suddenly a grey line 
 of rebels rose up, apparently two deep along the whole 
 extent threatened, proving incontestibly that we had 
 fought all day a full line of battle with artillery to 
 boot, and had held our ground with a skirmish-line. 
 Of course the valiant regiment which was to show Ver- 
 montei's their folly, confronted by the unexpected ap- 
 parition and saluted by a thousand rifles, fled in dismay 
 without firing a gun, and wc could not help greeting 
 their discomfiture with peals of laughter, though the 
 occasion might have been serious. 
 
 When the night had fallen, — and a very dark night 
 it was, — we began to count our files and compute our 
 losses. The Brio;ade sufiered as follows : 
 
 REGIMEMTi 
 
 ?. KILLED. 
 
 WOUNDED. 
 
 MISSING. 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 2d, 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 3d, 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 19 
 
 4th, 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 5th, 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6th, 
 
 7 
 
 31 
 
 1 
 
 39 
 
 11th, 
 
 5 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 Total, 23 98 2 123 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel George E. Chamberlain of the 
 
 Eleventh was shot through the abdomen, almost before 
 
 the regiment was under fire, and while preparations 
 
 4 
 
()8 CIIARLKSTOWN. 
 
 were making for the first advance against the corn- 
 field, lie fell from his horse into the arms of Lieuten- 
 ant Dodge, his adjutant, and survived but a few hours. 
 Born in St. Johnsbury or its vicinity, a graduate of 
 Dartmouth College and of Harvard Law School, he 
 was at the commencement of the war in the successful 
 practice of his profession at St. Louis. He entered the 
 army under the most genuine moral compulsion — im- 
 pelled by the force of principle and the feeling that he 
 must do what he believed to be his duty, though very 
 much against the wishes of his friends. His career as a 
 soldier was what might have been expected from such 
 antecedents. He was truly sans peiir et smis rcproche. 
 Exaggeration is impossible in speaking of one who of- 
 fered such remarkable talent upon his country's altar. 
 Vermont should and will always cherish his memory as 
 that of one of her noblest and bravest sons. While in 
 command of Fort Totten near Washington he had mar- 
 ried the sister of Adjutant, subsequently Colonel, Gar- 
 diner of the Fourteenth New Hampshire Regiment, a 
 life-long friend. Colonel Gardiner was killed a few 
 days after Col. Chamberlain, at the Battle of the Ope- 
 quan, and the bride, a widow and bereaved of 
 her only brother, an orphan before, was left in circum- 
 stances where sympathy alone remained to cheer her 
 life. 
 
 Major Carlos W. Dwinell of the Sixth was also mor- 
 tally wounded, and died on the 24th. He was born in 
 Calais, Vermont, and entered the service from Glover, 
 at the organization of his regiment, being then elected 
 
CIIAKLESTOWN. 69 
 
 a Lieutcnaiit. He was about twculy-six years of ago 
 at the time of bis death, a fanner before he joined the 
 army, and a quiet, pains-taking, valuable, officer. 
 Though never thrusting himself forward he was always 
 a favorite in the regiment and the Brigade, and his loss 
 was a severe one. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Oscar A. Hale of the Sixth was 
 also wounded severely and subsequently resigned in 
 consequence. The regiment was now left in command 
 of Captain M. Warner Davis. 
 
 The army, having been effectually covered during the 
 day by our efforts, marched towards Harper's Ferry 
 as soon as it was dark, when the firing ceased. Our 
 Brigade still held its place quietly, but every man was 
 on the alert and recognized the danger of our situation. 
 About 3 A. M. we received the long-expected order to 
 withdraw, and without the slightest noise we stole 
 away. Assembling near our morning's camp and march- 
 ing rapidly, we came up with the rest of the army soon 
 after daylight, finding them entrenched at Halltown, 
 where they had spent the night spade in hand. 
 
 General Sheridan entered the lines behind us. 
 
VIII. 
 CATNIP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 
 
 We were now (Halltown, August 22d) in a position 
 where an attack seemed impossible, and for a week we 
 enjoyed our proximity to Harper's Ferry with its 
 abundance of supplies. The cavalry meanw^hile made 
 daily reconnoisances by Brigades or Divisions, which 
 the correspondents, on the watch for exciting news, 
 dignified with the name of battles, leading the country 
 to suppose that we were acting offensively rather than 
 defensively. 
 
 On the morning of the 23d an order was received 
 pulling us all out of bed and placing the whole army 
 under arms at 3 A. M. ; for a wonder it contained a 
 reason for the unusual vigilance, a reason of surprising 
 lucidity : to wit : " The enemy have been divided into 
 two columns, part in our front." With perhaps too 
 much precipitation we leaped to the conclusion that 
 the other " part " was probably somewhere else : 
 neither part made its appearance however, and we 
 breakfasted in peace at daylight. 
 
 Finally Early, after having threatened to cross the 
 Potomac at Williamsport, where Custer promptly met 
 him, fell back from the river, and our army moved out 
 to within feeling distance, taking its old position in 
 front of Chaz'lestown. 
 
CAMP LIKE : AND AX EPISODE. 71 
 
 As we marched ihrcucrh that once celebriited village 
 we found no traces of the gallows where John Brown 
 swung, or the grave where his body is said to lie mould- 
 ering, but we remembered both, and our band, as did 
 probably every northern band of music that ever 
 passed there, reminded the rebellious citizens that " liis 
 soul " was still " marching on." 
 
 Torbert with the cavalry went out towards Bunker 
 Hill : Early gathered up his army and struck at him. 
 Sheridan, as usual present on the field, brought up 
 Ricketts' Division and succeeded in developing the 
 entire rebel line in the affair reported as the battle of C ^^fv.s.*' 
 Smithfield, with, however, little loss on either side. 
 
 Early now retired to the high ground west of the 
 Opequan, lying on the pike between Winchester and 
 Martinsbursr where ho held a lou^ line facinor east, 
 while Sheridan got his army compactly together at 
 Clifton facing west, his left near Berryville which 
 Crook occupied after a severe skirmish on the 3d of 
 September. The remaining Division of the Nineteenth 
 Corps had now joined us via Snicker's Gap, and our 
 force again efpiallcd the enemy's. 
 
 The campaign as a defensive campaign was now evi- 
 dently successful!}^ ended. Early made no movement 
 for a fortnight and our position was secure. Maryland 
 was covered, while at the same time the enemy could 
 not go to the south without our knowledge. The quiet 
 was so general that we even began to talk of winter 
 quarters. The rebels also appreciated our mastery of 
 the situation. An officer's diary, found on the field of 
 
il CAMP life: and ax El'ISODK. 
 
 the Opequan, under date of Sept. lOth, contained this 
 entry, " The Yanks are just playing with us." 
 
 The cavalry however saw no peace, day or night. 
 Hither and thither they scoured, over the whole adja- 
 cent country, — now creeping cautiously up in the evening 
 twilight to the close vicinity of the rebel pioquets, 
 passing the long night with bridle rein tied to thumb 
 and forbidden even to light the grateful pipe, — then at 
 earliest dawn plunging at full gallop over the enemy's 
 vldettes and up to the very face of his battle line ; or 
 anon hunting the gaps and the forests behind us for 
 Mosby and his partisans, who continually attempted to 
 torment our rear and flank ; guarding wagons to and 
 from the Ferry or snatching up a convoy of the 
 enemy's supplies from the Upper Valley, in sight of 
 the rebel camp : the careful restless handling of those 
 horsemen by our General, whose skill we now began to 
 appreciate, has never been surpassed if ever equalled. 
 
 Our own Division also was in some degree an ex- 
 ception to the general quiet of the army. When 
 we moved out to Clifton we were put in reserve near 
 headquarters, and as a consequence we had all the extra 
 work to do. For instance, on the night of Sept. 4th, 
 the Vermont Brigade dug rifle-pits in the rain from 
 sunset till dawn — not objecting in the least to earth- 
 works, for we had learned to love them, and even Sheri- 
 dan, the ideal of a field fighter, would as soon be with- 
 out his ammunition wagons, as his entrenching tools ; 
 but it did seem rather hard, after painfully shoveling 
 all throuarh the Ion? wet uislit, to march back to our 
 
CAMP LIFE : AND AN El'ISODK. 73 
 
 old camp while strangers gleefully filed iu behind our 
 laboriously constructed breastworks. On another day 
 the Second and Eleventh were sent back to Rippon to 
 escort in the semi-periodical supply-train ; and other 
 similar errands occasionally varied the monotony of 
 this long halt. On the Gth the Brigade held its shad- 
 ow of a Vermont election : the votes were duly taken, 
 counted and returned, the Eleventh, the only regiment 
 whose figures the writer recorded, polling 237 votes 
 for John Gregory Smith and 2 for his opponent, who- 
 ever he was. 
 
 We were now so far up the Valley that our supply- 
 train as above suggested had to move with an escort ; 
 it came through once in about lour days, usually start- 
 ing on its return the same night ; mail facilities were 
 therefore limited, but a party of energetic newsboys 
 reached camp every afternoon with the morning's 
 " Baltimore America??," perhaps obtaining immunity 
 from capture by paying occasional toll in kind to the 
 guerillas. About this time also a quantity of wall 
 tents were received, the regiments being allowed one 
 for each, lor the use of the field officers, and a wagon 
 being detailed from the Brigade Headquarters train 
 for their transj)ortation, the number of wagons allowed 
 being at the same time reduced. Sheridan's own head- 
 quarters were always much the simplest in the army. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th, Getty's Division moved 
 out towards the Opequan for a reconnoisance. The Ver- 
 mont Brigade had the advance, the Third and Fourth be- 
 ing deployed in front as skirmishers. Sheridan and 
 7 
 
 ((/IWA-l***"^ 
 
74 CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 
 
 Wright accompanied the column. At ten o'clock the 
 Ekirmishers reached the Creek and crossed it at once, 
 meeting the rebel picquets, however, but a short distance 
 , up the hill beyond. Capt. Cowen's Battery, going in- 
 
 V>r*^^ to position on an elevation on the hither side of the little 
 
 stream, opened fire, the General hoping thus to discover 
 the position of the enemy's camps in the vicinity, their 
 strength, and other information of that nature. The 
 Battery could be plainly seen from the opposite side ; 
 the skirmishers who had crossed were showing an oc- 
 casional puff of smoke from their rifles, while the rest of 
 the Division were massed in a wood, a quarter of a mile 
 behind the artillery. The grove was clean and the 
 shade was dense ; the men were scattered in groups 
 among the stacks of arms, chatting carelessly or playing 
 their simple games. 
 
 The enemy presently planted a heavier Battery than 
 Cowen's upon a hill on the opposite side of the creek and 
 returned his fire ; their first few shells, being fired at too 
 high an elevation, passed over his guns at which they were 
 aimed, ploughing through and exploding among the 
 troops of the Division which lay concealed in the timber. 
 Several were wounded, and the lines were formed for a 
 removal to some other position, but it being noticed that 
 the missiles began to fall short of us, wc were soon con- 
 vinced that our situation was unknown to the enemy, 
 and in a few minutes the danger was over. 
 
 Among those who were wounded on this occasion was 
 Lieutenant Henry E, Bodell of the Eleventh Vermont. 
 He was a man of splendid physique, muscular and 
 athletic, over six feet high, about twenty-eight years of 
 
CAMP LIKE : AND AN EPISODE. 75 
 
 age, a farmer, married, and the father of two or three 
 children. An unesploded shell had crashed through his 
 left leg above the knee, leaving flesh at either side, and 
 a most ghastly mass of mangled muscles, shattered 
 bones, and gushing arteries, between. As he lay upon 
 the gi'ound he he screamed continually, " Cord it ! Cord 
 it ! Dont let me bleed to death ! " The first rude tourni- 
 quet which a friend attempted to apply broke under the 
 twisting of the ramrod, and allowed the spirting torrent 
 again to flow. But when the compression was complete, 
 he became quiet under the perhaps imaginary impres- 
 sion of temporary security, allowing himself to be lifted 
 upon a stretcher and borne away to the surgeons and 
 their ambulances without a groan. An operation was 
 speedily performed. The leg was amputated at the 
 upper third, everything being done for the sufferer that 
 science and personal regard could suggest and the rude 
 circumstances permitted. 
 
 Still there was very little hope. Though his natural 
 vigor was in his favor, his very size and the muscular 
 strength on which he had prided himself were against 
 him, for it was computed that over sixty-four square 
 inches of flesh were laid bare by the surgeon's knife. 
 And it was also found that his right hand had been 
 seriously injured, the bones of three fingers and of the 
 middle hand being fractured and comminuted. The op- 
 eration already performed had been so severe that it 
 was thought best not to attempt the treatment of the 
 hand until it was seen whether or not he would rally 
 from the shock of the wounds and the amputation. 
 
76 CAMi" lifk: and an episodk. 
 
 Wc returned to our camp about nightfall ; the jour- 
 ney was a terrible trial to the wounded man. An 
 ambulance under the most favorable circumstances Is 
 hardly a " downy bed of ease," and the jolting this rem- 
 nant of a man for miles across the country, over fences 
 and walls half torn down, and across ditches partially 
 filled with rails, reduced the chances of his life to hard- 
 ly one in a thousand, his immediate death being expect- 
 ed every moment. But, sustained by stimulants and his 
 indomitable courage, at last in the darkness he reached 
 the army lines alive. 
 
 Fortunately a house was accessible, and the use of a 
 vacant room in its second story was obtained, where 
 Bedell was placed on a tick hastily stuffed with straw 
 and resting on the floor. And to the surprise of every 
 one he survived the night ; a little hope even of saving his 
 life was awakened. On the second day after the skir- 
 mish the surgeons decided to attempt the re-habilitation 
 of the shattered hand. A finger or two were removed, 
 the broken bones were adjusted, and the patient rallied 
 in good spirits from the second administration of chloro- 
 form and shock to the system. 
 
 But his struggle for life was only just commenced. 
 After a few days of such rest as his miserable pallet 
 could afford, orders were issued, in preparation for the 
 coming Battle of the Opequan, that all sick and wound- 
 ed should be at once removed to Harper's Ferry, twenty 
 miles distant. Army wagons and ambulances were 
 therefore loaded with the unfortunates, and an attempt 
 was made to transport poor Bedell with the rest. 
 
CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 77 
 
 But although he had previously endured a rougher 
 journey, it was while his wounds were, as wounds always 
 are for the first few hours, partially benumbed, the 
 nerves seeming paralyzed with the very rudeness of the 
 injury. Now the torn flesh had become inflamed and 
 was havinof its revenge. 
 
 At every motion of the ambulance he groaned fear- 
 fully, and it was soon apparent that to carry him a mile 
 would cost him his life. He was returned to his straw 
 utterly exhausted, all but expiring. 
 
 The army was to move the next morning. The sur- 
 geons were forced to decide at once what they would do 
 with the dying man. In fact but one course was open, he 
 must be abandoned to his fate. True, we were to leave 
 him to the north of us, but in the Valley no attempt 
 was ever made to cover the long line of our communica- 
 tions. Strong escorts guarded our supply trains, and 
 for the rest Mosby had free swing. jMoreover, though we 
 did not know it at the time, Martinsburgh was thence- 
 forth to be our base, instead of Harper's Ferry ; and the 
 vicinity of Bcrryville, where we then were, instead of 
 being threaded once in four days by our caravans, as we 
 expected, was not re-visited by our troops or trains for 
 months. The wounded ofiicer was therefore left on hLs 
 chamber floor with a soldier nurse, and such hospital 
 stores as he would be likely to need before his death. 
 
 We fought the battles of the Opequan and Fisher's 
 Hill, " whirling" the enemy up the Valley, for a month 
 supposing the Lieutenant dead. The attendant left with 
 him followed us immediately ; Bedell himself thought it 
 
78 CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 
 
 best, and it was doubtless necessary, for the country 
 swarmed with guerillas, and the system of bloody re- 
 prisals engaged in by Mosby and Custer reduced the 
 probable life or death of the nurse to a simple question 
 of time, had he remained. 
 
 It appears that the family v/ho allowed our officer the 
 use of the naked room as a place in which to die, were 
 hardly pleased with their guest ; in fact they seem to 
 have been utterly destitute of sympathy, and to have 
 thought it best for all concerned that he should leave 
 this world and them as speedily as possible — and they 
 left him at perfect liberty to do so. The promises they 
 had so solemnly made us to give the wounded officer 
 care and attention, were entirely neglected, and his 
 chamber was never entered. Death, horrible in its lone- 
 liness and pain, would inevitably have come quickly, 
 had not a Good Samaritan appeared. A Rebel among 
 Rebels, there was a woman who most nobly proved her- 
 self to unite with a tender heart the rarest courage and 
 perseverance beyond account. 
 
 Mrs. Bettie VanMetre was a Virginian, born in the 
 Luray Valley, scarcely twenty at the time in question, 
 and of attractive personal appearance. She had been 
 educated in comfortable circumstances, and before the 
 war her husband had been moderately wealthy, but now 
 his farm was as barren as a desert, not a fence to be 
 seen, and nothing to protect had any enclosure re- 
 mained ; there was a mill upon the premises, but the 
 miller had gone to fight for his country, as he believed, 
 and there was now no grain left in the country to bo 
 
CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 79 
 
 ground. Officers who had called at her door, remarked 
 the brave attempt at cheerfulness which so manifestly 
 struggled with her sorrow, and treated her grief with def- 
 erence. For this delicately nurtui-ed girl was living alone 
 in the midst of war ; battles had raged around her very 
 dwelling ; she was entirely at the mercy of those whom 
 she had been taught to believe to be her deadly enemies, 
 and who held her husband and brother prisoners in Fort 
 Delaware, taken while lighting in the Confederate army, 
 the brother being, uutil long after this time, supposed 
 to be dead. Her only companion was a little girl, per- 
 haps ten years of age, her neice. There this young 
 woman and this child were waiting in their anxiety and 
 desolation, waiting and praying for peace. 
 
 We should hardly expect the practice of active, 
 laborious, gratuitous benevolence under such circum- 
 stances, but we shall see. 
 
 It is not known how IMrs. VanMetre learned that a 
 Union officer was dying of wounds and neglect in the 
 house of her neighbor, but no sooner had she made the 
 discovery than all her womanly sympathy was aroused. 
 As she would have longed to have her husband or her 
 brother treated under similar circumstances, so she at 
 once resolved to treat their foe. She would not be 
 moved by the sneers and taunts which were sure to come, 
 but she would have him at her own house and save him 
 if she could. 
 
 The Lieutenant had now been entirely neglected for 
 a day or two or longer ; he had resigned himself to death, 
 when this good woman entered his chamber and with 
 
 
80 CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE, 
 
 kindly words called back his spirit from the mouth of 
 the grave. 
 
 She had been allowed to keep an apology for a horse, 
 so old and broken-winded and rheumatic that he was not 
 worth stealing, and also a rickety wagon. With the as- 
 sistance of a neighbor whose color permitted him to be 
 humane, she carried the sufferer to her house, and at 
 last he found himself in a clean and comfortable bed, his 
 wounds washed and his bandages cleansed, and best 
 of all, his wants anticipated by a gentle female tender- 
 ness that inspired him with sweet thoughts of his home, 
 his family, and his life even yet perhaps to be regaineil. 
 
 The physician of the neighborhood, a kind old gentle- 
 man, was at once summoned from a distance of several 
 miles, and uniting personal sympathy with professional 
 zeal, he promised his daily attendance upon the invalid. 
 The chance was still but a slender one, so much had 
 been endured, and so little vigor remained, yet those 
 two good people determined to expend their most earnest 
 endeavors in the almost desperate attempt to save the 
 life of an enemy. 
 
 And they succeeded. The details of convalescence 
 are always uninteresting ; it is enough to say that Bedell 
 lay for many days wrestling with death, but at last he 
 began to mend, and from that time his improvement was 
 rapid. But although Mrs, VanMetre and the good 
 Doctor were able to supply the Lieutenant's most press- 
 ing wants, still, much more than they could furnish was 
 needed for the comfort of the invalid, and even for the 
 proper treatment of his wounds. No stimulants coiUd 
 
CAMP LIFE : AM) AN EPISODE. 81 
 
 lie obtaiued except the vilest apple-jack, and the iieces- 
 sity for them seemed absolute ; no clothing was to be 
 had, and he was still in his bloody garments of bine ; 
 delicate food was needed, but the impoverished Virginia 
 larder had none but what was simple and coarse. 
 
 At Harper's Ferry, however, there was a depot of 
 our Sanitary Commission, and stores in abundance. 
 Some one must undertake a journey thither. It was a 
 long day's ride to make the distance and return, and 
 success was by no moans assured even if the store-house 
 could be reached. It was in the charge of strangers 
 iuid enemies. The Lieutenant was too feeble to write, 
 and even if he had been able to do so, there was no 
 method of authenticating his signature. But a womau 
 would be far more likely to succeed than a man, and in 
 fact no man would be allowed to pass within the limits 
 of the garrison encircling Harper's Ferry. So it came 
 about that the feeble Rosinante, and the rattling wagon, 
 and the brave-hearted solitary driver, made the danger- 
 ous journey, and brought back a feast of good things for 
 the sufferer. 
 
 The picquet had been seduced by her eloquence to 
 send her to Headquarters, under charge of a guard which 
 watched her carefully as a probable spy. The General 
 in command had seen fit to allow her to carry away 
 such trifling articles as the Commission people would 
 be willing to give, and although the chances were 
 even that the gifts would be used in building up some 
 wounded rebel, still the earnestness and the apparent 
 truthfulness of her entreaty for relief overboi-e all scru- 
 
82 CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 
 
 pies; the old fashioned vehicle was loaded with the 
 wished for supplies, and the suspicious guard escorted 
 the cargo beyond the lines. 
 
 The trip was thereafter repeated week by week, and 
 when letters were at length received in answer to those 
 deposited by the fair messenger, postmarked among the 
 Green Mountains, her triumph was complete, and her 
 draft good for anything the Sanitary treasury contained. 
 The only lingering doubt was in regard to the enormous 
 amount of whiskey the invalid required, ^ Mrs. Van 
 Metre, however, explained that it was needed for dip- 
 lomatic as well as medicinal purposes. Of course it 
 had been bruited about among the neighbors that the 
 miller's wife was nursing a Federal officer. In that 
 region now abandoned to the rule of Mosby and his men, 
 concealment was essential. Therefore the old men who 
 had heard of the convalescent must bo taken into confi- 
 dence and pledged to secrecy, a course rendered possible 
 only by the liberal use of the Spiritus Frumenti. 
 Under the influence of such liquor as had not been guz- 
 zled in the Valley since the peaceful days of Buchanan, 
 the venerable rascals were easily convinced that such a 
 shattered life as that of the Lieutenant could not greatly 
 injure their beloved Confederacy. 
 
 Five weeks after Bedell received his wounds, our 
 army was encamped on Cedar Creek, and Sheridan was . 
 in Washington. The Lieutenant greatly needed his 
 valise from our baggage wagons. Therefore a journey 
 of twenty miles up the Valley was planned, which 
 brought our heroine and her little neice to the army 
 
CAMP LIFE : AND AN KPISODE, 83 
 
 again, with a few words traced by the maimed right 
 hand of her charge as her credentials. Our feelings of 
 wonder and admiration were most intense, as we learned 
 from her simple story, that our favorite who was dead 
 was alive again, and felt how much true heroism her 
 modest words concealed. She had plainly totally aband- 
 oned herself for weeks to the care of a suffering enemy, 
 and yet 6he did not seem to realize that she deserved 
 any credit for so doing, or that every woman would not 
 have d'ine as much. We loaded her with the rude at- 
 tentions of the camp, and she spent the night comfort- 
 ably (from a military point of view) in a vacant tent at 
 G.eneral Getty's headquarters. The desired valise wa.9 
 'then at Winchester, but she obtained it on her return. 
 
 The nest daybreak found us fighting the Battle of 
 Cedar Creek. Amid the mounting in hot haste and the 
 thronging confusion of the morning's surprise. General 
 Getty found time to commit his terrified guests to the 
 care of an orderly, who by a circuitous route conducted 
 them safely out of the battle. 
 
 While our army was near Berryville in September, 
 some of General Getty's staff-officers had called upon 
 Mrs. Van Metre, and had persuaded her to prepare for 
 them a meal or two from the army rations, there being 
 a magnetism in female cookery that the blades of the 
 staff were always craving. lu her visit to the army 
 just mentioned, she learned that one of those casual ac- 
 quaintances had fallen at the former battle of the Ope- 
 quan, and that his body was still lying somewhere on 
 that wide battle-field. Seizing the earliest opportunity 
 
84 CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPIS0D15. 
 
 after her retaru, she personally searched all through the 
 territory between Opequan Creek and Winchester, amid 
 the carrion and the graves, until she found at last the 
 rude board with its almost obliterated inscription that 
 fixed the identity of the too scantily covered corpse. 
 Shocked at the sight, for the rain had exposed the limbs, 
 and the crows had mangled them, she procured a coffin, 
 and laborers from Winchester, and had the renkains de- 
 cently interred in the cemetery there at her o'^n ex- 
 pense. Then she addressed a letter to his friends giving 
 them the information which she possessed, and they sub- 
 sequently recovered the relics, thanking God and their 
 unknown benefactor. 
 
 We heard nothing further from the Lieutenant fot\) 
 months. We eventually learned, however, that after a 
 long period of such careful nursing, varied only by 
 the weekly errand of Mrs. Van Metre to Harper's 
 Ferry for letters and supplies, the prudent Doctor at 
 last gave his consent that Bedell should attempt the 
 journey home. Armed now with a pair of Sanitary 
 crutches, he doubted not that he could make his waj, if 
 he once could reach the Union lines. But the difficulty 
 of getting to Harper's Ferry cost him much anxiety. 
 Though at various times forty guerillas together had 
 been in and about the house where he lay, the watchful 
 care of his protector had thus far kept them in ignor- 
 ance of his presence. This journey, however, was likely 
 to prove even more difficult to manage. At length one 
 of the toddy -drinking neighbors, while relating his triala 
 and losses, chanced to mention the seizure by our troops, 
 
CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 85 
 
 of a pair of his mules mouths before, and the fact that a 
 negro had since seen them in the Martinsburgh corral. 
 A happy thought struck the Lieutenant ; he at once as- 
 sured the old gentleman that if he could only be placed 
 (what there was left of him) in safety at the Ferry, the 
 mules should be returned. The promise might perhaps 
 be considered rash, seeing that Martinsburgh was twen- 
 ty-five miles from Harper's Ferry, under a diflFerent 
 commander, that it was very decidedly unusual to re- 
 store property seized from the enemy for government 
 use, that the chattels were probably long ago far up the 
 Valley, and especially that Bedell could not have, in 
 any event, the faintest shadow of authority in the pre- 
 mises. But the old man jumped at the offer and the 
 bargain was struck. 
 
 It was decided that Mrs. VanMetre should accom- 
 pany the Lieutenant home, both for his sake as he was 
 vet months from recovery, and for her own, as she had 
 now lived for years in unwonted destitution and anxiety, 
 while a quiet, comfortable home was thenceforth assured 
 to her by her grateful charge until the return of peace ; 
 and who knew if she might not in some way regain her 
 own husband, as she had restored another's ! 
 
 So the party was made up and the journey commenc- 
 ed. The officer was carefully hidden in a capacious 
 fiirm-wagon, under an immense heap of straw, and 
 though two marauding parties were met during the day, 
 the cheerful smile of the well-known jolly farmer dis- 
 armed suspicion. The escape was successful. The 
 clumsy vehicle drew up before head-quarters at 
 8 
 
86 CAMP LIFE : AND AN EPISODE. 
 
 Harper's Ferry, and Bedell, saluted once more by a sen- 
 tinel as he defied his hat to the flag he had sufiered for, 
 headed the procession to the General's room. 
 
 The unique party told its own story. The tall Lieu- 
 tenant, emaciated, staggering on his unaccustomed 
 crutches, the shrinking woman, timid in the presence of 
 authority though so heroic in the presence of death, and 
 the old Virginian aghast at finding himself actually in 
 the lion's den, but with the burden of an anxious lons- 
 ing written on his wrinkled face, — each character so 
 speaking, the group needed only this simple introduc- 
 tion : " Greneral, this man has brought me in, and wants 
 his mules ! " 
 
 General Stevenson, warm-hearted and sympathetic, 
 comprehended the situation at once. He made the 
 party seat themselves before him and tell him all their 
 story. He fed them at his table and lodged them in his 
 quarters. He telegraphed for a special leave of ab- 
 sence for the officer, and secured free transportation for 
 both him and his friend, and finally, most surprising of 
 all possible good-fortune, he sent the venerable charioteer 
 to JMartinsburg, the happy bearer of a message that 
 secured the restoration of his long-eared quadrupeds. 
 
 On the next day the Lieutenant and Mrs. VanMetre 
 went on by rail to Washington, where of course every 
 one treated them kindly, and gave them all possible 
 assistance. When the paymaster had been visited and 
 all preparation made for their journey north, it was de- 
 termined to make an effort to secure the release of the 
 rebel prisoner. So it came about that the quasi-widow 
 
CAMP LIFE : AXD AX EPISODE. 87 
 
 imd the crippled officer called together upou Secretary 
 StautoD. The busiest of all busy men found time to 
 hear their stoi*y, and despite the " stony heart " at- 
 tributed to him by his enemies, he was deeply affected by 
 the touching tale, and the ocular demonstration of its 
 truth in the person of the wounded soldier. Tears rolled 
 down his cheeks as he gave the order requested, earned 
 by acts that few women would have dared ; and the 
 couple with glad hearts, crossing the street to the office 
 of the Commissary General of Prisoners, presented the 
 document to the clerk in charge to be vis^d. But here 
 another difficulty arose. Some one had blundered, and 
 on searching the records of the office the required name 
 could not be found. The cruel report was made that 
 no such prisoner had been taken. 
 
 Nevertheless, Mrs. VanMetre's information had been 
 direct and her conviction of some mistake was sure. 
 They laid the case before General Hitchcock, then in 
 charge of that office, and again the story was argument 
 enough. With trembling hands the old gentleman en- 
 dorsed the order : " The commanding officer at Fort 
 Delaware will release any person the bearer may claim 
 as her husband ! " 
 
 The prison barracks were quickly reached. The com- 
 mandant caused the thousands of grizzly captives to be 
 paraded. File after file was anxiously, oh how 
 anxiously ! scanned by the trembling woman, and when 
 the circuit was almost completed, when her sinking 
 heart was almost persuaded that death instead of cap- 
 ture had indeed been the fate of the one she loved, she 
 
88 CAMP LIFE : AND AX EPISODE. 
 
 recognized his face despite his uukempt hair aud his 
 tattered garments, and fell upon the neck of her hus- 
 band as he stood in the weary ranks. 
 
 A few days more and the two united families were at 
 rest in Bedell's New England home. 
 
IX. 
 
 OPEQ^UAN. 
 
 On September 10th the Fifth Vermont was broken 
 up, the larger portion of the original members being 
 mustered out ; a small veteran organization remained, 
 commanded by Captain Addison Brown of the Fourth, 
 assisted by Lieutenants detailed from other regiments of 
 the Brigade. 
 
 The time of service of the Fourth expired September 
 19th. The regiment went through the Battle of the Ope- 
 quan on that day, and some of its losses were among the 
 men who should have been at the time en route for Yer- 
 mont. Colonel, afterwards Brevet Brigadier Gen, George 
 P. Foster remained in command of the portion of the 
 regiment left in the field, which retained its name, as 
 in the case of the other regiments of the Brigade, with- 
 out the consolidation resorted to in troops from other 
 States under similar circumstances. 
 
 Although we had at last successfully (juieted the 
 demonstrations of the enemy, which had excited so great 
 apprehensions at times during the last three months, 
 it had also become apparent that the rebels would not 
 leave the Valley nor abandon their still threatening atti- 
 tude toward Maryland and Pennsylvania until they were 
 driven away. Lieutenant General Grant therefore paid 
 our army a visit for the purpose of ascertaining the pre- 
 cise situation of affairs, and deciding on the question of 
 
90 OPEQCAN. 
 
 aa active campaign. He found Sheridan eager for a 
 battle, and in his official report says : " he " (Sheridan) 
 " explained so clearly the location and condition of the 
 two armies, and pointed out so distinctly the method he 
 should pursue if left at liberty, that I saw no instruc- 
 tions were necessary except the simple words, Go in ! " 
 He further says that he asked if the movement could not 
 be commenced on the following Tuesday, the visit being 
 on Saturday. Sheridan answered that he would be 
 ready to move on Monday at day-break. 
 
 Grrant returned Saturday evening. On Sunday a 
 supply train arrived, five days' rations were distributed, 
 the same wagons removed the sick and the superfluous 
 baggage, and at night we knew that we were ready for 
 some serious movement which the uncertain morrow was 
 sure to bring. 
 
 Gen. L. A, Grant, having obtained a few days leave 
 of absence, and not crediting the rumors of an advance, 
 went to Plarper's Ferry with the train, where he spent 
 the next day listening to the sound of the cannon, and 
 anxiously expecting news from the battle-field. His 
 absence left Colonel Warner of the 11th in command of 
 the Vermont Brigade ; a West Point graduate, but 
 with little previous field experience, he developed abili- 
 ties on this occasion that for the remainder of tlie war 
 gave him a Brigade of his own, and deprived his regiment 
 of his valuable services. 
 
 It will be remembered that the Opequan Creek was 
 between the two armies, four or five miles to the west of 
 us, but diligently guarded by Early. A portion of his 
 
OPEQUAN. 91 
 
 army was near Bunker Hill, ten miles north of Winches- 
 ter ; the rest occupied the hills and plains, covering that 
 city. Kershaw's division, it was said, had just disap- 
 peared up the Luray Valley — leaving us with a prepon- 
 derance of about 4,000 men. 
 
 Our movement commenced at 3 o'clock Monday morn- 
 ing, September 10th, Getty's Division having the ad- 
 vance, the Vermont Brigade being the last in the 
 Division. Striking directly across the country, at first 
 in the dai-kness, we presently reached the main road 
 from Berryville to Winchester, and moved down it to 
 the crossing of the Opequan. This stream is consider- 
 ably below the level of the adjoining country, and the 
 road on its further side keeps the low level of the stream 
 for a mile or more, winding through a long tortuous 
 wooded ravine, our unobstructed passage whereof was 
 for the time a mystery. It seems that Wilson's 
 Division of cavalry had already cleared the way and 
 was then holding desperately a position that it had 
 gained with considerable loss, but which proved a most 
 admirable one in which to deploy our line of battle. 
 
 As we filed out of the ravine which toward the last 
 was lined with wounded cavalrymen, we found Sheridan, 
 his headquarters fixed on a conspicuous elevation, per- 
 sonally superintending from the commencement the 
 operations of the day. It was to be our first battle 
 under his command, as well as his first independent 
 battle ; the troops were hitherto destitute of all enthusi- 
 asm for him ; fortunately, however, no impression save a 
 favorable one had as yet been received, it being universal- 
 
92 OPEQUAX. 
 
 ly conceded that lie had so far handled his army hand- 
 somely. And it was with great satisfaction that we 
 found him in this early twilight at the very front, and 
 under the fire of the enemy, carefully attending to de- 
 tails which we had been accu.stomeil to see more cele- 
 brated conunanders entrust to their staff". 
 
 Our Division promptly relieved the cm'alrv and 
 formed its line facinjf; west, the Third Briifade which 
 was in advance going to what was to be the extreme 
 left of the infantry line, resting on Abraham (^reek ; the 
 First Brigade following, took up its position on the 
 right of the Third, and our own Brigade filled the re- 
 maining distance between the First and the road on 
 which we had reached the battle-field. It had been in- 
 tended to place us in two lines, but the unexpected ex- 
 tent of the ground we had to cover forbade that formation. 
 We were just on the hither edge of a narrow fringe of 
 wood that concealed us from the enemy ; the Sixth Ver- 
 mont was thrown forward as a skirmish liTie perhaps 
 one hundred yards to the further side of the little forest, 
 and at once engaged the enemy's skirmishers. 
 
 Near us in the road at our right was a reliel field 
 work taken by AVilson in the night. The hill on 
 which it was situated commanded the country in 
 both directions, and it was already occupied by a bat- 
 tery engaged in feeling the enemy, which was answered 
 vigorously, many of the rebel shell plunging over into 
 the troops as they successively came up the road. 
 
 Our Division thus formed in single line was the only 
 Division on the south or left of the road. The Third 
 
OPEQUAN. 93 
 
 Division, llicketts', followed us and prolouged the line 
 across aud ou the north of the road, placing its two 
 Brigades in two lines. The First Division, Russell's, 
 came next, and was draw^n up behind the Third as a 
 third line or reserve, also somewhat overlapping the 
 right of our Brigade. 
 
 Then to our surprise no more troops appeared, and 
 our corps was alone confronting the enemy. There were 
 tAvo or three anxious hours, but Early was engaged in 
 hurrying up his detachment from Bunker Hill, which 
 this delay gave him ample time to do, and made no as- 
 sault. It was said that the Nineteenth Corps being 
 ordered to follow the Sixth, had filed into the road be- 
 hind our wagon train, instead of keeping closed up ou 
 our column. It is certain that with this loss of time, 
 from whatever reason it occurred, we lost the opportun- 
 ity of attacking the enemy in detail, and gave him time 
 to prepare for our reception. It was noon before the 
 Nineteenth Corps had reached its place and was formed 
 in three or four lines on the right of the Sixth. 
 
 Our men during the forenoon had been resting, sit- 
 ting or lying on the ground. When at last the disposi- 
 tion was completed and the signal gun was fired, they 
 sprang to the ranks, and the line advanced. Particular 
 instructions had been received to the effect that the 
 road was to give the direction of attack, and that the 
 guiding regiment was to be the left regiment of the 
 Third Division, just across the road from our right. 
 
 In passing through the bit of trees in our front, 
 which was filled with underbrush, our line was ueces- 
 
04 OPEQUAX. 
 
 sarily thrown somewhat into confusiou. When we 
 emerged from the wood and the ground over which we 
 must make our attack was developed, the prospect was 
 appalling. The hill gradually sloped away before us, 
 for a quarter of a mile, to a long ravine, irregular in its 
 course, but its windings extending either way as far as 
 we could see. The ascent beyond it was in most 
 places sharp, and the enemy held its crest in force, per- 
 fectly commanding with musketry and artillery the long 
 slope down which we must pass, though the acclivity on 
 the further side of the hollow was so steep a's to actual- 
 ly present a cover from their fire — if it could once be 
 reached. 
 
 When this fearful prospect opened the line involun- 
 tarily halted, and the men threw themselves, on the 
 ground as was their wont when under fire. Our own 
 Brigade was properly waiting for the movement of the 
 guiding regiment which lay across the road a little to 
 our rear, and which could not be prevailed upon to stir. 
 To add to the peril of the situation, the road, instead of 
 continuing straight on, as seems to have been expected, 
 here made a bend to the left so that our original orders 
 could not be obeyed without an amount of obliqueing 
 that would have resulted in demoralization ; from this 
 cause our own Brigade was soon afterwards thrown into 
 temporary confusion, and the Third Division was pre- 
 sently so disorganized as to be unable to resist a 
 counter-charge made against it by the enemy. 
 
 At length the commander of the Brigade at our right 
 crossed to our side of the road and urged us to set his 
 
OPEQDAN. 95 
 
 men the example. Col. Warner took the responsibility, 
 bi'ought the Brigade to its feet, corrected the align- 
 ment, and gave the command to advance, which was 
 promptly obeyed. The Third Division followed and the 
 line was again in motion. But our point of direction 
 was lost, for we were in advance of our guides, and 
 when it was seen that owing to a curve in the ravine 
 before us the cover on its further side could be reached 
 much sooner by obliqueing sharply to the left, we took 
 that direction almost by common consent, and left the 
 road-side. 
 
 Our vrhole Brigade, every man at' the top of his 
 speed, making for the coveted protection of the hill be- 
 yond us, plunged pell mell into the hollow. The troops 
 at our right and left were lost sight of. The ravine was 
 of some considerable width and its bottom was marshy, 
 being the head waters of a little branch of Abraham 
 Creek, The steep slope on its further side was covered 
 with evergreens sis or eight feet high. To our intense 
 consternation, as we reached its swampy bottom, we saw 
 at our right, at short pistol range, at least a full regi- 
 ment of the enemy drawn up in line near the point 
 where the road crosses the hollow, in anticipation of 
 our taking precisely the course we did, and firing coolly, 
 as rapidly as they could load, directly along our line, 
 thus enfilading us completely. Its position is in- 
 dicated on the plan. The slaughter was for a 
 few moments murderous. We could not retreat, 
 for we should again enter the fire that had been mowing 
 us down in the charge, now cut ofi" by the hill before us. 
 
96 OPEQUAX. 
 
 We therefore floundered on, our coherence entirely lost^ 
 entered the clusters of ever^jreens throucrh which the 
 cruel bullets whistled fearfully, and at last, a confused 
 mass at best, those of us who escaped unhurt reached 
 comparative safety under the very crest of the hill, and 
 high above the deadly hollow. 
 
 We now opened fire for the first time during the day, 
 in the direction of the regiment or brigade that had so 
 frightfully thinned our ranks, but they were almost out 
 of reach from us, as well as we from them. At this 
 moment, however, the Third Division approached them 
 and they tiled away. 
 
 When this was discovered, and after gaining breath, 
 our own advance was resumed, but with little pretence at 
 order. Emerging upon the plain before us at the summit 
 of the hill we had climbed, we again turned obliquely 
 towards the road and charged upon a long breastwork 
 filled with rebels, in our immediate front. The retreat 
 of their comrades from the ravine apparently demoral- 
 ized them ; many fled, many more were captured ; in fact 
 as we clambered over the parapet it seemed as if the 
 prisoners who then surrendered exceeded in number 
 our entire Brigade. 
 
 But we did not stop to count them or to care for 
 them. The principal position of the enemy in this por- 
 tion of the field had now been gained, and we rushed 
 onward toward the distant spires of Winchester, with 
 shouts and cheers, now thoroughly excited by our un- 
 expected success. A battery of the enemy was before 
 us but it limbered up and retired as we advanced. Several 
 
OPEyUAN. 97 
 
 times it turned, fired a rouud of canister, and resumed 
 its flight. At our left the other Brigades of our 
 Division were seen moving on in our support. At our 
 right an unfortunate ridge now rose, parallel with our 
 line of advance, along the top of which ran the road so 
 often referred to, and which hid our friends from view ; 
 we could only hope that they were equally successful, 
 and push wildly forward. A point was reached proba- 
 bly three-fourths of a mile beyond the entrenchments 
 where we had captured the prisoners, when luckily a 
 ditch running across our path suggested cover and a 
 pause. This ditch was reached only by the colors of 
 the Fifth, with perhaps two hundred men from the vari- 
 ous regiments. Exhausted with running they opened 
 fire as vigoi-ously as they could, but a line of rebels was 
 seen gradually collecting in their front, as the fugitives 
 were rallied, and the position held by our troops was 
 presently dangerously threatened. And now to their 
 dismay, the Brigade on the higher ground to their left 
 saw reason for retiring and called to them to follow. 
 What it could mean they did not know, but it seemed 
 prudent to withdraw, if only for the purpose of keeping 
 up the connection. An officer sent to investigate soon 
 reported that at least a Division of the enemy were far 
 behind their right in an orchard which they supposed 
 had been carried by the Third Division. Orders were 
 given therefore to fall back to the line of the army fol- 
 lowing the low ground on the left, thus keeping under 
 cover of the hill at the right, the enemy meantime being 
 absorbed in their movement against Ricketts ; and thus 
 9 
 
98 OPEQUAN. 
 
 the detachment successfully escaped from its dangerous 
 position and re-formed with the balance of the Brigade 
 near the works we had carried, .being as before on the 
 right of the other Brigades of our Division, connecting 
 with and at first even in front of the support which was 
 put in to meet the emergency. 
 
 We afterwards leai'ned that a break had taken placo 
 on the right which for a time seemed likely to result in 
 complete disaster. The report in our Corps was, that 
 the Nineteenth, advancing through a long stretch of 
 forest and at first successful, had afterwards been re- 
 pulsed, and fled in disorder, many of the fugitives even 
 going back to the Creek, and that our Third Division 
 had been checked soon after we lost sight of it, presently 
 becominnj more or less involved inthcflio;ht oftheNine- 
 teenth Corps. On the other hand Gen. Emory, command- 
 ing the Nineteenth Corps, in a letter published in the 
 World, which was fortified with affidavits, insisted that 
 the break began at the right of our Third Division, 
 which led to the turning of his left and the consequent 
 retiring of his Corps. The official reports disagree as 
 much as the letters of the correspondents, who of course 
 reflected the opinions of the several headquarters to 
 which they were attached, and who created considerable 
 ill-feeling by the discrepancies in their accounts, and by 
 their insinuations ; the truth is probably between the 
 claims of both, and the real cause of the enemy's tem- 
 porary success seems to have been the unfortunate bend 
 in the road above mentioned, which interfered with and 
 destroyed the symmetry of our first advance. Our 
 
OPEQUAN. 99 
 
 Third Division obliqued to the left as it moved against 
 the enemy, following the order to guide on the road, 
 (there were few or no fences in that vicinity) and so left 
 an interval between its right and the Nineteenth Corps, 
 which appears to have gone in impetuously and with 
 little order ; the enemy presently made a counter-charge, 
 and, luckily for them, struck the gap with a heavy 
 force, crumbling oiF the troops on either side of it, and 
 causing the troops on each side of the interval to think 
 that the others had let the enemy through. The frontline 
 of the Nineteenth Corps was almost entirely disorganized, 
 and was replaced by the second line, while only the 
 right of our Third Division was broken up, its left with 
 our own Division merely retiring a short distance under 
 orders, as was necessary in order to keep a continuous 
 front. 
 
 At the critical moment General Wright, who was for 
 the day in command of the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, 
 though (as he says) " it was too early in the battle to 
 choose to put in the reserves, still, seeing that the fate 
 of the day depended on the employment of this force," 
 promptly ordered in the First Division with two bat- 
 teries ; it marched gallantly down, with its full Division 
 front, to the very face of the enemy, relieving the Third 
 Division, which, re-forming, presently took up its posi- 
 tion still further to the right, where the interval had be- 
 fore been left. Sheridan held back General Upton's 
 Brigade of the First Division until it could strike the 
 flank of the charging column of the rebels, when it made 
 the most remarkable and successful charge of the day ; 
 
1 (^0 OPEQUAN. 
 
 completely breaking up the rebel aHsault, and permitting 
 our shattered line again to knit itself into coherence. 
 General Upton was there wounded and the brave unos- 
 tentatious Russell, the idol of the Division he command- 
 ed, was shot dead, while personally employed restoring 
 the broken line. 
 
 The two hours following were spent in re-arranging 
 the troops, issuing ammunition, and making dispositions 
 for another advance. The Sixth Vermont, skirmishers 
 through the morning, had properly allowed us to pass 
 them in our first charge, but subsequently moving for- 
 ward, accidentally joined the Third Division, where they 
 gained great credit during the remainder of the day. 
 The whole position now held by the Sixth Corps was 
 that occupied by the enemy at noon. Getty's Division 
 had been entirely successful, and had completely wiped 
 out everything that had confronted it ; the A'^er- 
 mont Brigade in particular met as determined resistance 
 as any portion of the line could have done, besides pass- 
 ing through the terrible enfilading fire in the ravine, 
 and not only drove back the enemy and held its ground 
 firmly without assistance, but actually captured hun- 
 dreds of prisoners, fairly finishing the battle in its front ; 
 the rest of the army not being equally fortunate, we 
 afterwards had it all to fight over acjain. 
 
 Captain, afterwards Major Templcton, an exceedingly 
 gallant officer of the Eleventh Vermont, had during the 
 previous campaign excited considerable amusement in 
 the Brigade by constantly carrying in his hands on the 
 march a camp-chair, from the comfortable elevation 
 
PL.VS OF THE BXTTLB OF 
 
 T HE O P F. Q T" -V N- . 
 
 Idth September. »S6*. 
 
OPEQUAN. 101 
 
 whereof he was wont at the halts to smile serenely, in 
 his rather boisterous way, at the ungainly rest obtained 
 by other otfieei-s who were forced to sprawl themselves 
 out upon the ground for rest. The exigencies of his re- 
 treat from the ditch mentioned above proved too great 
 for the Captain's equanimity and he reluctantly aban- 
 doned his cherished chair to the tender mercies of the 
 foe. When we formed, his loss was at once seen and he 
 was ridiculed unmercifully, but he successfully redeemed 
 himself by recapturing his furniture in the subsequent 
 advance. 
 
 The Rebel line was now contracted, taking up a new 
 position nearly two miles from that which they first at- 
 tempted to hold, and occupying some old works sur- 
 rounding the northern and eastern sides of the city of 
 Winchester. Regular skirmish lines were thrown out 
 on both sides and the artillery planted in advantageous 
 positions. 
 
 ^[eanwhile General Sheridan was making his disposi- 
 tions for a combination which proved decisive. General 
 Crook's command had crossed the Opcquan further to 
 the north, and had been kept in reserve behind the 
 .Nineteenth Corps. As soon as our lines were firmly 
 settled in the position secured by our first attack. Crook 
 was put in motion to encircle and double back the rebel 
 left. He was assisted by Averill's and Merritt's 
 cavalry, and was entirely successful. Their detour was 
 somewhat long and the day was fast waning, but the 
 movement was hurried to the utmost, being supervised 
 by Sheridan himself who found it utterly impossible to 
 
102 OPEQUAN. 
 
 conduct a battle from a " commanding eminence " in the 
 rear, as he at first attempted to do. As soon as he saw 
 that the plan was in process of successful execution, he 
 pcrfonally inspected the rest of his army and th& 
 enemy's position, riding at a terrible speed along tho 
 whole of our extended sTcirmish line, wheeling out from 
 the storm of bullets only as he reached our own 
 Division at the left of all, and pausing as he passed be- 
 tween the Brigades to exclaim, with eloquent profanity^ 
 " Crook and Avcrill arc on their left and rear — we've- 
 got 'em bagged, by ! " 
 
 The order to advance was soon received, and the 
 line moved forward ; not with the promiscuous disorder- 
 ly rush of the former charge, but steadily and deliber" 
 at3ly, aligning carefully by Brigades and by 
 Divisions, we swept forward into the battle. The Ver- 
 mont Brigade was fearfully enfiladed by a battery on 
 our left, but every man kept his place in the ranks,, 
 and promptly obeyed Col. Warner's frequent orders. 
 The Brigade headquarters flag was flying in the very 
 battle line. The Second Division was still on the left,. 
 then the First and Third, the Nineteenth Corps still' 
 further to the right, and Crook's command on its flank- 
 ing tour in the distance. 
 
 The lino reached easy musket range of the enemy 
 and opened fire. The artillery rattled up behind us 
 and joined in the tumult. The batteries were nearer 
 the front that day than we had ever before seen them, 
 and General Sheridan's wish, expressed in the morning 
 to Col. Tompkins, our Corps Chief of Artillery, that he 
 
OPEQUAN. 103. 
 
 might " see some dead horses before night " was amply 
 gratified. At the time of the repulse of the first attack, 
 Stevens' battery was ordered back by a staff ofiiccr 
 who feared its capture, but Col. Tompkins held it to 
 its work, pistol in hand, though the rebels were but 
 two hundred yards from the muzzles of the guns. 
 
 On this second advance it again fell to the lot of th& 
 Vermont Brigade to be thrown forward beyond the- 
 rest of the line of battle of which it formed a part. 
 Wo entered a corn field with stalks full ten feet high, 
 and could do nothing of use unlil we reached its fur- 
 ther limit, where it was bounded by a tomato garden, 
 at the further side of which was a strong paling fence. 
 Behind this fence we had halted when we opened fire. 
 The enemy was in plain sight but a short distance be- 
 fore us and the men worked at their guns with the 
 diligence of desperation. We were still enfiladed by 
 the battery at our left, and we saw the Brigade on our 
 right withdraw a short distance for better shelter behind 
 the crest of a little hill. It seemed to us less dangerous 
 to remain, and we clung to our position though losing 
 rapidly. Major Buxton of the Eleventh was here shot 
 dead, a bullet passing through his brain. Two or three 
 years afterwards some lunatic created a sensation in 
 Vermont by assuming the gallant major's name and 
 title. The attempt gave a terrible shock to those who 
 had seen the Major's remains, for his death was so sud- 
 den that he did not stir from the position in which he 
 was lying with his face to the ground among his men. 
 
 Presently the line of the enemy before us was seen 
 
104 OPEUUAN. 
 
 to waver and melt away : many had fallen, others 
 could not endure the deadly fire, and at last wo caught 
 a vision that redeemed Sheridan's assertion. The whole 
 left of the enemy rushed past us toward our left in the 
 wildest disorder. Crook and Averill had done their 
 duty. Merritt, Custer and Lowell were madly urging 
 the pursuit. They caught up with the mass of fugitives 
 directly in front of our position, taking flags and 
 cannon and thousands of prisoners. 
 
 The Brigade rose as one man, rushed at the fence 
 that had partially protected us, and as it fell, passed 
 over it into the open plain. The whole army was seiz- 
 ed with the same impulse and strode joyfully forward, 
 a huge crescent, with waving flags and wild hurrahs. 
 The scene was wonderful. The infantry kept a rapid 
 march and the alignment seemed complete. " Beau- 
 tiful as an army with banners," is a figure full of 
 meaning and its power was then completely realized. 
 And in that joyful mood, conscious of strength and of 
 victory, we closed upon the city as the evening fell. 
 An attempt was made by the enemy to rally in some 
 forts which were built by General Milroy in 1862, on 
 a hill west of the city, but it was soon abandoned, and 
 they fled in confusion up the Valley pike. 
 
 Our brigade was halted at the edge of the town 
 near a vineyard covering perhaps an acre of ground, 
 filled with grapes, ripe and abundant. The day's work 
 had allowed no time to eat or drink and the opportun- 
 ity thus ottered was improved to the fullest extent. 
 While we were thus regaling ourselves with the 
 
OPEQUAN. 105. 
 
 luscious fruit General Sheridan came by, and was 
 saluted with the wildest cheers. Since the time of 
 McClellan it had been a point of pride with the Bri- 
 gade not to cheer its officers ; but on this occasion 
 tumultous hurrahs came unbidden from the bottom of 
 every heart and conventional restraint was forgotten. 
 
 The Battle of the Opequan was the first occasion in 
 which the new administration of affairs presided over 
 by Lieutenant General Grant completely satisfied and 
 compelled the approval of the many soldiers of the 
 Vermont Brigade who were thoroughly wedded to the 
 love of the old rajime. 
 
 Meanwhile the cavalry had dashed furiously through 
 the city, and on towards Newtown, but it was presently 
 recalled, and the army bivouacked for the night on the 
 South side of Winchester near Abraham's Creek. A 
 night pursuit was physically impossible after such a 
 day, but on the morrow we followed the enemy twenty- 
 five miles to their fortress at Fisher's Hill. 
 
 The battle of the Opequan was an entire and complete 
 success. It was fought between two armies nearl}' equal 
 in size, and in a country for the most part free from trees 
 — a "fair field fight." The enemy were at first surprised 
 by Wilson, but concentrated in time to repulse the first 
 general attack, losing however their best position. 
 Then they were outflanked and almost surrounded on 
 an open plain, hardly escaping with the loss of 4,400 
 prisoners, five cannon, many flags, nine generals (six 
 wounded and three killed), 5 000 men killed or wound- 
 ed, and much material captured. Their wounded were 
 
106 OPEQUAN. 
 
 left in our hands, and the Rebels never revisited the 
 lower Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 Gen. Wright in his official report spoke of the bat- 
 tle in the following terms : 
 
 The battle of the Opequau affords a rare example 
 among the many hard fought fields of this war in which 
 all the arms of the service co-operated with full eflFect. 
 Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery had their full share in 
 the operations of the day, and their movements were in 
 entire harmony. The artillery of this Corps alone ex- 
 pended eighteen wagon loads of ammunition and all 
 with good efiect upon the results of the conflict. All 
 my batteries were effectively engaged. 
 
 Sheridan telegraphed General Grant at 7.30 p. m., 
 
 as follows : 
 
 I have the honor to report that I attacked the forces 
 of Gen. Early on the Berryville pike at the crossing of 
 the Opequan, and after a most stubborn and sanguinary 
 engagement which lasted from early in the morning 
 until 5 o'clock in the evening, completely defeated him 
 driving him through Winchester. * * * * * * 
 The conduct of officers and men was most superb. They 
 charged and canied every position taken up by the 
 rebels from Opequan Creek to Winchester. The rebels 
 were strong in numbers and very obstinate in their 
 fitrhtin^. I desire to mention to the Lieutenant Gen- 
 eral commanding the army, the gaUant conduct of 
 Generals Wright, Crook, Emery and Torbert and the 
 officers and men under their command. To them the 
 country is indebted for this handsome victory. 
 Philip H. Sueridan, 
 
 Maj .-Gen. Commanding. 
 
 At 1 the next morning he also sent the following 
 dispatch to General Stevenson at Harper's Ferry : 
 " We fought Early from daylight till between 6 and 7 
 o'clock. We drove him from Opequan Creek through 
 Winchester, and beyond the town. * * * 
 
OPEQUAN. 107 
 
 We have just sent them whirling through Winchester, 
 and we are after them to-morrow. This army behaved 
 splendidly. 
 
 P. H. Sheridan. 
 The next morning the New York Tribune expressed 
 the relief which this victory had brought to the loyal 
 heart of the nation, in an editorial, commencing with 
 the followino; stirrino; words : 
 
 " Hurrah for Phil. Sheridan ! And for his gallant 
 army ! And for the Union which they fought for on 
 Monday ! And Tuank God for the great victory 
 which they won ! 
 
 " We care not to repress the grateful exultation which 
 we can but feel over this splendid success. It went 
 with a thrill to the heart of every loyal man who heard 
 it yesterday morning, and with a chill to the heart of 
 every traitor in Richmond and in New York. Con- 
 sciously or unconsciously it struck every one as the 
 turning point of the great Virginia campaign, and it 
 flashes upon us as the First Victory in the Valley of 
 the Shenandoah which hitherto has been to us a Valley 
 of Humiliation and almost of Despair. We remember 
 no Victory in this War which has more suddenly 
 and joyfully awakened the sympathies of the North; 
 nor one which has been welcomed with a more enthusi- 
 astic delight." 
 
 The casualties of the Vermont Brigade were as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 EGIMENTf 
 
 '. KILLED. 
 
 WOUNDED. 
 
 MISSI>0, 
 
 total. 
 
 2d 
 
 3 
 
 ::9 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 3d 
 
 
 
 2G 
 
 4 
 
 30 
 
 4th 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 5 th 
 
 6 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 6th 
 
 5 
 
 46 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 11th 
 
 8 
 
 85 
 
 6 
 
 99 
 
 Total, 23 223 10 556. 
 
•X08 OPEQUAN. 
 
 Major Charles Buxton and Captain Dennis Duhigg 
 of the llth were killed. Snmner H. Lincoln, Adju- 
 tant, afterwards Colonel, of the Sixth was wounded 
 early in the day ; Capt. James E. Eldridge of the 
 Eleventh was also wounded severely, and Capt. Darius 
 J. Safford slight' y. 
 
 On the next day Col. Warner was assigned to the 
 command of the First Brigade of our Division which 
 he held with credit to the close of the War, becoming 
 a Brigadier General presently ; its commander. Gen. 
 Wheaton, succeeded the lamented Russell in the com- 
 mand of the First Division. Gen. Grant being still 
 absent, Col. Foster of the Fourth Vermont now com- 
 manded our Brigade. The Eleventh was thencefor- 
 ward under Lieutenant Colonel (afterwards Colonel) 
 Charles Hunsdon, its Battalions being conmianded by 
 Majors Walker and Sowles. 
 
X. 
 
 FISHER'S HILL. 
 
 The battle of the Opequan just described, and 
 the wonderful day at Cedar Creek on the I9th of Oc- 
 tober, hereafter to be described, are much the best 
 known of Sheridan's Valley battles. But amona his 
 soldiers the idea was current, and still prevails, that 
 the battle of Fisher's Hill, with its unusual amount of 
 careful reconnoitring and skillful manoeuvring, result- 
 ing in almost incredible success, displayed even more 
 military genius than either of the first named fields. 
 The men who for two days faced those bristling fortres- 
 ses, wondering if the dislodgment of their garrison could 
 be possible, can never sufiiciently applaud the skill that 
 won them. The surpriseof the enemy was here complete, 
 though accomplished in broad daylight, and requiring the 
 expenditure of much time and great strength in travers- 
 ing the long and laborious dis^tances required. The 
 plan was matured a day and a half before its execution, 
 and its success depended almost as much upon a cor- 
 rect estimate of the morale of the hostile armies, as 
 upon the strategic skill displayed in perfecting the 
 intricate dispositions involved in the plan of assault, 
 and executing the scheme just as it was originally 
 conceived. The reason why this battle has faded almost 
 entirely from the memory of the average reader, and has 
 even been almost entirely overlooked by our historians, 
 10 
 
110 fisher's hill. 
 
 is simply its wonderful and most extraordinary result. 
 It was gained with so little loss that the overwhelming 
 nature of the defeat inflicted is forgotten. 
 
 On the morning after the battle of the Opequan our 
 whole army was in vigorous pursuit of the enemy be- 
 fore daybreak. Evening found us halted in his presence. 
 
 Thirty miles south of Winchester, the noble Valley 
 being now narrowed from twenty miles to five, and the 
 River still clinging to the mountains on its eastern 
 side, a line of hills stretches across the country from 
 the Shenandoah to the Blue Ridge (which is here call- 
 ed the Little North Mountains ) ; broken hills, now re- 
 ceding and anon advancing as they follow the windings 
 of a little stream, or mountain brook, called Tumbling 
 Run, on their hither side, which wanders from the last 
 named mountains easterly into the Shenandoah, hills high 
 and commanding, crowned with earthworks and artillery, 
 separated by rugged ravines which were blocked up 
 with slashed and fallen timber, every rod of hill and 
 hollow well guarded by rifle pits and abattis and bay- 
 onets. These hills and the stream run at right angles 
 to the pike by which we were marching up the Valley 
 to the South, and they are confronted on this side of the 
 brook in part by wooded elevations and in part by level 
 meadows. Beyond them in the centre of the Valley 
 rises Round Top, a curious lofty height, almost a moun- 
 tain, entirely covered with forest, save where a wide 
 path had been cleared directly over its summit to fit it 
 for a signal station, in which capacity it commanded 
 most admirably every regiment of Early's army at its 
 
fisher's hill. Ill 
 
 immediate foot, and e( pally admirably every company 
 of Sheridan's force and every mile of turnpike as far as 
 AVincliester, except as woods scattered here and there 
 might mask the ground. 
 
 Along the hills beneath this natural watch-tower the 
 Rebels had drawn up their lines. In order to reach 
 them Tumbling Run must be crossed, and the heights of 
 Fisher's Hill must be wearily climbed in the face of 
 their muskets and artillery. On their right was the 
 Shenandoah, on their left the Little North Mountains, 
 carefully picqueted as far as the enemy supposed a 
 goat could climb. The position had been selected years 
 before by Stonewall Jackson as the strongest in the 
 Valley, and was by him entrenched and used as a con- 
 stant rallying place, or sallying place, as the occasion 
 mio-ht sugijest. A half written letter found in the works 
 after we had carried them, spoke of the Rebel army as 
 secure in a " haven of rest." 
 
 Fisher's Hill was thus always ready for rebel occu- 
 pation, and had been confronted once before by Sheri- 
 dan, who then deemed it prudent to withdraw. Now, 
 however, he was at liberty to strike the enemy accord- 
 ing to his best discretion, and had also yesterday in- 
 flicted upon them a terrible blow. His army was eager 
 in pursuit ; the rebels were disheartened in retreat ; we 
 were satisfied that our commander was energy per- 
 sonified, though we yet feared an order for some reck- 
 less assault, scarcely dreaming that it was possible even 
 with the heaviest loss to carry the Hill ; the enemy 
 were still ready to fight with determination, as long as 
 
112 fishek's hill. 
 
 they were sure that they were not out-generaled, but 
 were infected with a want of confidence in their leader 
 sure to ruin them if they saw any cause to waver. All 
 these considerations Sheridan appreciated and laid his 
 plans accordingly. 
 
 On the evening of September 20th the Nineteenth 
 Corps was placed in the front along the meadows 
 whence the turnpike sprang across the massive sloping 
 bridge of masonry, and up the steep ascent of the hills 
 in the possession of the enemy, the village of Strasburg 
 being their headquarters. An interchange of cannon 
 shot proved that our day's march was ended, and our 
 passage up the Valley was to be here disputed. The 
 rest of the army filed into the woods north of the 
 village, and bivouacked for the night. At break of 
 day Ganeral S'leridan ra ide a careful reconuoisance and 
 comui'jnced his dispositions. 
 
 The Sixth Corps was to extend the line to the right 
 of the Nineteenth across the Valley, and Crook's com- 
 mand, or, as it was usually called, the Eighth Corps, 
 was again, as at the Opoquan, to perform the part of 
 the hammer that breakcth the rock. The cavalry had 
 been sent up the Luray Valley, in order, if possible, to 
 reach the enemy's rear at Newmarket, and cut off his 
 retreat in the event of our success at Fisher's Hill ; one 
 small Division under Averill alone remained, which 
 was of no assistance on account of the impracticable 
 nature of the ground. Our loss in killed and wounded 
 at the Opequan had been probably a little greater than 
 Eirly's, and the absence of our cavalry more than 
 
fisher's hill. 113 
 
 counterbalanced the prisoners we had taken there. 
 Kershaw's Division of the enemy had retired into the 
 Luray before the former battle, but any superiority 
 which we may have had on this occasion, was far over- 
 matched by the wonderful natural fortification occupied 
 by the rebels, which was being strengthened each 
 minute by the vigorous use of the shovel and the axe. 
 It was evident that a direct assault must fail. Bravery 
 alone could never gain us the upper Valley. 
 
 After hours of study the brilliant scheme was laid 
 which gave us victory without its usual price. It is 
 said that Wright alone of all Sheridan's lieutenants 
 regarded the project fixed upon as feasible, but our 
 commanding General was " sure he could make it," 
 relying greatly on his confidence that Early's brave 
 army, distrustful of its leader, was on the watch for 
 just such a catastrophe as finally befel it. 
 
 At 10 A. M. on the 2 1st our movement began. 
 The Sixth Corps, filing off to the west, took its posi- 
 tion on the prolongation of the line already held by 
 the Nineteenth Corps, on this side of the Run. These 
 two Corps covered a front of three miles or so, seizing 
 such position and protection as best they could, while 
 continually annoyed by the hostile batteries, and the 
 sharpshooters on the enemy's skirmish line. However, 
 most of us were under cover, hidden in the forests, or 
 lying behind some crest of hill, or crouching beneath 
 the walls with which the country is there striped. 
 
 A railroad, bereft of its rails, and in a terrible state 
 of dilapidation generally, ran from north to south 
 
114 riSHER'S HILL. 
 
 through the centre of both armies, piercing the hills 
 with deep hewn cut?. Its lofty bridge across the brook 
 had been burned years before, and its road-bed was 
 guarded by artillery. Its vicinity was held by the Ver- 
 mont brigade durino; the afternoon, and the constant 
 whizzing of the shell from side to side over and around 
 us was much more enlivening than agreeable. The 
 bearer of Colonel Foster's headquarters flag was here 
 killed by a sharpshooter's bullet ; the only man killed 
 in the Brigade at Fisher's Hill. 
 
 About a mile to the right of the railroad rose Flint's 
 Hill, the highest elevation to be found on our side 
 of the Run. The enemy, aware of its value to us, 
 had occupied it, and instead of leaving it when they 
 abandoned the remainder of the hither side of the 
 stream, they evinced an unexpected determination to 
 remain in possession of it. Twice or thrice during 
 that afternoon fierce volleys of musketry had been 
 heard from that direction, the meaning of which was 
 discussed but not understood, the prevailing impression 
 being that the enemy were trying to drive in our skir- 
 mishers, or perhaps making a sortie against our flank. 
 
 Suddenly just at dusk our Brigade was called to at- 
 tention and hurried oft' at a double quick by the right 
 flank. As we advanced, the firing all at once became 
 sharp and sharper, until it was evident that no picquet 
 line engagement was in progress. Presently we were halt- 
 ed in a wood just behind the rattling musketry, and in 
 an admirable defensive position. It was now quite dark. 
 No other idea occurred to us than that the rebels were 
 
PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF 
 FISHER'S HILI. 
 22d September, 1864. 
 
fisher's hill, 115 
 
 assaulting and driving in our skirmishers ; and as the 
 men threw themselves on the ground for rest after their 
 race, and for cover, muskets were cocked and all pre- 
 parations made to give any troops that might appear 
 over the crest on which we lay a reception worthy of 
 our reputation. But the tumult gradually ceased and 
 a staff officer came in from the front, Lieutenant J. A. 
 Lewis of the Eleventh Vermont. He was holding a 
 handkerchief to his face to staunch the blood where 
 part of his chin had been shot away by a bullet, but 
 managed to say in explanation, " Warner has carried 
 the hill ! " It was well for ^yarner and his Brigade 
 that they succeeded, for if they had failed and come back 
 upon our rifles we should inevitably have fired upon them 
 in the darkness. His Brigade had been assigned to the 
 task which several times already had been unsuccess- 
 fully attempted ; and by a dashing charge with fixed 
 bayonets, under the eyes of all his commanders, he had 
 won the position, driving a large body of the enemy 
 across the brook to their main lines. Our Brigade 
 had been hurried over to support him if necessary. 
 
 Thus the day's work ended with the accomplishment 
 of its principal object; the coveted hill was gained, 
 though Warner's Brigade lost more than the total 
 casualties in the army on the morrow ; the gallant 
 Colonel was recommended for a Brevet in Sheridan's 
 first dispatch, and received it promptly. 
 
 Our own Brigade soon felt its way up to Warner's 
 right and into the open field. Entrenching tools were 
 soon brought forward, and the night wore toilsomely 
 away. 
 
116 fishek's hill. 
 
 As the day broke on the 22d the scene was a surpris- 
 ing one. We had reached our then position through 
 the woods, after night-fall, and now we were behind a 
 solid entrenchment, traced boldly on the Irout of Flint's 
 Hill, curving gracefully to the rear as the ground fell 
 away on our right, and overlooking a beautiful field 
 sloping down to the brook. The rebels were in plain 
 view before us, scarcely half a mile distant across the 
 stream, occupying a long entrenchment similar to our 
 own, though with abattis in its front, which crowned 
 a hill that brought them even above our level. After 
 a half hour evidently spent in wondering at the mush- 
 room growth that confronted them they fell to work 
 diligently and laid down their shovels only to com- 
 mence their flight. 
 
 It soon became apparent that the location of our Bri- 
 gade was a fortunate one in enabling us to see and 
 understand the operations of the day that had just 
 dawned. Two rifled batteries promptly moved up and 
 took their places in our line. Several others were halt- 
 ed just behind the top of the hill, where they were hid- 
 den from the view of the enemy ; and presently 
 Generals Sheridan, Wright, Crook, Emory, Averill, and 
 others rode up with their stafi's and orderlies. A 
 telescope was planted upon its tripod in the field in 
 front of our earthwork. General Crook after a hasty 
 examination of the country to the distant right, rode 
 rapidly away. The other officers continued to study the 
 rebel line, waiting for the decisive moment. General 
 Sheridan, especially, spent hours that day, sweeping 
 
fisher's hill. 117 
 
 with his glass to the right aod the left, evidently beut 
 on understanding precisely the task before him ; oc- 
 casionally pausing to remark to some by-stander, or to 
 mutter to himself, " I'll get a twist on 'em, d — n 
 'em ! " 
 
 During the forenoon General Ricketts moved his 
 Third Division of the Sixth Corps in two lines from the 
 woods behind our right, sweeping in grand display over 
 the enemy's skirmishers, and finally halting at a very 
 oblique angle to our line some distance in our front. 
 The demonstration caused a a;reat commotion amono- the 
 rebels who evidently expected an immediate assault at 
 that point where a receding sweep of their lines made a 
 sharp angle ; and they bent all their energies toward 
 building a battery which should command this new im- 
 posing battle line. Their attention was thus entirely 
 diverted from our position, and better yet, they were led 
 to suppose that this Division was our extreme right 
 flank, (" mistaking Ricketts' Division for our turning col- 
 umn,'' Sheridan says ) and paid no attention to the vital 
 point which Crook was aiming for. To add to their as- 
 surance of this view of our movements, Gen. Averill's 
 cavalry ostentatiously picketed their horses on the very 
 summit of a bare knoll on Ricketts' right and rear, as 
 any soldier would infer, for the purpose of covering the 
 outside of the army. 
 
 Meanwhile here and there through the trees behind us 
 we could catch glimpses of the shining musket barrels of 
 Crook's command, as they wound forth on their long 
 and silent journey. Equipped only with rifles, cartridge 
 
118 fisher's hill. 
 
 boxes and canteens, keeping in the forests with the ut- 
 most care, avoiding every possibility of observation from 
 the lofty natural watch-tower behind the rebel lines, 
 these five thousand men crept from Strasburg to the dis- 
 tant mountain side. Our excitement momentarily in- 
 creased as we came to understand the game, but our 
 only relief was in watching the interchange of danger- 
 ous compliments between the skirmishers on either side 
 of the brook below us. A large tree on the rebel side 
 was particularly noticed as puif after puflF of smoke was 
 seen to rise from its branches, until Capt. Lamb, a 
 grey-haired Rhode Islander who commanded half a 
 dozen ten-pound Parrotts just at our left, deliberately 
 and at the first attempt sent a screeching shell plump 
 through its branches. A dozen ' Johnnies ' dropped in 
 great haste to the ground and scampered up the hill. 
 
 As the hours passed ' slowly by, Gen. Sheridan with 
 more and more anxiety peered through his powerful tele- 
 scope at the distant mountain side. Gen. Crook with 
 his command of mountaineers had meanwhile reached 
 the Blue Ridge and was clambering up its steep acclivi- 
 ties ; no path, no guide — ordered simply to climb high 
 enough to clear the enemy, then stealing south 
 until they should overlap his flank, to dash down the 
 mountain and strike him like a thunderbolt. The point 
 aimed for by their tedious circuit was perhaps four miles 
 from Flint's Hill ; the enemy's left bending fiir to their 
 rear, and making Crook's undertaking much more diffi- 
 cult. 
 
 It was almost four o'clock when he at last attained 
 
fisher's hill, 119 
 
 the coveted position and formed his men for the assault. 
 The attack began at once. Just as we saw his glitter- 
 ing line emerge from the forest, our Brigade leaped over 
 our breastworks and swept ofi' by the left flank into the 
 woods ; we went down near the bank of Tumbling Run, 
 the rebel canister and grape meanwhile rattling through 
 the trees about us, and waited for the result of the 
 flanking movement. All our batteries that had been 
 massed behind Flint's Hill galloped madly through the 
 openings left for the purpose in our parapet, wheeled in- 
 to position in the beautiful field, and answered the dis- 
 tant cheer that announced the commencement of the 
 charge with the roar of thirty cannon. Crook swept on 
 without a halt. The rebel signal officer afterwards said 
 that his Corps seemed to burst from the clouds. The 
 enemy supposed them to have come over the mountains. 
 The paralj'zing murmur that they were outflanked crept 
 througli the rebel lines. The men lost heart for battle 
 and the bravery of the ofiicers was of no avail. And 
 now Crook had nearly reached the position so long con- 
 fronted by Ricketts, who, without waiting to efiect a 
 junction, advanced his line against the steep ascent, 
 rushed upon the fort that had been built in his fiice that 
 day, and took it at the first attempt. Staff" ofiicers 
 shouting the glorious news galloped wildly to the left 
 along the line, sending brigade after brigade to join the 
 charge, and thus the whole army gradually swung into 
 place like machinery, swelling the grand advancing wave. 
 The Vermont Brigade at the commencement of its ad- 
 vance met a shallow mill-pond that had not been noticed 
 
120 fisher's hill. 
 
 in the forest, in some way floundered through, rushed up 
 the hill to the rebel works, then turned to the left, and 
 in a confused delirious mass, hurried on as best it 
 might after the scattered enemy. Guns were fired 
 wildly into the air and re-loaded as the soldiers ran ; 
 captured cannon were wheeled about and discharged at 
 the panic-stricken foe in mad salute for our victory ; 
 General Sheridan with long black streamers waving 
 from his hat joined our own division, exclaiming, " Run 
 boys, run ! Don't wait to form ! Don't let 'em stop ! " 
 and when some answered, " we can't run, we' re tired 
 out, " his reply was perhaps unmilitary but certainly 
 under the circumstances judicious, " If you can't run, 
 then holler ! " and thus the wild pursuit was continued 
 until we reached the turnpike where it crosses the very 
 summit of Fisher's Hill. The Eleventh Vermont almost 
 alone of the troops engaged in the charge retained a 
 respectable organization, and this was owing to a peculiar 
 artillery flag it carried, easily distinguished among the 
 others, of yellow silk with large crossed cannon. General 
 Crook sent this regiment across a deep ravine to drive 
 away a few of the enemy still remaining on the hill be- 
 tween the turnpike and the Shenandoah. After this had 
 been accomplished it returned by a long detour to the 
 road, perhaps a mile beyond where it had left it, and 
 waited for other troops to come up ; the first man that 
 appeared was Col. Foster leading the balance of the 
 Vermont Brigade in line of battle to the south. 
 
 The enemy had now vanished into the forests and it 
 was dark. While the various brigades were disentang- 
 
fisher's hill. 121 
 
 ling themselves, and the men were seeking here and 
 there their respective regimental colors, the Nineteenth 
 Corps appeared, from whose front near the pike the 
 enemy had fled demoralized, almost before they com- 
 menced their advance. The troops of the Sixth Corps 
 were drawn aside into the field and made a hasty sup- 
 per, while the Nineteenth Corps passed them in pur- 
 suit of the enemy with General Sheridan at its head. 
 The Sixth Corps followed the Nineteenth closely, Gen. 
 Wright being again for the time in command of both 
 Corps, making twelve miles during the night ; Crook's 
 command was obliged to return to Strasburg for its 
 knapsacks and did not overtake the army for several 
 days. 
 
 During the night Sheridan found time to pencil the 
 following dispatch : 
 
 " 6 Miles From Woodstock, ) 
 11.20 p. M., Sept. 22. i 
 
 Lieutenant General Grant : 
 
 I have the honor to announce that I have achieved 
 a signal victory over the army of General Early at 
 Fisher's Hill to-day. I found the rebel army posted 
 with his right resting on the north fork of the Shenan- 
 doah, and extending along the Strasburg Valley west 
 toward the North Mountain, occupying a position 
 which appeared almost impregnable. After a good 
 deal of manoeuvring during the day Gen. Crook's 
 command was transferred to the extreme right of the 
 line on North Mountain, and then furiously attacked 
 the left of the enemy's line carrying everything before 
 him. While Crook was driving the enemy in the greatest 
 confusion and sweeping down behind their breastworks, 
 the Sixth and Nineteenth Army Corps attacked the 
 11 
 
122 fisher's hill. 
 
 rebel works in front and the whole army appeared to 
 be broken up. They fled in the utmost confusion. 
 Sixteen pieces of artillery were captured, also a great 
 many caissons, artillery horses, etc. I am to-night 
 pushing on down {sic) the Valley. I cannot say how 
 many prisoners I have captured, nor do I know either 
 my own or the enemy's casualties. Only darkness has 
 saved the whole of Early's array from total destruction. 
 My attack could not be made till four o'clock in the 
 evening which left but little daylight to operate in. 
 Philip H. Sheridan, 
 
 Major-General." 
 
 And again from Woodstock : 
 
 " Sept. 23d, 8 a. m. 
 
 * * * " I do not think there ever was 
 
 an army so badly routed. * * * I pushed 
 on regardless of everything. * * 
 
 P. H. Sheridan." 
 
 The results of this battle can be briefly told. The 
 carrying the strongest position in Virginia with the 
 loss of scarcely two hundred men ; the utter rout of 
 Early's army which made no stand in all the eighty 
 miles through which it was promptly pursued ; the 
 capture of 1500 prisoners, all the enemy's camp equip- 
 age, many colors, (on an elegant stafi" here captured our 
 Brigade flag was afterwards mounted), and twenty-one 
 guns, being all the artillery he had save three pieces 
 which were planted near the pike ; and what was perhaps 
 most important of all in view of the scene to occur a 
 month hence at Cedar Creek, the conversion of the 
 whole army to the belief that General Philip H. Sheri- 
 dan is not only a brilliant cavalry rider, an impetuous 
 fighter, and the impersonation of warlike energy, but 
 
fishee's hill. 123 
 
 that he is also a careful, deliberate, pains-taking sol- 
 dier, thoroughly versed in tactics and strategy, whose 
 fiery zeal is controlled by most unusual discretion, and 
 whose njasterly skill curbs a spirit of the hottest mettle. 
 In short that he is, as General Grant has frequently 
 declared, competent to command all the armies of the 
 United States against any enemy. 
 
 To show that the importance of this victory is not 
 exaggerated above, I again quote from Gen. Wright's 
 report. " The annals of the war present perhaps no 
 more glorious victory than this. The enemy's lines, 
 chosen in an almost impregnable position and fortified 
 with much care, had been most gallantly carried by as- 
 sault, capturing most of his artillery, a large number of 
 prisoners, and sending his army ' on the run,' in the 
 most disorderly manner, and all this, from the impetu- 
 osity of the attack, with an absurdly small loss on our 
 part." 
 
 No members of the Vermont Brigade were killed, 
 excepting the color-bearer above mentioned, who fell 
 on the day before the battle; and the number of wounded 
 "was so small that no report of them was made. 
 
XL 
 
 A MONTH OF CAMPAIGNING. 
 
 On the morning of September 2od, we halted at 
 Woodstock, twelve miles south of Strasburg. Here, to 
 our great surprise, we were overtaken at daybreak by 
 a supply train which had followed close at our heels 
 through the night pursuit ; and it caught us just in time 
 for no issue of rations had been made since the day be- 
 fore the Battle of the Opequan. It was welcomed as 
 a new proof of Sheridan's foresight, and at noon with 
 haversacks well-filled again, the shrunken sides where- 
 of had been eyed with great suspicion at the conclusion 
 of our last hasty supper-hour, we resumed our march 
 up the Valley, Averill being now in advance with his 
 little Cavalry Division. 
 
 He soon reported that he had found two divisions of 
 infantry in his front near Mount Jackson. Sheridan, 
 disbelieving his story, promptly relieved him from his 
 command and sent him back to Martinsburg, replacing 
 him by General Powell. Meanwhile the afternoon was 
 nearly lost and we camped beyond Edinburg, this side 
 of Averill's infantry simulacrum. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 24th we again advanced, 
 (the commencement of my sentence reminds me of a 
 somewhat profane use of a sacred couplet, then com- 
 mon in our army, 
 
 ■■ Knrly. niv (ior1 witliont delay. 
 We liaste to seek tliy face — ") 
 
A MONTH OF CAMPAIGNING. 125 
 
 and soon passed through Mount Jackson. Here were 
 sever;! 1 barracks, built long before by General Shields, 
 now used as hospitals, and full of wounded rebels ; the 
 only one of them which was empty was most malicious- 
 ly set on fire by some stragglers from our column, and 
 entirely destroyed. 
 
 A few miles beyond this village all of Early's force 
 remaining coherent were deployed in a strong position 
 in order to check us and enable their train to get away. 
 A little way behind their line the road was to be seen 
 winding down the mountain's side, by which Torhert 
 had been ordered to cross over from the Luray Valley 
 to the enemy's rear. He had not yet been heard from, 
 and was anxiously watched for, but the combination 
 failed. 
 
 Meanwhile the ground on which the rebels were 
 drawn up was so strong and their line so extensive 
 that we were compelled also to go into line of bat- 
 tle. The Nineteenth Corps being pushed around to 
 their extreme left however, th<'y incontinently with- 
 drew, and we hastened after at our best gait. 
 Now commenced a wonderful race. When we 
 reached the elevation which they had abandoned, 
 we found a high plateau, nearly level, the road run- 
 ning through its centre, the country on each side 
 somewhat hilly, but still favorable for our use — and 
 we also saw the retreating rebels in the distance driving 
 their trains before them. It was a beautiful day, clear 
 and cool ; every one at once perceived the situation of 
 affairs. The Sixth Corps took the left of the road, 
 
126 A MONTH OF CAMPAIGNING. 
 
 Getty in advance, his Division in parallel columns by 
 brigades, so that the division line could at any time be 
 formed in three minutes, the Vermont Brigade nearest 
 the pike. The Nineteenth Corps was on the right of the 
 road, its front in line of battle, a much more difficult, 
 though more imposing and methodical mode of marching. 
 Skirmishers were crowding on in front of all, who kept 
 up a constant fusilade with the enemy's rear guard ; twa 
 batteries also were with the advance, now galloping 
 along the road to some high point far in front of the 
 skirmish line, and now unlimbering and opening a 
 furious fire upon the fugitives. Thus we chased the 
 enemy through Newmarket to Sparta, twenty-five miles 
 that day, thirteen miles without a halt and with the 
 rebels in our sight. The Nineteenth Corps across the 
 pike was a mile or two behind us when we gave up the 
 pursuit. The enemy were too anxious to escape and we 
 saw them no more. 
 
 The next day, the 25th, we encamped at Harrisonburg^- 
 while the cavalry, which had now joined us, went on to 
 Staunton. We passed a very pleasant week in this 
 vicinity, although rations were rather scanty. Our sup- 
 plies were brought up by a series of supply trains or 
 caravans, from Martinsburg, furnishing three days' 
 rations once in four days. For the rest every man took 
 care of himself, and there was no suffering. Many of 
 the regiments thenceforward were followed by cows as 
 well as pack-mules. 
 
 On the 29th a march of seven miles was made, ta 
 Mount Crawford, the farthest point we reached. De- 
 
A MONTH OF CAMPAIGNING. 12T 
 
 tachments were sent out to the numerous mills in the 
 vicinity and a large supply of flour obtained. Major 
 SafFord, a practical miller from Morristown, Vt., ground 
 and brought into camp a full day's ration for the entire 
 Division. On the next day we returned to Harrisonburg 
 and resumed our old line at the east of the village. On 
 the 2d of October, five hundred picked men from the 
 Vermont Brigade, under an enthusiastic staiF-ofiicer, 
 scoured the adjacent mountains all day long, hunting 
 for stragglers and guerillas, but finding little save cattle 
 and apple-brandy. 
 
 We were now for two or three weeks entirely cut ofi" 
 from news of the war elsewhere, and the camps were 
 full of the most improbable stories. Intelligence of the 
 capture of Richmond and Jefi" Davis seemed as reason- 
 able as the story of Grant's utter and overwhelming de- 
 feat, and we had our choice of the probabilities, for both 
 of these stories were retailed with the utmost positive- 
 ness. Once in a great while we managed to obtain a 
 Richmond paper, our only reliable channel of infor- 
 mation. Perhaps we might have been furnished regular- 
 ly with them, but for the fact that stage communica- 
 tions were for some reason interrupted. 
 
 On the 6th of October we commenced our return 
 down the Valley. No enemy could be found by the 
 most diligent search and the question of supplies was be- 
 coming a serious one. There was not enough transpor- 
 tation in the Department to feed us at that distance from 
 our base, and moreover the guerillas were attacking 
 every train. A Provisional Division, organized as train 
 
128 A MONTH OF CAMPAIGNING. 
 
 escort, had rather a hard time of it, marching night and 
 day, besides fighting ahiiost as continually. 
 
 After a long day's march, we at last halted for the 
 night on meeting a supply train, which was again ex- 
 ceedingly apropos. Gen. Grant came up with this 
 escort and resumed the command of our Brigade. 
 
 About noon on the 8th we reached Strasburg, whence, 
 though the day was very cold, many of us improved the 
 opportunity to resume our acquaintance with Fisher's 
 Hill, under more favorable circumstances than on the 
 former occasion. At this time the cavalry turned round 
 'Jdxy. ■ t^r'V^'- ^* Tom's Brook to wipe out Rosser, the new Cavalry 
 General from Richmond who was expected to deliver 
 the Valley but didn't, losing instead everything he had 
 with him that went on wheels. 
 
 The march from Harrisonburg was memorable on ac- 
 count of the sight of burnino; barns, mills, and stacks of 
 hay and grain. Pillars of smoke surrounded us through 
 all of the three days, and though no houses were destroy- 
 ed, everything combustible that could aid the enemy 
 during the coming winter was burned, and all cattle and 
 slieep were driven away. 
 . ^,, On the 10th the Sixth Corps moved round the Mas- 
 
 sanutten to the vicinity of Front Royal in the Luray 
 Valley, a point that General Augur was trying to 
 reach by re-constructing the railroad through Manassas 
 Gap. The attempt was subsequently given up, however, 
 and Sheridan's array was supplied by the Baltimore 
 and Ohio Railroad throughout the winter. 
 
 On the 13th the Corps was ordered to move at day- 
 
A MONTH OF CAMPAIGNING. 129 
 
 light, the ratious issued the previous clay to hist us to 
 Alexandria. It was reported that transports were to 
 take us thence to meet Sherman in North or South Caro- 
 lina. We marched some fifteen miles to the ford of the 
 Shenandoah near Ashby's Gap, where, just as the lead- 
 ing regiments were commencing to cross, and when 
 Wright and Getty were already in the stream, scouts 
 reached us bringing orders from General Sheridan, and 
 we bivouacked without crossing. At our dinner hour 
 that day we had halted near a somewhat dilapidated but 
 unmistakable country school-house. It did not appear 
 clearly what feeling of impropriety or inappropriateness 
 it excited among the soldiers, but suddenly and by a com- 
 mon impulse of wrath the brigade seized upon it for 
 culinary purposes. It may have been on account of the 
 importunity of hunger, rather than any indignation 
 against the symbol of primary education, as a small 
 country store near by soon suffered the same fate, 
 though in a different way, the material of one being used 
 to cook the contents of the other. 
 
 The next day, by a long and rapid march, again 
 through Newtown and Middletown, we rejoined Sheri- 
 dan's army and took up the position which we held until 
 the Battle of Cedar Creek. It was fortunate for him 
 and the country that he took the responsibility of re- 
 taining us in his command. He was led to do so from 
 the fact that the enemy, now again at Fisher's Hill, had j <_t 
 made a threatening recouuoisance ; but as no further 
 demonstrations appeared, Sheridan improved the present 
 season of quiet by making a personal inspection of his 
 
130 A MONTH OF CAMPAIGNING. 
 
 new route to Washington, leaving us temporarily under 
 command of General Wright. As there was still some 
 apprehension of an attack we were under arms at four 
 A, M., daily — but the precaution seemed needless and the 
 order was presently discontinued. 
 
 On the 16th of October, the Sixth Vermont was mus- 
 tered out, thus completing the term of service of all the 
 regiments of the original Vermont Brigade. As in the 
 case of the other regiments, the Sixth still maintained 
 its organization under Lieutenant Colonel Sumner H, 
 Lincoln. 
 
XII. 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 The now historic stream which gave- its name to the 
 remarkable battle which is the subject of the present chap- 
 ter, is a shallow, rapid river, perhaps thirty yards wide, 
 flowing across the Upper Shenandoah Valley just where 
 it debouches into the Lower Valley, which it will be re- 
 membered, from Cedar Creek to the Potomac unites the 
 width of the Upper Valley and the Luray. The 
 Shenandoah here sweeps round the base of the rocky 
 and precipitous Massannutten mountain, hugging its 
 foot and turning to the east with a sharp right angle, at 
 the very apex of which it receives the waters of Cedar 
 Creek, coming from a prolongation of the new direction 
 of the larger river. The turnpike from Winchester to 
 Staunton crosses the Creek about a mile above its junc- 
 tion with the Shenandoah. Middletown is two miles 
 this side of the bridge ,- Strasbui'g two miles beyond it. 
 Hills, perhaps three hundred feet high, rise irregularly 
 on each side of the Creek. The army was facing south ; 
 Gren. Crook's command lay on the left of the turnpike, 
 occupying several hills which overlooked the junction of 
 the two streams, their picquets protecting the left flank 
 of the army, though without watching sufficiently the 
 fords of the rivers. The Nineteenth Corps was across 
 the pike on Crook's right, on other hills along the 
 hither side of the Creek ; the Sixth Corps was next in 
 
132 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 line and the last of the infantry ; Getty's Second 
 Division, on the extreme right of all, being refused so 
 that it faced westerly; the Cavalry Corps lay at our 
 right and behind us ; picquets from our Division were 
 four miles from camp, guarding, in connection with the 
 cavalry, the line of the Creek clear across the Valley. 
 
 Greueral Wright being now in command of the army. 
 Gen. Ricketts succeeded to the command of the Corps. 
 
 Our position was a good one, and as far as human 
 foresight could reach, a safe one, though perhaps too 
 much reliance was placed on the demoralization of the 
 enemy. In flanking it General Early adopted Sheri- 
 dan's tactics at Fisher's Hill, where the same Eighth 
 Corps that was first attacked and routed here, by climb- 
 ing the mountain side, had turned the line which Early 
 assared his men could by no possibility be flanked ; the 
 successful attack of Early at Cedar Creek was as ad- 
 mirable as our own at Fisher's Hill, and even more 
 audacious, as it involved the double fording of a rapid 
 river to commence with, and the certainty of complete 
 destruction in case of failure. 
 
 It has always been somewhat of a mystery where 
 Early obtained the troops with which he fought this 
 battle. The previous engagements had cost him fully 
 twelve thousand men hors du combat, including 
 prisoners, and as many more in stragglers. Kershaw's 
 Division, however, which had retired through the Luray 
 Valley, had been recalled, and [Pegram's Division /had 
 joined him entire from Longstreet's Corps. The scat- \ 
 tered remnants of other divisions had been coUecte^^ 
 
PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF 
 CED^^R CREEK, 
 
 19th October, 1864. 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 133 
 
 from their hiding places in the forests and the mountains. 
 It is certain also that a large body, estimated by 
 " Druid " at from twelve to fifteen thousand more, had 
 been raised by the last relentless conscription in the 
 vicinity of (jbrdonsville and Lynchburg. It has been 
 asserted that many of these men were without muskets, 
 hoping to gather arms on the field in our anticipated 
 rout. Probably, however, but few unarmed men were 
 in the enemy's lines. A letter from Richmond to a 
 paper further sovith at the time in question says that 
 the force thus concentrated was " good for " 50,000 
 men, and that 15,000 reserves were to be called out. 
 This, however, was a greatly exaggerated estimate. 
 Sheridan had received no reinforcements and we could 
 not have had 25,000 men " present for duty equipped " 
 including the cavalry which did nothing until evening. 
 Early nmst have had 20,000 infantry at the very least. 
 His plan was to attack us in detail and rout our 
 Divisions successively, from the left ; we shall see that he 
 succeeded until he reached the last Division in the line, 
 Getty's, which Sheridan truly says Avas the only 
 Division of the Infantry which " confronted the enemy 
 from the first attack in the morning until the battle was 
 decided." 
 
 Every circumstance, save the diificulty of the ground, 
 fiivored Early's project. The night was utterly dark ; 
 the morning chilly and raw, owing to a dense fog which 
 did not lift until nine o'clock and which completely veil- 
 ed all the movements of the enemy, whereas the position 
 of our camps had been previously carefully studied and 
 12 
 
 a 
 
 ^- 
 
 'V6.^ 
 
 atjcy^' 
 
 7^ 
 
134 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 mapped by his officers from the summit of Three-top 
 mountain. Between the base of the mountain and the 
 Shenandoah river there was space amid the debris for a 
 waojon road and a then dismantled railroad leading; from 
 Strasburg to Front Royal. The river was crossed near 
 that village at dark on the 18th by the Divisions of Gor- 
 don, Pegram and Ramseur, which at once commenced 
 cautiously picking their way down the rugged road and 
 the railroad, no officer mounted, in the darkness and forest 
 and fog, until they reached what is known as Bowman's 
 Ford, outside of Crook's furthest picquets. Powell's 
 Cavalry Division was still further down the river opposite 
 Front Royal, and out of reach. Had the fords between 
 Crook and Powell been carefully protected it is probable 
 that the surprise could not have taken place. It had 
 been supposed, and with great reason, that our right 
 was the enemy's only feasible point of approach. 
 
 As the column reached Bowman's Ford, it again 
 crossed the breast-high Shenandoah and stole in single 
 file close up to the fires of our confident outposts, until 
 at four A.M., the grey battalions had deployed, with 
 Gordon on the right completely overlapping Crook's en- 
 campment. 
 
 That they were thus permitted deliberately to make 
 ready for the charge seems almost incomprehensible. The 
 videttes who should have given the alarm afterwards re- 
 lated that they heard a sound as of a going amid the 
 rustling leaves through the night hours, but they were 
 unable to comprehend its purport ; it was even reported 
 among the other portions of the army that Gen. Gordon 
 
^^rt 
 
 CEDAR CREEK. 135 
 
 .•actually relieved part of Crook's picquet line and then 
 sent the men as prisoners to their rear. 
 
 The direction of attack was west ; the enemy's right 
 was drawn up facing the turnpike, reaching far towards 
 Middletown, while his left followed the course of 
 Crook's line, getting between his works and the Creek, 
 and connecting with Wharton's Division which had 
 meanwhile crossed the creek a little below the turnpike . . 
 bridge. Early himself with Kershaw's large Division '*^'/'^ 
 ■was near the bridge with artillery planted on the hills, 
 ready to cross as soon as Crook should be swept aside, 
 while his cavalry were on the back road far away to the 
 west near the Little North Mountains. 
 
 It was at this latter point that the battle commenced ; 
 very early, probably before four o'clock, we were arous- 
 ed by a dropping 'fire of musketry in that direction, at 
 one time quite considerable in amount, but as it dimin- 
 ished soon we wrapped ourselves again in our blankets 
 and resumed our sleep, fully confident that our picquets 
 could take care of the reconnoisance or whatever it might 
 be. The few prisoners reported lost from the Brigade 
 in the day's battle, were taken at that time. Capt. C. 
 J. Lewis of the Eleventh Vermont, an exceedingly care- 
 ful ofl[icer, was in charge of our extreme right reserve 
 post, and Col. Foster of the Fourth Vermont was field 
 officer of the day. The cavalry on his right were deceived 
 by the stale trick of an attack and a feigned retreat, 
 leaving their posts to follow. A larger force instantly 
 passed through the gap and fell with a yell upon the 
 rear of the infantry reserves ; the greater part of them 
 
136 CEDAR CKEEK. 
 
 escaped and after a rapid detour towards our camp, de- 
 V ployed into a rude skirmish line and still covered the 
 j Corps, keeping up a free fight on their own account until 
 they knew from the sound of the battle behind them that 
 our army had left its ground, when they came in and 
 participated in the final charge of the day. 
 
 The alarm created by this little affair had almost sub- 
 sided, when a sullen roar of musketry, dull at first but 
 only too easily interpreted, arose from the distant left. 
 It was the charge of the enemy in solid lines, without 
 skirmishers, upon the works of G-eneral Crook. When 
 the firing began, Early at once opened with his artillery 
 ij\Kiht,^ from across the creek, thus raising a doubt as to the 
 
 ' real point of attack. Crook's brigades could not even 
 
 attempt to maintain their position or their integrity ; 
 the enemy captured the picquets who did not fire a shot, 
 rushed upon the main line, which was first made aware 
 of the attack by a full volley poured into their camp, 
 and it was rapidly crowded towards the west. The men 
 sprang from their tents and fied withovxt boots or 
 clothing save what they had worn through the night ; 
 the very tents were pulled ofi" from some as they 
 lay in their l)lankets ; many with soldierly instinct 
 placed themselves' without orders behind the breast- 
 works, only to find themselves flanked and taken in re- 
 verse file by file, each successively by the whole rebel 
 column; and in simply time enough for the enemy in his 
 impetuous charge to pass over the ground covered 1)y the 
 " Army of Western Virginia " that whole command was 
 a disorganized, routed, demoralized, terrified mob of 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 137 
 
 fugitives, tlieir camp equipage left behind, officers and 
 men all rushing to the rear in reckless dishabille. It 
 was not afterwards seen as an oro-anization during the 
 entii'e day. 
 
 That these men were brave no one doubts ; their pre- 
 vious brilliant conduct had amply shown it ; but a night 
 surprise, total and terrific, is too trying for the morale of 
 the best troops in the world to survive. 
 
 The Nineteenth Corps across the pike had sprung to 
 arms at the first sound of the conflict, the men for the 
 most part leaving their tents and extra clothing as they 
 stood, and forming their lines like soldiers. One 
 Brigade under Colonel, since Brigadier General, and 
 now Lieutenant Grovernor Stephen H. Thomas, of the 
 Eighth Vermont, which regiment it included, was formed 
 for the march at the time the fight commenced, having 
 been ordered out on an early reconnoisance ; it plunged 
 at once across the pike into the woods, stemming the 
 rout, and facing the enemy. Glen. Wright endeavored to 
 use it as a nucleus on which to reform Crook's command, 
 and so gain time to bring up the rest of the army to 
 the strong line of the turnpike, but his hopes were dis- 
 appointed ; the Eighth Corps refused to rally, and in a 
 few moments Thomas' Brigade was swept back over- 
 powered, retiring sullenly and leaving in the forest the 
 largest proportionate loss sufi'ered by any brigade dur- 
 ing the day. 
 
 The attacking column having now reached the pike, 
 Early at once crossed the creek with Kershaw's 
 Division and assumed command in person. He attacked 
 
 / . 
 
138 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 ''Utv^'" , the Nineteenth Corps without delay. That organization 
 
 j ^. W"^ "vy-as as above mentioned drawn up in its works, some of 
 
 the troops being actually formed on the reverse side of 
 their entrenchments. But Gordon's powerful right ex- 
 tended far to Emory's rear ; and the Nineteenth Corps, 
 in turn flanked and enfiladed, although it offered an organ- 
 ized and energetic resistance, was soon crushed by piece- 
 meal, and brigade after brigade, first losing heavily, fled 
 in disorder. 
 
 General Wright and Sheridan's staft" worked bravely 
 and vigorously, endeavoring to stop the rout and reform 
 the stragglers, the gallant General riding wounded over 
 the field, his bleeding face bound with a handker- 
 chief. But bravery simply could not arrest the torrent; 
 the Sixth Corps was ordered in, but the excellent dis- 
 position of this Corps and the cavalry directed by Gen^ 
 Wright failed of success through lack of time, and on 
 Ay^ account of the fog. 
 
 ^ Getty's Division, two miles to the right of Crook, 
 
 heard all this firing with astonishment simply ; we could 
 only suppose that the attack was in front, for we did 
 not dream that the position could be turned on the left, 
 and we expected the easy repulse of the enemy ; still wfr 
 instantly struck tents, packed knapsacks, formed our 
 lines, and were ready to move when called upon. 
 
 The Third Division, then the First, and lastly the 
 Second,' of the Sixth Corps being now moved by the left 
 flank and by file left were successively put in the way of 
 the charging column, each passing by the rear of the 
 Brecedino; Division and forming; in echelon on its left. 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 13& 
 
 SO that Getty's Division passed to the left of the corps, 
 eudeavoring to reach the high ground on the pike near 
 IMiddletown. The cavalry from our right continued the Ca^''^'^ 
 same movement and passed behind us to our left and \J^ 
 rear. But the right of the enemy's column kept along 
 the creek toward our right flank after sweeping clear 
 the entrenchments of the Nineteenth Corps, and our "' 
 Third and First Divisions were successively attacked 
 and overpowered by Early's now concentrated army. 
 They were lost to our sight in the fog but we could hear ' 
 the noise of their battle, and we knew that they were fight- 
 ing desperately. Nearly every field olBcer in the First 
 Division (Wheaton's) was killed or wounded. Genei'al 
 llicketts, in command of the Corps, was wounded 
 almost mortally. The Tenth Vermont in the Third 
 Division went back a long distance after commencing 
 its retreat, in the face of the leaden rain, to recapture 
 and save a battery from which the horses had been 
 shot, dragging oft' its guns by hand. Twenty-four -. 
 cannon had now been lost and the enemy had hardly 
 been checked for a moment. 
 
 As Getty's Division moved by the left across the 
 plain in the rear of the late camping ground, making as 
 mentioned above, for the high ground near the pike, the 
 prospect was dreary enough. I am utterly unable to 
 describe the universal confusion and dismay that we en- 
 countered. Wagons and ambulances lumbering hither 
 and thither in disorder ; pack horses led by frightened 
 bummers, or wandering at their own free will ; crowds 
 of oflScers and men, some shod and some barefoot, many 
 
140 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 of them coatless and hatless, few without their rifles, but 
 all rushing wildly to the rear ; oaths and blows alike 
 powerless to halt them ; a cavalry regiment stretched 
 across the field, unable to stem the torrent ; and added 
 to the confusion and consternation the frequent sight of 
 blood, ambulances, wagons, men, stained and dripping, 
 with here and there a corpse ; while the whistling bullets 
 and the shrieking shell told that the enemy knew their 
 advantage and their ground. It was a sight that might 
 well have demoralized the Old Guard of the first Na- 
 poleon. 
 
 As our division reached Meadow Run (a branch of 
 Cedar Creek) a deep brook that annoyed us continually 
 during the operations of the day, we received a fire from 
 the enemy's skirmishers in a piece of v.'oods near by, 
 which compelled General Getty to abandon his intention 
 of reaching the pike and to go into line on the immediate 
 left of the First Division, a little to its rear. The Fifth 
 and Sixth Vermont, under command of Major Enoch E. 
 Johnson of the Second then commanding the Fifth, and 
 Major Walker's battalion of the Eleventh Vermont were 
 ordered forward to clear the woods. Promptly deploy- 
 ing as skirmishers they advanced for the time success- 
 fully, reaching the further edge of the forest and halting 
 under cover of the trees, so far to the front that they 
 were much annoyed by the fire of our own batteries 
 from behind the Division. The position was a good one, 
 and a continuous line was arranged covering completely 
 the whole Division front. Thus for the first time during 
 the day the enemy was opposed by the regular forma- 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 141 
 
 tion of a skirmish line masking a line of battle. Still, 
 the skirmishers in the confusion and the fog feared that 
 there might yet remain some of our own troops in their 
 front, and being almost literally in the dark, hesitated 
 about opening fire. At last a scattered line was dimly 
 seen approaching through the mist which felt no such 
 hesitation, giving us a volley which at once convinced us 
 that the skirmishers of the enemy were upon us. Their 
 progress was stopped without difficulty, but a double 
 line of infantry was soon made out moving forward in 
 perfect array, the front line firing heavily as they came, 
 evidently supposing that a large force was stationed in 
 our little forest ; and our skirmishers at once falling back, 
 as was their duty, rejoined their Division, leaving 
 several wounded where they fell. 
 
 Meanwhile Gen. Getty, forming his Division in two 
 lines, had advanced across the liun to the prolongation 
 of the line held by the First Division ; but that command 
 at last routed in turn by the heavy force of the enemy 
 thrown against it, broke in confusion and fell back, pass- 
 ing through the artillery of the Corps. Getty was now 
 left alone upon the field. Seeing a strong semi-circular •'^"-'^ 
 crest behind the Run, he fell back about three hundred 
 yards and occupied it with his Division, throwing War- 
 ner's First Brigade from the second line to the right of 
 the Division in order to cover as much ground as possi- 
 ble, the Vermont (Second) Brigade being in the centre 
 on Warner's left, and Bidwell's (Third) Brigade on 
 Orant's left, Warner and Bidwell being partly covered 
 by woods, but our own Brigade being in an open field. 
 
 Kx ■ 
 
142 , CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Warner's Brigade was " in the air," all our troops in 
 that direction having retired ; Bidwell's left connected 
 with a cavalry skirmish line, bending towards the rear. 
 The position was on the whole an excellent one, however, 
 notwithstanding there were no works, walls, or fences, 
 the men lying down just behind the top of the hill, 
 while a few skirmishers from each regiment were again 
 sent forward over the ridge. 
 
 ^L^\. . The assault was not long delayed. The enemy charged 
 
 IK in full line of battle against our brigade, and the left of 
 
 Warner's. They pressed their advance with great de- 
 termination, but it was unavailing and they presently 
 ^ retired across the run into the fog, which from this time 
 began to disappear. Our skirmishers again followed 
 over the crest. The rebels now concentrated a terrible 
 fire of artillery upon our position, and shell from thirty 
 guns flew, screaming devilishly, over and among us. The 
 men hugged the ground, being somewhat covered by the 
 hill, and owing to the cover thus obtained, the loss, as 
 General Getty says, " was lighter than could be expected." 
 
 ^^_, , After a cannonade lasting for half an hour, our skir- 
 
 mishers announced another charge and the men stood, or 
 knelt rather, to their guns. On the rebels came, through 
 the woods, straight against Bidwell's line and the left of 
 Grant's, with a vigor that promised success. As they 
 pressed us harder and harder, the lines being but a few 
 yards apart, Bidwell's brigade began doggedly to give 
 way, gradually retreating step by step almost to the foot 
 of our little hill, of which the rebels now occupied the 
 summit, while the left regiments of Grant also swung 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 143 
 
 back, without coufiision, to maintain the continuity of 
 the line, A panic for a moment seemed to threaten the 
 Sixth and Eleventh Vermont, but the bravery of the 
 officers at once restored the courage of the men, and they 
 gave and took without further flinchi no;, though the strua;- 
 gle was deadly. At this critical juncture a shell struck j «^ 
 
 Greneral Bidwell as he sat on his horse, holding his men 
 to their work ; he was a man of remarkably large frame, 
 and the missile tore through his shoulders and lungs, 
 bringing him heavily to the ground. Wonderful to re- 
 late he lived until evening, and died rejoicing at our 
 victory. He is well remembered by every member of 
 our brigade, which had fought at his side for years, and 
 he was so much beloved and respected by his own men 
 that it seemed impossible but that they would now give 
 up the contest, when Lieut.-Col. French of the Seventy- 
 seventh New York, next in command, shouted, " Don't 
 run till the Vermonters do ! " and with a cheer of des- 
 peration his troops sprang forward reaching their first 
 position on the crest. The astonished rebels formed in 
 rows behind the trees for protection, and these files were 
 forced to swing first to the east and then to the west as 
 a fire was poured upon them from our Brigade or Colonel 
 French's, until strange as it may appear, many of them 
 actually surrendered themselves as prisoners ; two of 
 these were killed together, far behind our line, by the 
 same rebel shell. 
 
 Thus our position was for the second time left un- 
 vexed. At about this time, Gleneral Getty learned of 
 the serious wound of General Ricketts, which left him in 
 
144 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 command of the Corps. He therefore turned over the 
 Division to General Grant, though he still watched its 
 movements, the First and Third Divisions being far out 
 of reach, no longer " confronting the enemy," Lieutenant 
 Colonel Amasa S. Tracy of the Second Vermont was 
 now in command of the Brigade as its senior officer, 
 Colonel Foster not having as yet come in from the pic- 
 quet line. 
 
 The two repulses thus inflicted upon the enemy must 
 have annoyed him terribly; he had previously routed all 
 the rest of our infantry and had good reason to expect no 
 further labor but pursuit. The attack was at once re- 
 sumed however, this time upon Warner more especially, 
 though involving our right regiments somewhat. They 
 were checked for a time, and on the next morning 
 the slaughter of rebels in front of this position was seen 
 to have been terrible. But their whole army was now 
 \ up ; we could see heavy columns marching upon the 
 , cavalry on our left, while Warner was struck upon his 
 ; unprotected flank, and a line of rebels even came upon 
 his rear. At this time, Early having now men enough 
 in position to bag our stubborn little Division entire if 
 we longer maintained our stubborness. General Getty 
 sent word to Grant to withdraw unless he saw some 
 iwA,'^'**' '■' especial reason for remaining. The order was hand- 
 
 ■ , - somely executed. A fidl line of rebels took pos- 
 
 i session of our hill almost the very moment we left it, 
 but for some reason they did not see fit to pursue us 
 except with scattering bullets. After retiring about half 
 a mile we halted in an old road just west of Middletown, 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 145 
 
 Avhere we remained for perhaps twenty minutes. Not 
 finding other troops in the vicinity however, and the 
 position being of no value, Grant threw forward Captain 
 Wales with the Second Vermont as skirmishers to cover 
 our retreat, and the Division coolly marched in line of 
 battle a mile further to the rear, when we found a posi- 
 tion that General Getty considered suitable to form upon. 
 We therefore faced to the front again while he ordered 
 the other Divisions, then still further to the rear, to con- 
 form to the movements of his own. 
 
 It was then about 10 a. m., and Early now lost the 
 opportunity which might have given him complete suc- 
 cess. In the night after this same day. General Sheri- 
 dan's cavalry pursued the routed enemy to New Market 
 without a halt, but Early, after his victory of the morning, ^ 
 
 kindly gave us three valuable hours in which to reform ♦ («/ '^ 
 our scattered troops, without attempting to prevent it. A 
 General Order which he subsequently published to his 
 troops, recognizes his failure to properly push his success, 
 and says he was unable to give the rapid pursuit he de- 
 sired, because his men had so generally left their ranks 
 to plunder our deserted camps and rifle the pockets of 
 our dead and wounded. The blame rests upon himself, 
 for it was truly a sad state of discipline which could not 
 keep together, in the flush of victory, a sufiicient number 
 of men to follow up a disorganized retreat ; his gallant 
 army was not alone in fault for this shameful state of ' / 
 
 affiiirs which he reprobates so bitterly. And even if his ' 
 infantry were beyond his control, where was his large 
 cavalry force, which had not fired a gun except in their 
 13 
 
146 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 insignificant skirmish with our picquets in the early 
 morning? Without doubt the report was correct, which 
 attributed to some of General Early's brilliant young 
 subordinates the inception of the wonderful plan, which 
 it is certain he left to them to execute, and its success, 
 which his own feeble authority and lack of energy were 
 by his own confession entirely incompetent to pursue, or 
 even to preserve. 
 
 The position selected by General Getty was behind a 
 long fence, for part of the way a stone wall, stretching 
 west a mile or two from the pike, across ravines, and 
 beyond our own Division extending into a forest. It 
 was evident that we could here check the enemy's next 
 advance, and probably could hold him at bay until he 
 should again outflank us. At the very worst we could 
 make an organized stand and take up an organized re- 
 treat. General Wright now devoted himself to arranging 
 the troops on their new line and to our Division belongs 
 the credit of rendering the formation possible. While 
 we had held the hill near Middletown so tenaciously, 
 General Wright had got together the regiments of the 
 Nineteenth Corps and of our First and Third Divisions, 
 and now placed them on our right, forming a strong and 
 defensible line along which a rude protection of earth and 
 rails was at once improvised. He frequently said that 
 he could yet defeat the enemy, and his staff have claimed 
 that he issued orders looking to a counter-attack, but it is 
 doubtful if such a movement would have been successful, 
 as the army was much disheartened. Still we now had an 
 opportunity to rest, and even to breakftist roughly, in a 
 sort of dogged gloom. 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 147 
 
 French's Brigade now extended from the pike down the 
 hill to Meadow Run; our own Brigade was still in the 
 centre of the Division across the Run, and Warner's on 
 our right. The Third Division followed by the First 
 and the Nineteenth Corps were coming up to prolong our 
 line. Across the pike on the left were two Divisions of 
 cavalry, and Crook's command also there attempted a 
 shadow of a formation, though some of it had already 
 reached Winchester, and the greater part of it was in a 
 fair way to do so soon. A strong and well posted skir- 
 mish line again covered our front, which Col. Tracy after 
 Sheridan's arrival rode out on horseback to inspect. As 
 he was reconnoitring with a field glass he was brought to 
 the ground, seriously wounded in his previously unfortu- 
 nate left leg, and disabled for months. 
 
 While thus waiting for the complete re-formation of 
 the army, sulkily and it is to be feared profanely growl- 
 ing over the defeat in detail which we had experienced, 
 though not in the least disposed to admit that our Divi- 
 sion had been whipped, in fact a little proud of what we 
 had already done, and expecting the rebel charge which 
 we grew more and more confident we should repulse, we 
 heard cheers behind us on the pike. We were astound- 
 ed. There we stood, driven four miles already, quietly 
 waitino; for what might be further and immediate dis- 
 aster, while far in the rear we heard the stragglers and 
 hospital bummers, and the gunless artillerymen actual- 
 ly cheering as though a victory had been won. We 
 could hardly believe our ears. 
 
 The explanation soon came, in the apparition which 
 
148 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 Buchanan Read's as yet embryonic, but now well-known 
 poem, has made familiar. As the sturdy, fiery Sheri- 
 dan, on his sturdy, fiery steed, flaked with foam 
 from his two hours mad galloping, wheeled from the 
 pike and dashed down the line, our Division also broke 
 forth into the most tumultuous applause. Ardent 
 General Custer first stopped the wonderful Inspirer, and 
 kissed him before his men. His next halt was before 
 our own Brigade. Such a scene as his presence pi'o- 
 duced and such emotions as it awoke cannot be realized 
 once in a century. All outward manifestations were as 
 enthusiastic as men are capable of exhibiting ; cheers 
 seemed to come from throats of brass, and caps were 
 thrown to the tops of the scattering oaks ; but beneath 
 and yet superior to these noisy demonstrations, there 
 was in every heart a revulsion of feeling, and a pressure 
 of emotion, beyond description. No more doubt or 
 chance for doubt existed ; we were safe, perfectly and 
 unconditionally safe, and every man knew it. 
 
 When our greeting had somewhat subsided Col. Tracy, 
 the first man in the Corps to address him, rode up, hat 
 in hand, saying, "General, we're glad to see you." "Well, 
 by G — , I'm glad to be here," exclaimed the General, 
 "What troops are these?" "Sixth Corps! Vermont 
 Brigade !" was shouted from the ranks. His answer 
 was as prompt : " All right ! We' re all right ! We'll 
 have our camps by night !" and he galloped on. So 
 soon had he determined to defeat the enemy. He soon 
 met General Wright and " suggested that we would 
 fight on Getty's line," sending us word meanwhile that 
 Getty's Division had out-done itself that morning. 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 149 
 
 the General in riding through the whole command, con- 
 firming Wright's dispositions and inspiriting the troops 
 by his presence and his words. He thus survej'ed the 
 entire field and felt that he was master of the position. 
 General Wright, General Getty and General Grant re- 
 turned to their commands. Custer's cavalry was again 
 moved by our rear to the right of the army. About one 
 o'clock the Vermont Brigade was hastily taken through 
 the woods to a point in rear of the Nineteenth Corps, 
 where the enemy were pressing, but the attack was easily 
 repulsed without our assistance. Then we returned to a 
 spot where we were concealed from the enemy's view, but 
 from which we could in a moment reach our old position 
 in the line, and where we quietly waited for the order to 
 advance. In ten minutes half the men, witli genuine 
 soldier nonchalance, were fast asleep. 
 
 Sheridan's plan of battle vras something as follows : /<>C,^ A-'^v 
 to throw forward the right. Nineteenth Corps and 
 Cavalry, striking the left of the enemy and turning it if 
 possible ; to occupy the rest of his line by a sharp at- 
 tack but especially to overwhelm his left, the whole 
 army following the movement in a grand left wheel. 
 With this view the Sixth Corps, our left, was drawn up 
 in one line, considerably extended, while the Nineteenth 
 was massed in two lines, its flank weighted by the 
 cavalry. 
 
 Time was consumed in making the necessary disposi- 
 tions and in distributing ammunition, so that it was near- 
 ly four o'clock when the few guns we had remaining 
 
150 CEDAR CREEK, 
 
 commenced their usual ante-battle salute. The challenge 
 was promjDtly answered, and at the appointed time 
 the whole line advanced against the enemy. Their 
 stragglers had been collected, their line was well closed 
 up and strongly posted, and their advance would 
 soon have been resumed, had not our army taken the 
 initiative. The long thin line of the Sixth Corps was 
 thus hurled against a very heavy line of the enemy, 
 covered throughout by a series of stone walls. 
 
 Our own Division was now the only one in our sight, 
 the rest of the battle commencing in the woods. So it 
 happened that as French's Brigade on Grant's left, 
 General Bidwell being absent and dying, crossed a long 
 open field into the line of fire that flamed from the wall 
 before them, being ordered to move slowly as the pivot of 
 the army wheel, it staggered and at last fell back to its 
 starting place. Warner's troops on our right had 
 obliqued over a hill where we could no longer see them; 
 we were therefore forced to halt behind a fortunate 
 wall, low, and just long enough to cover our Brigade, 
 L where we opened fire. Directly in front of our position 
 
 (jf^ were a house, mill, and other out-buildings, swarming 
 
 with the enemy, our only approach to which was along 
 a narrow road by the side of a little mill-pond formed 
 by a dam across our old annoyance. Meadow Pain. 
 
 French's broken Brigade seeing that we refused to 
 retire, rallied with very little delay and again advanced 
 to the charge, this time by General Getty's direction on 
 the double quick, its commander having complained that 
 he could not take his men over the open field at a slower 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 151 
 
 pace, and with an apparently unanimous detcrnn'nation 
 to succeed. When they were nenrly abreast of our 
 position, being still across the Run, our Brigade poured 
 over the wall which had covered it, and rushed promis- 
 cuously into the ad de sac by the mill-pond. The at- 
 tack was successful, and the group of buildings from 
 which the enemy fled in confusion to a wall which pro- 
 tected their second line, was as good a protection for us 
 as it had been for the rebels. The troops of our 
 Brigade were now scattered about the grounds and out- 
 buildings just mentioned, some of them l)eing behind 
 and upon two large hay-stacks, and fully one third of 
 the command being advanced quite a distance further, J^*t-^ 
 
 to the cover of a broken garden wall and amona; several 
 large trees. French was now in a capital spot nearly up 
 with us, and we wei-e still unable to see the regiments 
 on our right. Officers sent over the hill to reconnoitre 
 found a rebel line of battle and a section of their artil- 
 lery nearly on the prolongation of our line, and it was 
 considered that we should be doing extremely well if we 
 were able to hold our then position, being it will be re- 
 membered the extreme left of the army, with a heavy 
 force of the enemy in our front, and even extending 
 across the pike where we had now no troops except a 
 regiment or so of Col. Kitchen's unattached " provision- 
 al " train guard, and some cavalry. 
 
 Therefore we kept concealed as much as was consist- 
 ent with expending the full fifty rounds of ammunition 
 consumed in the next half hour, the rebel fire mean- 
 while being so hot that we could not carry off" our 
 
 
 MM-. 
 
^ 
 
 152 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 "Wounded or send for more cartridges. At last however 
 the excellence of Sheridan's plan was proved ; a move- 
 ment became apparent on the right ; Wanier's left was 
 , again seen advancing, and Avith a cheer wc made a 
 
 " final charge against the walls before us. The enemy 
 
 > ' . faced our advance but for a moment and then fled in 
 
 , J^ confusion ; we pursued faster and faster, only stop- 
 
 ping to hastily fill our cartridge-boxes with captured 
 ammunition ; the retreat became a stampede, the pursuit 
 became a reckless chase, and with tumultuous cheers and 
 throbbing hearts we crowded the motley mob before us, 
 on and on over the miles of hill and plain to the banks of 
 Cedar Creek. Our formation was entirely lost but we 
 had the organization and enthusiasm of recognized suc- 
 cess ; every man felt that it would not do to allow the 
 enemy to rally on this side of the stream ; the front was 
 presently occupied by flags alone, as the more heavily 
 loaded troops became unable to keep up with the ener- 
 getic color-sergeants ; the strong cavalry force on our 
 ' distant rio;ht were seen charnfiu"' down the field : the 
 rebels obliqued confusedly and in uncontrollable dismay 
 towards the turnpike and the bridge ; a final attempt 
 was made to organize a last resistance on the hills that 
 crowned the Creek, but after a feeble volley the line 
 melted away ; a last battery faced us with a round of 
 canister, but in vain ; we saw the flag that followed 
 Sheridan, a white star on the red above a red star on 
 the white, flashing in the front and centre of the army, 
 literally leading it to victory ; the regimental standard 
 bearers vied with each other in an eager strife to be first 
 
CEDAK CREEK. 153 
 
 in the works of the morning, every brigade in the army 
 afterwards chximing the distinction, our own brigade 
 certainly not with the least ground of any; and so at last 
 we manned the entrenchments of the Nineteenth Corps, 
 while the foe toiled up the other bank of Cedar Creek 
 and hastily formed a battle-line outside our musket 
 range. 
 
 Artillery came up on the gallop and opened vigor- 
 ously. Generals exchanged congratulations with each 
 other and their troops. Sheridan's promise was fulfilled 
 again, for we had our camps as the evening fell. 
 
 It is perhaps not surprising that sarcastic cheers and 
 impudent questions concerning the distance to Harper's 
 Eerry and the probabilities of an early mail saluted a 
 few of Gen. Crook's officers who followed to witness our 
 success. The feeling was prevalent and not unreason- 
 able that we were indebted to them alone for our day's 
 work, with the terrible discomfiture of the morning, but 
 we were afterwards convinced that they had done what 
 they could. 
 
 Sheridan was not satisfied even yet. Custer was 
 ordered to pursue the enemy still farther. We saw in 
 the twilight the regiments he had selected, being the 
 First Vermont and the Fifth New York Cavalry, cross 
 the creek at a ford a mile above the bridge, then gradual- 
 ly deploy and climb the hill in an extended line ; a 
 volley awaited them at its summit which was like a 
 blaze of fire in the darkness, but the brave horsemen 
 did not falter, and that volley was the last. 
 
 " Every regiment to its camp of the morning " was 
 
154 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 the order next received, and we joyfully picked our way 
 to our first position. Tent poles, rude tables, and rustic 
 couches were found undisturbed ; a few minutes more 
 and everything was as it had been twenty-four hours 
 before, save in the absence of the fallen. Fires were 
 lighted and the excited men, though weai'y, were more 
 ready to discuss and congratulate than to sleep ; while 
 once and anon a quiet party would sally forth into the 
 night to find and save some groaning sufferer. The bodies 
 of the Union troops left dead and wounded on the field in 
 our first retreat had been most shamefully plundered by 
 the rebels, many of them lying naked on the ground when 
 recaptured. 
 
 At perhaps ten p. m., a cavalry acquaintance hurried 
 into camp and from him we learned the sequel of the 
 day ; how Custer and Davies had pushed the cavalry 
 over Fisher's Hill and were still in pursuit ; how all our 
 captured cannon had been re-taken and nearly every one 
 of the enemy's guns had been brought into camp by 
 their own unwilling drivers ; how prisoners were crowd- 
 ing in by hundreds and the vacant space in front of 
 Sheridan's headquarters had become a corral, full of all 
 sorts of plunder, men, guns, wagons, and mules, upon 
 which he was wont for many days to look with grim 
 satisfaction ; how a Vermont boy had, single-handed, 
 captured a rebel General, for which he afterwards re- 
 ceived a well-earned decoration, naively telling Secretary 
 Stanton at the time of its bestowal that the Johnnies in 
 the darkness expostulated with him for interfering with 
 *' the Greneral's " ambulance, whereat he " guessed the 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 155 
 
 General was the very man he was looking for ; " how 
 in fact the turnpike had been blocked at the foot of 
 Fisher's Hill, and three miles of wagons and guns were 
 captured entire. 
 
 The defeat was utter, and decisive so far as the 
 Shenandoah Valley was concerned. Its secret was sim- 
 ply Sheridan's personal magnetism, and all-conquering 
 energy. He felt no doubt, he would submit to no de- 
 feat, and he took his army with him as on a whirlwind. 
 
 General Grant well said with generous eulogy, " this 
 victory stamps Sheridan as what I have always thought 
 him, one of the ablest of Generals." 
 
 It was announced in another vivid dispatch as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " October 19th, 10 p.m. 
 Lieutenant General Grant : 
 
 I have the honor to report that my army at Cedar 
 Creek was attacked this morning before daylight, and 
 my left was turned and driven in confusion. In fact 
 most of the line was driven in confusion with the loss of 
 20 pieces of artillery. I hastened from Winchester 
 where I was on my return from Washington and found 
 the armies between Middletown and Newtown, having 
 been driven back about four miles. I here took the 
 affair in hand, and quickly united the corps, formed a 
 compact line of battle just in time to repulse an attack 
 of the enemy which was handsomely done at about one 
 p. M. ; at 3 p. M., after some changes of the cavalry 
 from the left to the right, I attacked with great vigor, 
 capturing, according to the last report, 43 pieces of 
 artillery, with very many prisoners. I do not know yet 
 the number of my casualties or the losses of the enemy. 
 
 Wagon trains, ammunition and caissons in large 
 abundance are in our possession. General Ramseur is 
 
156 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 a prisoner in our hands, severely and perhaps mortally 
 wounded. I have to report the loss of Gen. Bidwell, 
 killed, and Generals Wright, Grover and liicketts 
 wounded. Wright is slightly wounded. AflFairs at 
 times looked badly, but by the gallantry of our brave 
 oificers and mendisaster has been converted into a splen- 
 did victory. Darkness again intervened to shut off 
 greater results. 1 now occupy Strasburg. 
 
 P. H. Sheridan, 
 
 Maj.-Gen, 
 
 And again on the -Ist : 
 * * * "The accident in the morning turned to our 
 advantage, as much as though the whole thing had been 
 Diiiiinpfi ^ ^ ^ "^ "^ "^ ^ ^ 
 
 The actual number of cannon captured was 53 in- 
 cluding those lost in the morning; we also took 1100 
 prisoners besides the enemy's wounded, with which the 
 village of Strasburg was crowded. 
 
 Major General Wright's ofl&cial report proposes the 
 following explanation of the surprise of Crook's com- 
 mand : 
 
 "A brigade sent out by General Crook on the pre- 
 ceding day to ascertain the position of the enemy had 
 returned to camp and reported that nothing was to be 
 found in the old camps of the enemy and that he had 
 doubtless retreated up the Valley. ****** 
 However this mistake was made, I have no question 
 that the belief in the retreat of the enemy was generally 
 entertained throughout the reconnoitring force." 
 
 "This force, which as before remarked was from 
 the arniy of West Virginia, returned to camp through 
 its own lines and must have made known to the troops 
 in camp and on the picket line its received belief in the 
 enemy's retreat. Now it happens that the advance of 
 the enemy was made upon this part of the line; the 
 surprise was complete, for the pickets did not fire a 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 157 
 
 shot, and the first indication of the enemy's presence 
 was a volley into the main line where the men of part 
 of the regiments were at reveille roll call without arms.. 
 As the entire picket line over that part crossed by the 
 enemy was captured without a shot being fired, no ex- 
 planation could be obtained from any of the men com- 
 prising it ; but it is fair to suppose that they were 
 lulled into an unusual security by the report of the 
 previous evening that the enemy had fallen back, and 
 that there was consequently no danger to be apprehend- 
 ed. This supposition seems to me likely enough; it 
 certainly goes far toward explaining how an enemy in 
 force passed and captured a strong and well connected 
 picket line of old soldiers, without occasioning alarm, 
 and gave as a first warning ot its presence a volley of 
 musketry into the main line of unarmed soldiers. It 
 was reported in camp, as derived from the enemy, that 
 he first relieved a part of our line by his own men 
 dressed in our uniforms ; but I have never been able 
 to confirm this rumor." 
 
 General Sheridan says, "This surprise was owing, 
 probably, to not closing in Powell," who was towards 
 Front Royal, rather than watching the nearer fords, 
 "or that the Cavalry Divisions of Merritt and Custer 
 were placed on the right of our line, where it had 
 always occurred to me there was but little danger of an 
 attack." 
 
 These two hypotheses are both doubtless correct, 
 Greneral Sheridan proposing the more remote strategical 
 error, while Wright explains the more immediate care- 
 lessness which enabled the enemy to surprise Crook's 
 camp, without notice from his picquets. 
 
 General Wright's report continues : "The proceedings 
 up to this point were bad enough for us, as it gave the 
 enemy, almost without a struggle, the entire left of our 
 line, with considerable artillery, not a gun of which 
 had fired a shot. But the reserve of this line was 
 
 14 
 
158 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 posted a considerable distance in its rear, where it could 
 be made available as a movable force, and was well 
 situated to operate upon any force attempting to turn 
 our left. It was in no way involved in the disaster of 
 the first line, which was after all but a small part of 
 our whole force, being only one weak division ; and its 
 loss was in no wise to be taken as deciding the fate of 
 the day ; with the other troops brought up, this support- 
 ing division was in good position to ofter sturdy battle 
 with every prospect of repulsing the enemy ; and aided 
 as it would have been by the rest of the army, the 
 chances were largely in our favor. Here the battle 
 should have been fought and won ; and long before 
 mid-day the discomfitted enemy should have been driven 
 across Cedar Creek, stripped of all the captures of his 
 first attack. But from some unexplainable cause the 
 troops forming this part of the line would not stand,, 
 but broke under a scattered fire which should not have 
 occasioned the slightest apprehension in raw recruits, 
 much less in old soldiers like themselves. Most officers 
 who have served through the war have had instances of 
 the same kind in their own experience, and will there- 
 fore perfectly understand this, though they may find 
 themselves as much at a loss for a satisfactory explana- 
 tion of its cause." 
 
 " It was the breaking of this line which involved the 
 necessity of falling back; a change of fi'ont was neces- 
 sary, and this must be made to a position which would 
 place our force between the enemy and our base. That 
 there was no intention of retreating, the soldiers who- 
 stood firm clearly understood, and when once brought 
 ■ into the new position in face of the enemy they were 
 ready to advance upon him as was shown by their 
 magnificent attack when ordered forward." 
 
 "To the Sixth Corps which it was my honor to com- 
 mand after the death of that noble soldier Sedgwick, — 
 to its officers and men, I desire to acknowledge the 
 obligations which in addition to the many others it has^ 
 imposed, it laid upon the country by its steadiness, 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 159 
 
 •courage and discipline in this important battle : without 
 disparagement to the soldierly qualities of other organi- 
 zations concerned, it is but just to claim for it a large 
 share in the successes of the day. Being from the 
 nature of the attack upon our lines somewhat in the 
 position of a reserve force, and therefore fairly to be 
 called upon to turn the tide of unsuccessful battle, it 
 came up nobly to its duty, fully sustaining its former 
 "well earned laurels." 
 
 Greneral Getty's official report contains the following 
 
 paragraph : 
 
 ''I take just pride in recapitulating the sei'vices of 
 the Division on this eventful day. At daybreak the 
 Division was on the extreme right of the infantry of 
 the army. Immediately after daylight it moved by the 
 left toward Middletown with a view of gaining f)ossess- 
 ion of the pike and the high ground near the town. On 
 its march it encountered the enemy, formed line rapidly, 
 and immediately advanced, driving the enemy, and 
 taking some prisoners, at this time finding itself on the 
 extreme left. Compelled from unforeseen causes to ^-i,'^ 
 halt and occupy a crest 300 yards to the rear, it held ^. 
 this position unsupported for over an hour after all 
 other troops had left the field, checking the further 
 advance of the enemy and repulsing every attack, thus 
 giving time to the scattered commands to reorganize and 
 reform. Finally outnumbered and outflanked, the 
 Division moved back leisurely, contesting every inch of 
 ground, about a mile to the north of Middletown, with 
 its left resting on the pike, and in this position served 
 as the nucleus on which the lines of the army were re- 
 formed. In the afternoon the Division advanced upon 
 the lines of the enemy, over almost entirely open ground, 
 in the face of a heavy fire of musketry and artillery ; 
 and although parts of the line had to yield for the 
 moment to the galling fire encountered, the mass of the 
 Division moved steadily on, driving the enemy from his 
 first position back upon his second, and eventually 
 
 ivv 
 
160 CEDAR CREEK. 
 
 forcing him from this position and driving him in con- 
 fusion through Middletown and the plains beyond, to 
 and over Cedar Creek." 
 
 The following table shows the casualties of the Brig- 
 ade at the battle of Cedar Creek, as first reported : 
 
 KEGIMENT. KILLED. WOUNDED. MISSING. TOTAL. 
 
 2d. 
 
 3 
 
 31 
 
 4 
 
 38 
 
 3d. 
 
 3 
 
 38 
 
 1 
 
 42 
 
 4th. 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 3 
 
 29 
 
 5th. 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 22 
 
 6th. 
 
 5 
 
 32 
 
 11 
 
 48 
 
 11th. 
 
 9 
 
 74 
 
 29 
 
 112 
 
 Aggregate, 28 212 51 291 
 
 The prisoners it will be remembered were lost from 
 the picquet line at daybreak. A subsequent revision 
 corrected this aggregate as follows : killed 33, wounded 
 210, missing 41, total 284. 
 
 The only officer killed was Second Lieutenant Oscar 
 K. Lee, of the Eleventh Regiment. He was a remark- 
 ably brave and efficient officer, from Waterford, whose 
 commission as Captain was received a few days after 
 his death. A commission previously issued to Lieutenant 
 Duhigg as Captain of the same company (M) had in 
 like manner reached the regiment a day or two after 
 that officer was killed at the Opequan. 
 
 Captain Edward P. Lee, a brother of Lieutenant Lee 
 and in the same Regiment, was among the wounded. 
 The other officers wounded were Lieutenant Colonel 
 Tracy and Lieutenant Amasa W. Ferry of the Second ; 
 Captain William H. Hubbard and Lieutenant Augustus 
 H. Lyon of the Third ; Captain Joseph P. Aikens of 
 
CEDAR CREEK. 161 
 
 the Fourth ; Captain Thomas Kavanaugh of the Fifth ; 
 Captain Edwin R. Kinney and Captain Thomas B. 
 Kennedy of the Sixth, Captain Kinney being the senior 
 officer of his Regiment and succeeded in command by 
 Captain Sperry after receiving his wound ; Lieutenant 
 George 0. French of the Eleventh, afterwards killed at 
 Petersburg, together with Captain George H, Amidon 
 of the Fourth, and Lieutenant Henry C. Baxter of the 
 Eleventh who were serving on the Brigade Staff. 
 
XIII. 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 But little worth the writing now remains of my sub- 
 ject. The Shenandoah Valley was fairly and finally 
 conquered and a season of rest ensued, varied only by 
 the ordinary incidents of life in camp, and rumors, 
 which had grown to be stale and profitless by frequent 
 repetition, of our expected removal to Petersburg and 
 the army of the Potomac. 
 
 On the 21st of October, our Division then still on 
 the extreme left of the army, was transferred to the 
 village of Strasburg, the Vermont Brigade occupying 
 the town itself, and finding capital quarters. The rest 
 of the army still held the north bank of Cedar Creek, 
 while we acted as a grand guard with our outposts on 
 Fisher's Hill. We were entirely unmolested during 
 the fortnight we spent there, and were made happy by 
 an opportunity to renew our acquaintance with Pay- 
 master Hayward and his greenbacks. 
 
 There being no further signs of an enemy, the army 
 presently moved back to Kernstown, a few miles south 
 of Winchester ; the railroad being soon put in running 
 order from Harper's Ferry to Stevenson's Depot, but six 
 miles from camp, we were again at our base and accessi- 
 ble to military comforts. Hay for the horses was issued 
 for the first time since the army of the Potomac had 
 crossed the Eapidan in May, while suttlers began 
 anew to vend their salt mackerel and clammy ginger- 
 bread. 
 
CONCLUSION. 16S 
 
 The presidential election was held, the Brigade 
 again having an opportunity to vote and casting a 
 large majority for Abraham Lincoln, though some of 
 the veterans of the peninsula still had sufficient enthusi- 
 asm for McClellan to honor him with their ballots. 
 
 Evening dress-parades and formal guard-mountings 
 were resumed. Gen, Getty each morning collected 
 together the guards and picquets of the Division, and 
 thus made a remarkably fine display of the most inter- 
 esting ceremony of the Regulations, while the evening 
 parades were by Brigades, our own of course conducted 
 by General Grant, 
 
 On the 21st of November the Corps was reviewed 
 by General Sheridan. It turned out in large numbers 
 and in fine style, and the sight would have been an ex- 
 ceedingly imposing one, had not a blustering rain set 
 in which converted the field into a sea of mud and 
 dampened all enthusiasm. Still it was an admirable 
 performance, and it may be doubted if the steadiness of 
 marching shown has ever been equalled by so large a 
 number of troops upon our continent. 
 
 The 24th was Thanksgiving day at home, and was 
 remembered in camp. The weather was beautiful, all 
 drills and labor were suspended, barrels of turkeys 
 and other good things had been forwarded from the 
 north, which were faithfully distributed among the 
 men ; and Vermont, where we hoped, yet somewhat 
 doubtfully, to spend our next Thanksgiving, was the 
 universal subject of conversation and field of fancy. 
 The "loved ones at home" during the war doubtless spent 
 
164 CONCLUSION. 
 
 much time in pitying the soldiers and longing for their 
 return, while suffering deeply from their absence and 
 danger, but one misery they were spared, they could not 
 be homesick.; while the " boys in the field" were many 
 of them afflicted with chronic nostalgia except on letter 
 days. 
 
 The campaign now closed had been a hard but a 
 pleasant one. It commenced when the men were ex- 
 hausted with the unprecedented labor imposed upon the 
 army of the Potomac in its progress from the Rapidan to 
 Petersburg, comprising two months of continuous fighting, 
 relieved only by most wearisome marches and labor in 
 the trenches. The investment of Petersburg was just 
 completed when we were called away, and entered at once 
 in the heat of the summer upon another month of the 
 most severe marching, and fatiguing campaigning, that 
 we had ever been called upon to perform. At the be- 
 ginning of August when Hunter was relieved we were 
 as well nigh exhausted as men could be and still retain 
 any energy to be, or to do, or to suffer. From Sheridan's 
 arrival our case began to mend. The weather grew cooler ; 
 the marches were easier ; we were presently successful 
 in battle ; and at last, at the termination of the season 
 we were in the best possible condition, contented with 
 ourselves and proud of our services, with small sick- 
 lists and plenty of supplies, preparing winter-quarters, 
 ready for any movement, though hoping to the last 
 against hope that Petersburg would not again be our 
 destination. 
 
 Our Brigade was ably served in the Shenandoah, by 
 
CONCLUSION. 165 
 
 its nou-conibalant staff, whose labors should not be for- 
 gotten. The duties of the various Eegimental Quarter- 
 masters were especially severe on account of the long 
 distance each supplj' train had to traverse. Martins- 
 burg, where they made their headquarters, was a perfect 
 pandemonium one day in four, mules, wagons, soldiers, 
 negroes and carts being mingled apparently inextricably 
 and almost undistinguishably, while the days when the 
 caravan was on the march were not only tedious but 
 often dangerous, the guerrillas never ceasing to annoy. 
 Captain Randall of the Sixth was the Brigade Quarter- 
 master and was an exceedingly hard working and 
 efl&cient officer. Lieutenant Clark of the Eleventh was 
 also in charge of that department a portion of the time, 
 and was not surpassed by any officer in his branch of the 
 service in the foresight with which he anticipated every 
 want that could be supplied, and "drew for it." 
 
 Capt. Valentine, the Brigade Commissary, supplied 
 our bodily necessities as abundantly as the facilities for 
 transportation would allow. 
 
 But among all the faithful soldiers of the Brigade, 
 the one who will be longest remembered with affection 
 by the greatest number and with the greatest reason, 
 is Castanus B. Park of the 1 ] th Eegiment, the Brig- 
 ade Surgeon. As a worker Dr. Park was indefatiga- 
 ble, and his skill was equal to the requirements of his 
 position. Of all its medical staff the Brigade were 
 justly proud, the assistant surgeons as well as the 
 surgeons being always found at their posts, and shrink- 
 ing from no labor that might benefit their men on the 
 
166 CONCLUSION. 
 
 march, in the camp or in battle. Their duties were 
 often extremely arduous, for in case of an engagement 
 the work of the surgeons was but just begun when ours 
 was over. At and after the battle of Cedar Creek Dr. 
 Park was at his table for forty-eight hours consecutively, 
 and during this campaign it was his duty to perform 
 all the capital operations required in the Brigade. The 
 number of amputations which he performed was ex- 
 ceedingly large, but he traced with care the after history 
 of each patient, and in no single instance did one fail of 
 recovery. This fact speaks equally well for the physique 
 of the men and for the science of the Doctor. 
 
 Among the officers of the Brigade, who were all so 
 gallant in action that their bravery became a proverb — 
 Col. Warner in reporting the battle of the Opequan 
 said that to specify those who had distinguished them- 
 selves would be to give a complete roster of the com- 
 missioned officers of the Brigade — the following were 
 honored with brevets for " meritorious services" during 
 this campaign, receiving commissions signed by the 
 President according them Brevet rank as follows : 
 
 Enoch E. Johnson, Lieutenant Colonel. 
 In the '2d Regiment. Elijah Wales, Major. 
 
 Erastus <:>. Ballou, Major. 
 
 In the 3d Regiment. Horace W. iloyd, Colonel. 
 
 In the 4th Regiment. George P. Foster, Brigadier General. 
 
 James M, Warner, Brigadier General. 
 
 Aldace F. Walker, Lieutenant Colonel. 
 Inthe IIthRegiiient. ^ -^ t^,-, ■-, ,, ■ 
 
 James E. Eldridge, Major. 
 
 Henry C. Baxter, Captain. 
 
CONCLUSION. 167 
 
 Many of these officers were afterwards advanced to 
 the full rank of their brevets. 
 
 The Vermont Brigade was one of the last in the 
 corps to return to Petersburg. On the 9th of Decem- 
 ber, in a driving snow-storm, it took the cars at Ste- 
 venson's depot, and thus, in the night and the tempest 
 it finally left the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 The muster-rolls of the Vermont Brigade enable 
 the author to give the names of its members who were 
 killed or mortally wounded in the Shenandoah Valley. 
 His little book, dedicated to their memory, would be 
 incomplete without such a record. It should be ob- 
 served, however, that the remark on the rolls, "died of 
 wounds received in action," opposite the names of those 
 not instaatly killed, does not contain exact information 
 as to the time the fatal injury was received. The date 
 of death, however, is always given, so that the follow- 
 ing list can be relied upon as substantially correct. 
 Persons having knowledge either of omissions or of 
 names improperly inserted are requested to suggest 
 corrections. 
 
 The lists are arranged alphabetically, without titles. 
 Bank is no longer of consequence to them, and their 
 fellow citizens hold the memory of all in equal esti- 
 mation. 
 
ID I E ]D 
 
 OF AVOUNDS RECEIVED IN ACTION, IN THE SHENANDOAH CAMPAIGN 
 
 
 ] 864. 
 
 
 SECOND REGIMENT. 
 
 Jonathan Camp, 
 
 Wells Howard, 
 
 Charles H. Stowe, 
 
 Henry M. Clark, 
 
 Benjamin F. Hurlburd, James C. Sweetzer, | 
 
 Marcus M. Clough, 
 
 James C. Hutshinson 
 
 , Jonathan E. Tapper, 
 
 Clark Curtice, 
 
 John B. Lute, 
 
 James A. Walcott, 
 
 Dexter Grossman, 
 
 Michael Lynch, 
 
 Arthur Ward, 
 
 Alonzo H. Fields, 
 
 Thomas McGellcy, 
 
 Lewis H. Welcome. 
 
 Zenas Hatch, 
 
 William Reed, 
 
 THIRD REGIMENT. 
 
 
 Joseph Elanshaw, 
 
 James Greig, 
 
 Charles H. Sanborn, 
 
 Eliphalet B. Crane, 
 
 John S. Kilby, 
 
 Daniel E. Smith, 
 
 John A. Deady, 
 
 Thomas J. Miller, 
 
 Elbridge G. Thompson, 
 
 Charles Gee, 
 
 Myron E. Parker, 
 
 Henry C. Vroody. 
 
 Austin Goodell, 
 
 John J. Rich, 
 
 FOURTH REGIMENT. 
 
 
 Kneeland Badger, 
 
 Lawrence Edwards, 
 
 Joseph Marson, 
 
 Charles A. Blanchard 
 
 , Caros 0. Gibson, 
 
 Smith Ormsbee, 
 
 Zaccheus Blood, 
 
 James Gill, 
 
 Richard F. Rich, 
 
 Thomas J. Burnham, 
 
 Napoleon B. Hudson, 
 
 Luther B. Scott, 
 
 Charles Camp, 
 
 Nelson D. Knight, 
 
 FIFTH REGIMENT. 
 
 Ransom W. Towlo. 
 
 Joseph Blair, 
 
 Woodman Jaekman, 
 
 John Naylor, 
 
 Lewis Bonett, 
 
 Peter Ladam, 
 
 Addison Whitcomb, 
 
 Gilbert E. Davis, 
 
 Julius Lewis, 
 
 William P. Valentine. 
 
 Joseph Farnum, 
 
 
 
SIXTH RKGIMBNT. 
 
 Thomas Alden, 
 John Betney, 
 Charles Blake, 
 Warren IT. Chapman, 
 Lewis B. Cook, 
 Daniel Call, 
 Augustus L. Cox, 
 Simon P Dean, 
 Carlos W. Dwinell, 
 John Fitzsimmons, 
 
 John S. Andrews, 
 George F. Bates. 
 Manley E. Bellas, 
 Wyman R. Bnrnap, 
 Charles Buxton, 
 Clesson Cameron, 
 George R. Campbell, 
 Joel W. Chafee, 
 George E. Chamberlin, 
 John Copeland, 
 Stephen Currier, 
 Willard M. Davis, 
 Henry E Decamp, 
 Charles Devereux, 
 Charles Doolittle, 
 Dennis Duhigg, 
 Lyman Dunbar, 
 Benjamin S. Edgerton 
 
 15 
 
 Alvah M. Gray, 
 Edwin Gray, 
 John P. How, 
 Claphas Jenno, 
 John Kelley, 
 Samuel Leazar, 
 Warren D. Afather, 
 Edward Morse, 
 Charles Parmentor, 
 Leander Poquet, 
 
 ELKVENTH REGUrBNT, 
 
 Daniel B. Field, 
 John H. Fisk. 
 Orson G. Gibson, 
 Allen W. Goodrich, 
 Levi L. Goodrich, 
 David Goosey, 
 Obed S Hatch, 
 George L. Heath, 
 George T. Kasson, 
 George A. Kilmer, 
 Erastus Laird, 
 Oscar R. Lee, 
 Myron A. Loeklin, 
 Elbridge F. Lynde, 
 John McCarty, 
 Joseph McLaughlin, 
 Frank Minor, 
 
 Edwin R. Richardson, 
 Alden A.Spaulding, 
 Sylvfster Spooner, 
 Alden Thomas, 
 Lewis A. Tyler, 
 Charles P. Upham, 
 Thomas S. Varney, 
 Joseph Vondell, 
 Stephen P. White. 
 
 Julius Minor, 
 Ransom M. Patch, 
 George A. Peeler, 
 Edgar M. Phinney, 
 Joseph Rabiteaux, 
 Marcellus Russell, 
 Wesley G. Sheldon, 
 Nelson F. Skinner, 
 Robert Tibbetts, 
 Foster Thomas, 
 Ira C. Tompkins, 
 Ira C. Twiss, 
 Albert Witherbee, 
 John D. Williams, 
 Marshall Wilmarth, 
 Albert Wood worth, 
 John Woodward. 
 
THK SHENANDOAH CAMPAIGN. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 
 
 HEADQU^iRTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THK GULF, ) 
 
 New Orleans, February 8, 1866. y 
 
 Brevet Major- General J. A. Rawlins, Chief of Staff y 
 Washimjton, O. C. 
 
 General — I have the honor to make the following report 
 of the campaign in the Yalley of the Shenandoah, commencing 
 August fonrth, 1864. 
 
 On the evening of the first of August I was relieved from 
 the command of the cavalry corps of the Army of tlie Potomac, 
 to take command of the Army of the Shenandoah, and on 
 arriving at Washmgton on the fouith instant I received direc- 
 tions from Major-General H. W. llalleck, Chief of the Staff, to 
 proceed without delay to Monocacy Junction, on the Baltimore 
 and Ohio railroad, and report in person to tlie Lieutenant-Gen- 
 eral. At Monocacy the Lieuteuant-General turned over to me 
 the instructions which he had previously given to Major Gen- 
 eral Hunter, commanding the Department of West Virginia, a 
 copy of which is iierewith attached. 
 
 The Army of the Shenandoah at this tune consisted of the 
 Sixth corps, very much reduced in numbers, one division of the 
 Nineteenth corps, two small infantry divisions under command 
 of General Crook, afterwards designated as the Army of West 
 Virginia, a small division of cavalry under General Averell, 
 which was at that time in pursuit of General McCausland, near 
 Moorefield, McCausland having made a raid into Pennsylvania 
 and burned the town of Chambersburg; there was also one 
 small division of cavalry, then arriving at Washington, from 
 my old corps. 
 
 The infantry portion of these troops had been lying in bivouac 
 in the vicinity of Monocacy Junction and Frederick City, but 
 had been ordered to march the day 1 reported, with directions 
 to concentrate at Halltown, four miles in front of Harper's 
 Ferry. After my interview with the Lieutenant-General, I 
 hastened to Harper's Ferry to make preparatioiis for an imme- 
 diate advance against the enemy, who then occupied Martins- 
 burg, Williainsport, and Shepardstown, sending occasional 
 raiding parties as far as Hagerstown. The concentration of 
 my command at Halltown alarmed the enemy, and caused him 
 to concentrate at or near iMartiusburg, drawing in all his parlies- 
 from the north side of the Potomac. The indications were that 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 171 
 
 he had intended another raid into Maryland, prompted perhaps 
 by the slight success he had gained over General Crook's 
 command at Kernstown, a short time before. The city of 
 Marlinsburg, at which the enemy concentrated, is on the Bal- 
 timore and Ohio railroad, at the nortliera termmus of the valley 
 pike, a broad macadamized road running up the valley, through 
 Winchester, and terminating at Staunton. The Shenandoah 
 valley is a continuation of the Cumberland valley, south of the 
 Potomac, and is bounded on the east by the Blue Ridge, and 
 on the west b}' the eastern slope of tiie Alleghan}^ mountains, 
 the general direction of these chains being south-west. 
 
 The valley at Martin sburg is about sixty miles broad, at 
 Winchester forty to fofty-tive, and at Strasburg twenty-five to 
 thirty miles, where an isolated chain, called Massanutten 
 mountain, rises up running parallel to the Blue Ridge, and 
 tarminates at Harrisonburg ; here the valley again opens out 
 fifty or sixty miles broad. This isolated chain divides the 
 valley, for its continuance, into two valleys, the one next the 
 Blue Ridge being called the Luraj^ valle3^ the one west of it 
 the Strasburg or mam valley. The Blue Ridge has many passes 
 through it called gaps, the principal ones and those which 
 have good wagon roads, are Snicker's, Ashby's, Manassas, 
 Chester, Thoroughfare, Swift Run, Brown's, Rock-fish, and 
 two or three others from the latter one up to Lynchburg. 
 Many have macadamized roads through them, and, indeed, are 
 not gaps, but small valleys tlirough the main chain. The gen- 
 eral bearing of all these roads is towards Gordonsville, and are 
 excellent for troops to move upon from that point into the val- 
 ley ; in fact, the Blue Ridge can be crossed almost anywhere 
 by infantry or cavalry. 
 
 The valley itself was rich in grain, cattle, sheep, liogs and 
 fruit, and was in such a prosperous condition that the rebel 
 army could march down and up it, billeting on the inhabitants. 
 Such, in brief, is the outline, and was the condition of the 
 Shenandoah valle}^ when I entered it August fourth, 1864. 
 
 Great exertions were made to got the troops in readiness for 
 an advance, and on the morning of August tenth, General 
 Torbert's division of cavalry having joined me from Washing- 
 ton, a forward movement was commenced. The enemy, while 
 we were making our preparations, took position at Bunker 
 Hill and vicinity, twelve miles south of Martinsburg, frequently 
 pushing his scouting parties through Smithtield and up to 
 Oharlestown. Torbert was ordered to move on the Berryville 
 pike, through Berrj^ville, and go into position near White Post ; 
 the Sixth corps moved via the Charlestown and Summit Point 
 road to Clifton; the Nineteenth corps moved on the Berryville 
 pike, to the left of the position of the Sixth corps at Clifton ; 
 General Crook's command via Kabletown, to the vicinity of 
 
172 MAJOR-GENERAL SUERIDAN's REPORT. 
 
 Berryville, comiug into posilion on the left of tlie Nineteenth 
 corps ; and Colonel Lowell, with two small regiments of cav- 
 alry, was ordered to Summit Point; so that ou the night of 
 August tenth, the army occupied a position stretchuig from 
 Clifton to Berryville, with civalrj^ at White Post and Suuunit 
 Point. The enemy moved from vicinity of Bunker Hill, 
 Btretchiug las line from where the Winchester and Potomac 
 railroad crosses Opequan creek, to where the Berryville and 
 Winchester pike crosses the same stream, occupying the west 
 bank. On the morning of August eleventh, tlie Sixth corps 
 was ordered to move from Clifton across the country to where 
 the Berryville pike crosses Opequan creek, carry the crossing, 
 and hold it ; the Nineteenth corps was directed to move through 
 Berryville, on the White Post road, for one mile, file to the 
 right by heads of regiments, at deploying distances, and carry 
 and hold the crossing of Opequan creek at a ford about three- 
 fourths of a mile from the left of the Sixth corps; Crook's 
 command was ordered to move out on the White Post road, one 
 mile and a half bej-oud Berryville, file to the right and secure 
 the crossing of Opequan creek at a ford about one mile to the 
 left of the Nineteenth corps ; Torbert was directed to move 
 with Merritt's division of cavalry up the Millwood pike toward 
 Winchester, attack any fore? he might find, and, if possible, 
 .iscertaiu the movements of the rebel army. Lowell was 
 ordered to close in from Summit Point on the right of the 
 Sixth corps. 
 
 My intention in securing these fords was to march on Win- 
 chester, at which 2)oiiit, from all mj' infoiiualion on the tenth, 
 I thought t'le enemy would make a stand. In this I was mis- 
 taken, as the results of Torbert's reconnoissance proved. 
 Merritt found the enemy's cavalry covering the Millwood pike 
 west of the Opequan, and, attacking it, drove it in the direction 
 of Kernstowu, t.nd discovered the enemy retreating up the 
 valley pike. 
 
 As soon as this information was obtained, Torbert was 
 ordered to move quickly, via the toll gate on the Front Royal 
 pike, to Newtown, to strike the enemy's flank, and harass hira 
 in his retreat, and Lowell to follow up through Winchester. 
 Crook was turned to the left and ordered to Stony Point, or 
 Nineveh, while Emory and Wright were marched to the left, 
 and went into camp between the Millwood and Front Roj^tI 
 pikes, Crook encamping at Strong Point. Torbert met some of 
 the enemy's cavalry at the toll gale on the Front Ko,yal pike, 
 drove it in the diroclion of Newtown, and behind Gordon's 
 division of infantry, which had been thrown out from Newtown 
 to cover the flank of the main column in its retreat, and which 
 had put itself behind rail barricades. A portion of Menitl's 
 cavalry attacked this infantry, and drove in its skirniksh line, 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERTDAN'S REPORT. 173 
 
 an'l altlioii.Q'h unable lo dislodire tlie division, held all the grronnd 
 pained. The rebel division diirino- the ni.L'-ht moved off. Next 
 day Crook moved from Stony Point to Cedar creek, Kinory fol- 
 lowed; the cavalry moved to the same point, t)fa Newtown and 
 the valley pike, and the Sixth corps followed the cavalry. On 
 the nig'ht of the twelfth. Crook was in position at Cedar creek, 
 on tiie left of the valley pike. Emory on the rip:ht of the pike, 
 the Sixth coryis on the rio-ht of Emory, and the cavalry on the 
 rifrht and left flanks. A heavy skirmish line was thrown to tho 
 hei.thts on tho sontli side of Cedar creek, which had brisk 
 skirmishins: diirino: the evening with tho enemy's pickets; his 
 (the enemy's) main force occnpyinsj the heights above and north 
 of Strasbnrg. On the morning of the thirteenlh, the cavalry 
 was ordered on a reconnoissance towards Strasburg, on the 
 middle road, wiiicli road is two and a half miles to the w^est of 
 the main pike. 
 
 Reports of a colimin of the enemy moving up from Cnlpepper 
 Conrt-honse, and approaching Front Royal through Chester gap, 
 having been received, caused me nmch anxiety, as any consid- 
 erable force advanced through Front Royal, and down the P. 
 R. and W. pike toward Winchester, could be thrown in my 
 rear, or, in case of my driving liie enemy to Fisher's hill, and 
 taking position in his front, this same force could be moved 
 along the base of Massanntten mountain on the road to Stras- 
 burg, with the same result. 
 
 As my effective line of battle strength at this time was 
 about eighteen thousand infantry, and thirty-five hundred cav- 
 alr}', I reniained quiet during the day — except the activity on 
 the skirmish line — to await further developments. In the 
 evening the enemy retired with his main force to Fisher's hill. 
 As the rumors of an advancing force from the direction of 
 Culpepper kept increasing, on the morning of the fourteenth I 
 sent a brigade of cavalry to Front Royal, to ascertain definitely, 
 if possible, the truth of such reports, and at the same time 
 crossed the Sixth corps to the south side of Cedar creek and 
 occupied the heights above Strasburg. Considerable picket 
 firing ensued. Din-ing the day I received from Colonel Chip- 
 man, of the Adjutant-General's oflSce, the following despatch, 
 he having ridden with great haste from Washington through 
 Snicker's gap, escorted by a regiment of cavalry, to deliver the 
 eame. It at once explained the movtment from Culpepper, and 
 on the morning of the fifteenth, tho remaining two brigades of 
 Merritt's division of cavalry were ordered totlie crossing of tho 
 Sheuandoah river near Front Royal, and the Sixth corps with- 
 drawn to the north side of Cedar creek, holding at Stiasburg a 
 strong skirmish line. 
 
174 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 
 
 (By telegraph, received in cypher.) 
 
 City Point, August 12, 18C4, 9 a. m. 
 
 Major-General Halleck : 
 
 Inform General Sheridan that it is now certain two divisions 
 of infantrj' have gone to Karly, and some cavalry and twenty 
 pieces of artillery. This movement commenced last Saturday 
 night, he must be cautious, and act now on the defensive imtil 
 movements liere force them to this — to send this way. 
 
 Early's force, with this increase, cannot exceed forty thou- 
 sand men, but this is too much for General Sheridan to attack. 
 Send General Sheridan the remaining brigade of the Nineteenth 
 corps. 
 
 I have ordered to Washington all the one hundred day men. 
 Their time will soon be out, but, for the present, they will do 
 to serve in the defense. 
 
 U. S. Grant, 
 
 Lieutenant-Genersl. 
 
 The receipt of this despatch was very important to me, as I 
 possibly would have remained in tmcertaintyas to the character 
 of the force coming in on my flank and rear, until it attacked 
 the cavalry, as it did on the sixteenth. 
 
 I at once looked over the map of the valley for a defensive 
 line (that is, where a smaller number of troops could hold a 
 greater number) and could see but one such. I refer to that at 
 Halltown, in front of Harper's Ferry. Subsequent experience 
 has convinced me that no othf r really defensive line exists in 
 the Shenandoah valley. I therefore determined to move back 
 to Halltown, carry out my instructions to destroj^ forage and 
 subsistence, and increase my strength by Grover's division of 
 the Nineteenth corps, and Wilson's division of cavalry, both of 
 which were marching to join me, via Snicker's gap. Emory 
 was ordered to move to Winchester on the night of the fifteenth, 
 and, on the night of the sixteenth, the Sixth corps and Crook's 
 command were ordered to Clifton, via Winchester. 
 
 On the afternoon of the sixteenth I moved my headquarters 
 back to Winchester; while moving back (at Newtown) I heard 
 cannonading at or near Front Royal, and on reaching Winches- 
 ter, Merritt's couriers brought despatches from him, stating 
 that he had been attacked at the crossing of the Shenandoah 
 by Kershaw's division of Longstreet's corps, and two brigades 
 of rebel cavalry, and that he had handsomely repulsed the 
 attack, capturing two battle flags and three hundred prisoners. 
 During the night of the sixteenth, and early on the morning of 
 the seventeenth, Emory moved from Winchester to Berryville, 
 and, on the morning of the seventeenth. Crook and Wright 
 reached Winchester and resumed the march toward Clifton; 
 Wright, who had the rear guard, getting only as far as the 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 175 
 
 Berryville crossing of the Opequnn, where he was ordered to 
 remain ; Crook getting to the vicinitj^ of Berryville. Lowell 
 reached Winchester with his two regiments of cavalry on the 
 afternoon of the seventeenth, where he was joined by General 
 Wilson's division of cavalry. Merritt, after his handsome 
 engagement near Front Royal, was ordered back to the vicinity 
 of White Post, and General Grover's division joined Emory at 
 Berryville. The enemy having a signal station on Three-iop 
 mountain, almost overhanging Strashurg, and from which every 
 movement made by our troops could be seen, was notified early 
 in the morning of the seventeenth as to this condition of affairs, 
 and without delay followed after us, getting into Winchester 
 about sundown, and drivuig out General Torliert, who was left 
 there with Wilson and Lowell, and the Jersey brigade of tho 
 Sixth corps. Wilson and Lowell fell buck to Summit Point, 
 and the Jersey brigade joined its corps at the crossing of the 
 Opequan. Kershaw's division, and two brigades of Fitz Lee's 
 cavalry division, which was the force at Front Royal, joined 
 Early at Winchester, I think, on the evening of the seven- 
 teenth. 
 
 On the eighteenth the Sixth corps moved, via Clifton, to 
 Flowing Spring, two miles and a half west of Cliarlestown, on 
 the Smithfleld pike; Emory about two miles and a half south 
 of Charlestown, on the Berryville pike ; Merritt tame back to 
 Berryville; Wilson remained at Summit Point, covering the 
 crossing of Opequan creek as for north as the bridge at Smith- 
 field ; Merritt covering the crossing of the Berryville pike; 
 Crook remained near Clifton, and the next day moved to tlie 
 left of Emory. This position was maintained until the twenry- 
 first, when the enemy moved a heavy force across the Opequan 
 at the bridge atSmithfield, driving in the cavalry nickets which 
 fell back to Summit Point, and advanced rapidly on the position 
 of the Sixth corps, near Flowing Springs, when a very sharp 
 and obstinate skirmish took place with the heavy picket line of 
 that corps, resulting very much in its favor. The enemy 
 appeared to have thought that I had taken position near Sum- 
 rait Point, and that by moving around rapidly through Smith- 
 fleld he would get into my rear. In this, however, he was 
 mistaken. During the day Merritt (who had been attacked and 
 held his ground) was recalled from Berryville. Wilson had 
 also been attacked by infantry, and had also held his ground 
 until ordered in. During the night of the twenty-first the 
 army moved back to Halltown without inconvenience or loss; 
 the cavalry, excepting Lowell's command, wrJch formed on the 
 left, moving early on the morning of the twenty-second, and 
 going into position on the right of the line. 
 
 On the morning of the twenty-second tlie enemy moved up 
 
I7fi MAJOR-GENEKAL SIIERIDAN's REPORT. 
 
 captured, was of ?o conflicting; and contradictory a nature, that 
 I determined to ascertain if possible, while on this defensive 
 line, what reinforcements had actually been received by the 
 enemy. This could only be done b)^ frequent reconnoissiinces, 
 and their results convinced me Chat but one division of infantry, 
 Kershaw's, and one division of cavalry, Fitz Lee's, h.ad joined 
 him 
 
 On the twenty-third I ordered a reconnoissance by Crook, 
 who was on the left, resulting in a small Ciiptnre, and a num- 
 ber of casualties to the enemy. 
 
 On the twenty-iourth another reconnoissance w^is made, 
 capturinic a number of prisoneis, our own loss being about 
 thirty men. On ihe twentv-lifth there Was .sharp picket tiringr 
 during the day on part of the infantry line. The cavalry was 
 ordered to attack the enemy's c; valry at Kearneysvillc. This 
 attack was handsomely made, but, instead of finding the ene- 
 my's cavalry, his infantry v/as encountered, and for a time ' 
 doubled up and thrown into the utmost confusion. It was 
 marching towards Shepardstown. This engagement was 
 somewhat of a mutual surprise — our cavalry expecting to meet 
 the enemy's cavalry, and his infantry expectiiig no opposition 
 whatever. General Torbert, who w-as in command, tinding n 
 large force of the rebel infantry in his front, came back to our 
 left, and the enemy believing his (the enemy's) movements had 
 been discovered, and that the force left by him in my front at 
 Halltown would be attacked, returned in great haste, bur, 
 before doing so, isolated Custer's brigade, which had to cross 
 to the north side of the Potomac, at Shepardstown, and join 
 me via fTarper's Ferry. 
 
 For my own part I believed Early meditated a crossing of his 
 cavalry into Maryland, at Williamsport, and I sent AYilson's 
 division around by Ifarper's Ferry to watch its movements. 
 Averill in the nrican time had taken post at Williamsport, on 
 the north side of the Potomac, ami held the crossing against a 
 force of rebel cavalry which made the attempt to cross. On 
 the night of the tv/enty-sixth the enemy silently left ray front, 
 moving over Opeqnan creek, at the Smithfield and Summit 
 Point Crossings, and concentrating his force at Brucetown and 
 Bunker Hill, leaving his cavalry at Leetown and Smithfield. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth I moved in front of Charlestown with 
 the infantry, ancl directed Merritt to attack the enemy's c;. valry 
 at Leetown, which he did, defeating it, and pursuing it through 
 Smithfield. Wilson recrossed the Potomac at Siiepardstown, 
 and joined the infantry in front of Charlestown. 
 
 On the twenty-ninth Averill crossed at Williamsport and 
 advanced to Martinsburg. On the same day two divisions of 
 the enem3-'s infantr}', and a small force of cavalry, attacked 
 Merritt at the Smithfield bridge, and, after a hard fight, drove 
 
MAJOK-GENEKAL SUERIDAN'S KEPOKT. 177 
 
 toCbarlestowu and pushed well up to my position at Halltown, 
 Bkirmishing with the cavahy videites. 
 
 The despatches received from the Lieuteunut-General com- 
 maudinj-, from Captain G. K. Leet, A. A. G., at Washington, 
 and iuformatiou derived from my scouts, and from prisoners 
 him through Smithiield and back towards Ch:irles1-own, the 
 cavalry lighting witii great obstinacy until I could reinforce it 
 with Kickctts' division of the Sixth corps, when in turn the 
 enemy was driven back through Smiihticld, and over the 
 Opequan, the cavalry again taking post at the Smithiield 
 bridge. 
 
 On the thirtieth Torbert was directed to move Merritt and 
 Wilson to Berryville, leaving Lowell to guard the Smithfield 
 bridge and occupy the town. 
 
 Oh the thirty-tirst Averill was driven back from Martins- 
 burg to Falling Waters. 
 
 From the first to the third of September nothing of impor- 
 tance occurred. 
 
 On the third, Averill, who had returned to Martiusburg, 
 advanced on Bunker Hill, attacked McCausland's cavalry, 
 defeated it, capturing wagons and prisoners, and destroying a 
 good deal of property. The infantry moved into position 
 stretching from Clifton to Berryville, Wright moving by Sum- 
 mit Point, Crook and Emory bj^ the Berryville pike; Torbert 
 had been ordered to White Post early in the day, and the 
 enemy, supposing that he could cut him off, pushed across the 
 Opequan towards Berryville with K-rshavv's division in advance, 
 but this division not expecting infantry, blundered on to Crook's 
 lines about dark, and was vigorousl}' attacked and driven with 
 heavy loss back towards the Opequan. Tins engagement, which 
 was after niglitfall, was very spirited, and our own and the 
 enemy's casualties severe. 
 
 From this time until the nineteenth of September I occupied 
 the line from Clifton to Berryville, transferring Crook to Summit 
 PoinL on the eighth, to use him as a movable column to protect 
 my right flank and hue to Harper's Feny, while the cavalry' 
 tiueatened the enemy's right Hank and his line of communica- 
 liotJS up the valley. 
 
 The diflerence of strength between the two opposing forces 
 at this time was but little. 
 
 As I had learned, beyond doubt, from my scouts, that Ker- 
 shaw's division, which consisted of four brigades, was to be 
 ordered back to Riclmioud, I had for two weeks patiently 
 waited its withdrawal before attacking,' b;'lieving the condition 
 of affairs throughout the country required great prudence on 
 my part, that a defeat of the forces of rny commauii could be 
 ill-afforded, and knowing that no interests in tlie valley, save 
 those of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, were suffering by the 
 
178 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 
 
 delay. In this view I was coiuciding with the Lieuteuant- 
 Genc-ral commauding. 
 
 Altliough the main force remained without change of posi- 
 tion from September third to nineteenth, still the cavalry was 
 employed every day in harassing the enemy, its opponents 
 being principally infantry. In these skirmishes the cavalry 
 was becoming educated to attack infantry lines. 
 
 On the thirteenth, one of these handsome dashes was made 
 by General Mcintosh, of Wilson's division, capturing the 
 Eighth South Carolina regiment at Abram's creek ; on the 
 same day Getty's division of the Sixth corps made a recon- 
 noissance to the Opequan, developing a heavy force of the 
 enemy at Edwards' Crossing. 
 
 The position which I had taken at Clifton was six miles from 
 Opequan creek, on the west bank of which the enemy was in 
 position. This distance of six miles I determined to hold as 
 my territory by scouting parties, and in holding it in this way, 
 without pushing up the main force, I expected to be able to 
 move on the enemy at the proper time, without his obtaining 
 the information which he would immediately get from his 
 pickets, if I was in close proximity. 
 
 On the night of the fifteenth I received reliable information 
 that Kershaw's division was moving through Winchester, and 
 in the direction of Front Royal. Then our time had come, and 
 I almost made up my mind that I would fight at Newtown, on 
 the valley pike, give up my line to the rear, and take that of 
 the enemy. From my position at Clifton I could throw my 
 force into Newtown before Early could get information and 
 move to that point. I was a little timid about this movement 
 imtd the arrival of General Grant at Ciiarlestown, who endorsed 
 it, and the order for the movement was made out, but, in con- 
 sequence of a report from General Averill, on the afternoon of 
 the eighteenth of September, that Early had moved two divis- 
 ions to Alartinsburg, I changed this programme, and deter- 
 mined to first catch the two divisions remaining in vicinity of 
 Stevenson's depot, and then the two sent to Martinsburg, in 
 detail. This information was the cause of the bactle of Ope- 
 quan, instead of the battle of Newtown. 
 
 At three o'clock on the morning of the nineteenth September 
 the army moved to the attack. Torbert was directed to advance 
 with Merritt's division of cavalry from Summit Point, carrj'the 
 crossings of Opequan creek, and form a jiuiction at some point 
 near Stevenson's depot with Averill, who moved from Darks- 
 ville. Wilson was ordered to move rapidly up the Berryville 
 pike from Berrj'ville, carry its crossing of the Opequan, and 
 charge through the gorge or canon, the attack to be supported 
 by the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, both of which moved 
 across the country to the same crossing of the Opequan. Crook 
 moved across the country to be in reserve at the same point. 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 179 
 
 Wilson, with Mcintosh's brigade leading:, made a gallant 
 charge througli tlie long canon, and meeting the advance of 
 Ramsenr's rebel infantry division, drove it back and captured 
 the earthwork at the mouth of the canon; this movement was 
 immediately followed up by the ti^ixth corps. The Nineteenth 
 corps was directed, for convenience of movement, to report to 
 General Wright on its arriv:d atOpeqnan creek. I followed up 
 the cavalry attack, and selected the ground for the formation of 
 the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, which went into lino undor a 
 heavy artillery fire. 
 
 A good deal of time was lost m this movement through the 
 canon, and it was not until perhaps nine o'clock, a. >i., that the 
 order for the adv.mce in line was given. I had. from earh' in 
 the morning, become apprised that I would have to engage 
 Early's entire army, instead of two divisions, and determined 
 to attack with the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, holdmg Crook's 
 command as a turning column to use only when the crisis of 
 the battle occurred, and that I would put him in on my left, 
 and still get the valley pike. The attack was therefore made 
 by the Sixth and Nineteentli corps, in very handsome style, 
 and under a heavj' fire from the enemy, who held a line which 
 gave him tiie cover of slight brushwood and cornfields. 
 
 The resistance during this attack was obstinate, and, as 
 there were no earthworks to protect, deadly to both sides. 
 
 The enemy, after the contest liad been going on for some 
 time, made a counter charge, striking the right of the Sixth 
 corps and left of the Nineteenth, driving back the centre of my 
 line. 
 
 It was at this juncture that I ordered a brisrade of Rnssell's 
 division of the Sixth corps to wait till the enemy's attacking 
 column presented its flank, then to strike it with vigor. This 
 vvas handsoinelj^ done, the brigade being led by General Rus- 
 sell, and its commander, Upton, in pers^on ; the enemy in turn 
 was driven back, our line re-established, and most of the two 
 or three thousand men who had gone to the rear brought 
 back. 
 
 I still would not order Crook in, but phiced him directly in 
 rear of the line of battle; as the reports, however, that the 
 enemy were attempting to turn my rigiit kept continually 
 increasing, I was obliged to put him in on that flank instead of 
 on the left, as was oiiginallj' intended. He was directed to act 
 as a turning column, to find the left of the enemy's line, strike 
 it in flank or rear, break it up, and that I would order a left 
 half wheel of the line of battle to support him. In this attack 
 the enemy was driven in confusion from his position, and sim- 
 ultaneous with it Merritt and Averill, under Torbert, could be 
 distinctly seen sweeping up the Martinsburg pike, driving the 
 enemy's cavalry betbre them in a confused mass througli the 
 
180 MAJOR-GENERAL SIIEKIDAN's REPORT. 
 
 broken infant.ry. I then rode along the line of the Nineteenth 
 and Sixih corpH, ordered tiieir advance, and directed Wilson, 
 who was on the left flank, to push on and gain the valley pike 
 Routhof Winclicster; afttr wh ch I returned to tie right, 
 where tlie enemy was still liglitins,' with obstinacy in the open 
 ground in front of Wincliester, and ordered Torbert to collect 
 his cavalry and charge, which was done sunuftaneously with 
 the infantry advance, and the enemy routed. 
 
 At daylight on morning of the twentieth of Septrmber tho 
 army moved rapidly up the valley pike in pursuit of the enen)}'-, 
 who hart contimied his retreat during the night to Fisher's hill, 
 south of Sirasburg. 
 
 Fisher's hill is the bluff immediately so\ith of and over n 
 little stream called Tumbling river, and is a position wliich was 
 almost uuprognable to a direct assault, and as the valley is but 
 about three and a hnlf miles w'de at this point, the enemy 
 con idered himself seciue on reaching it. and commenced 
 erecting breastworks across the valley from Fisher's hill to 
 North mountam; so secure, ui fact, did he consider himself, 
 tliat tho ammunitiou boxes were taken from tho caissons and 
 placed for convenience behind the breastworks. 
 
 On tlie evening of Septemlier twentieth, Wright and Fmory 
 went into position on the l.eiglits of ."^trasburg. Crook north 
 of Cedar creek, the cavalr}' to the right and re;ir of Wright, 
 and Emory extending to the back road. This nigiit I resolved 
 to use a turning column again, and tliat I would move Crook, 
 unperceived, if possible, over on to the face of Little North 
 mountain, and Id. him strike the left and rear of the enemy's 
 line, and then, if successful, make a left half wheel of tho 
 whole line of battle to his support. To do this required much 
 secresy, as tlie enemy had a signal station on Threetop moun- 
 tain, from which he could see every movement made by our 
 troops; therefore, during tlie night of the twentieth. I con- 
 cealed Crook in the timber north of Cedar creek, where he 
 remained during the twenty-tirst. On the same day I moved 
 Wright and Kmory up in the front of the rebel line, getting 
 into proper position after a severe engagement between a por- 
 tion of Ricketts' and Getty's divisions of the Sixth corps, antl 
 a strong fcrce of tlie enemy. Torbert, with Wilson's and Mer- 
 ritl's cavalry, was ordered down the Luray valley in pursuit of 
 the enemy's cavalry, and, afti^r defeating or driving it, to cross 
 over Luray pike to New Market and intercept the enemy's 
 infantry should I drive it from the position at Fisher's hill. 
 
 On the nigiit of the twenty-first, Crook was moved to, and 
 concentrated in, the timl^er near Strasburg, and at dajiight on 
 the twentv-seeond marched to, and massed in, the timlier near 
 Little North mountain. L did not attempt to cover the long 
 front presented by the enemy, but massed the Si-xth and Nine- 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 181 
 
 teentli corps opposite the right centre of his hne. After Crook 
 had gotten into the positior^ last mimed, I took out Ricketts' divis- 
 ion of the Sixth corps and placed it opposite the enemy's left 
 centre, and directed Averill with his cavalry to go up on Rick- 
 etts' front and ri^ht, and drive in the enemy's skirmish line, if 
 possible. This was done, and the enemy's signal officer on 
 Threetop mountain, mistaking Ricketts' division for my turning 
 column so notified the enemy, and he made his arrangements 
 accordingly, whilst (Jrook, without being observed, moved on 
 the side of Little North mountain, and struck the enemy's left 
 and rear so suddenly and unexpectedly, that lie (the enemy) 
 supposing he must hove come across the mountains, broke; 
 Crook swinging down behind the line, Ricketts swinging in 
 and joming Crook, and so on the balance of the Sixth and 
 Nineteenth corps, the rout of the enemy being complete. 
 
 Unfortunately the cavalry which I had sent down the Luray 
 vallej^ to cross over to New Market was unsuccessful, and only 
 reached so lar as Milh'ord, a point at which the Luray valley 
 contracts to a gorge, and wliich was taken possession of by 
 the enemy's cavalr}^ in some force. Had C4eneral Torbert 
 driven this cavalry, or turned the defile and reached New Mar- 
 ket, I have no doubt but that we would have captured the 
 entire rebel army. I feel certain that its rout from Fisher's 
 hill was such that there was scarcely a company organization 
 held together. New Market being at a converging point in the 
 valley they came together ag.iin, and to some extent reor^ 
 ganized. I did not wait to see the results of this victory, but 
 pushed on during the night of the twenty-second to Woodstock, 
 although the darkness and consequent confusion made the pur- 
 suit slow. 
 
 On the morning of September twenty-third. General Devins, 
 with his small brigade of cavalry, moved to a point directly 
 north of Mount Jackson, driving the enemy in his front, and 
 there awaited the arrival of General Averill's division, which 
 for some unaccountable reason went into camp immediately 
 after the battle. General Averill reached Devins' command at 
 three o'clock, p. m., and, in the evening, returned with all the 
 advance cavalry of which he was in commar.d, to a creek on® 
 half mile north of Hawkinsburg, and there remained until the 
 arrival of the head of the infantry column, which had halted 
 between Edinburg and Woodstock for wagons, in order to issue 
 the necessary rations. 
 
 Early on the morning of the twenty-fourth the entire army 
 reached Mount Jackson, a small town on the north bank of the 
 north fork of the Shenandoah. The enemy had in the mean 
 time reorganized, and taken position on the bluff', south of the 
 river, but had commenced this same morning his retreat toward 
 Harrisonburg ; still, he held a long and strong line with the 
 
 16 
 
182 MAJOR-GENEEAL SHERIDAN 'S REPORT. 
 
 troops that were to cover liis rear, in a temporary line of rifle- 
 pits on the bluflf commanding the plateau. 
 
 To dislodge liim from his strong position, Devius' brigade of 
 cavalry was directed to cross the Shenandoah, work around 
 the base of the Massanutten range, and drive in the cavalry 
 which covered his (the enemy's) right flank; and Powell, wha 
 Lad succeeiled Averill, was ordered to move around his left 
 flank via Siinberville, whilst the infantry was rushed across the 
 river by the bridge. 
 
 The enemy did not wait the full execution of these move- 
 ments, but withdrew in haste, the cavalry under Devins coming 
 up with him at Newmarket, and made a bold attempt to hold 
 him until I could push up our infantry, but was unable to da 
 so as the open, smooth countrj^ allowed him (the enemy) to 
 retreat with great rapidity in line of battle, and tlie three or 
 four hundred cavalry under Devins was unable to break this 
 line. Our infantry was pushed by heads of columns very hard 
 to overtake, and bring on an engagement, but could not suc- 
 ceed, and encamped about six miles south of Newmarket for 
 the night. 
 
 Powell meantime had pushed on through Simberville, and 
 gained the valley pike near Lacy's springs, capturing some 
 prisoners and wagons. 
 
 This movement of Powell's probably forced the enemy to 
 abandon the road via Harrisonburg, and move over the KeezeU 
 town road to Port Republic, to which point the retreat was 
 continued through the night of the twenty-fourth, and from 
 thence to Brown's gap in the Blue Ridge. 
 
 On the twenty-fifth, the Sixth and Nmeteenth corps reached 
 Harrisonburg. Crook was ordered to remain at the junction of 
 the Keezeltown road with the Valley pike until the movements 
 of the enemy were definitely ascertained. 
 
 On this day Torbert reached Harrisonburg, having encoun- 
 tered the enemy's cavalry at Luray, defeating it and joining- 
 me via Newmarket, and Powell had proceeded to Mount 
 Crawford. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth Merritt's division of Cavalry was or- 
 dered to Port Republic, and Torbert to Staunton and Waynes- 
 boro to destroy the bridge at the latter place, and, in retiring, 
 to burn all forage, drive off all cattle, destroy all mills, &c., 
 which would cripple the rebel army or confederacy. 
 
 Torbert had with him Wilson's division of cavalry and Low- 
 ell's brigade of regulars. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh, while Torbert was making his ad- 
 vance on Waynesboro, I ordered Merritt to make a demonstra- 
 tion on Brown's Gap to cover the movement. This brought 
 out the enemy (who had been re-enforced by Kershaw's division 
 ■which came through Swift Run Gap,) against the small force 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHEKIDAN's REPORT. 183 
 
 of cavalry employed in this demonstration, which be followed 
 up to Port Rcpul)lic, and I believe crossed in some force. 
 Merriti's instructions from me were to resist an attack, but, if 
 pressed, to fall Imck to Cross Keys, in whicli event T intended 
 to attack with tlie main force which was at Harrisonburg, and 
 could be rapidly moved to Cross Keys. The enemy, however, 
 advanced with liis main force only to Port Republic, after which 
 he fell back. Torhert tliis day took possession of Waynesboro, 
 and partially destroyed the railroad bridge, but about dark on 
 the twenty-eighth was attacked by infantry and cavalry, re- 
 turned to St lunton and from thence to Bridgewater via Spring- 
 hill, executing the order for the destruction of subsistence, 
 forage, &c. 
 
 On the morning of the twenty-eighth Merritt was ordered to 
 Port Republic to open communication with General 'J'orbert, 
 but on the same night was directed to leave small forces at 
 Port Republic and Swift-run gap, and proceed wiih the balance 
 of bis command (his own and Custer's divisions) to Piedmont, 
 swing around from that point to near Staunton, burning forage, 
 mills, and such other property as might be serviceable to the 
 rebel army or confederacy, and, on bis return, to go into camp 
 on tlie left of the Sixth and Nineteenth corps, which were or- 
 dered to proceed on the twenty-ninth to Mount Crawford, in 
 support of this and Torbert's movements. 
 
 September twenty-nintii, Torbert reached Bridgewater, and 
 Merritt Mt. Crawford. 
 
 On the first of October Merritt reoccupied Port Republic, 
 and the Sixth and Nineteenth corps were moved back to Har- 
 risonburg. 
 
 The question that now presented itself was, whether or not 
 I should follow the enemy to Brown's gap, where he still held 
 fast, drive him out and advance on Charlottesville and Gor- 
 donsville. Tiiis movement on Gordonsville I was opposed to 
 for many reasons, the most important of which was, that it 
 would necessitate the opening of the Orange and Alexandria 
 railroad from Alexandria, and to protect this road against the 
 numerous guerilla bands, would have required a corps of in- 
 fantry; besides, I would have been obliged to leave a small 
 force in the valley to give security to the line of the Potomac. 
 This would probably occupy the whole of Crook's command, 
 leaving me but a small number of fighting men. Then there 
 was the ndditional reason of the uncertainty as to whether the 
 army in front of Petersburg could hold the entire force of Gen- 
 eral Lee there, anrl, in case it could not, a sufficient number 
 might be delaclied and move rapidly by rail and overwhelm 
 me, quickly returning. I was also confident that my trans- 
 portation could not supply me further than Harrisonburg, and 
 therefore advised tlitit the valley campaign should terminate at 
 
1S4 MAJOR-GKNERAL SUERIDAN's REPORT. 
 
 Harrisonburg, and that I return, parrying out my original in- 
 structions for tlie destruction of forage, grain, &c., give up the 
 majority of the army I commanded, and order it to ilie Peters- 
 burg line, a line which I thought the Lieutenant-General 
 believed if a successful movement could be made on, would 
 involve the capture of the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 
 I therefore, on the morning of the sixth of October, com- 
 menced moving back, stretching the cavalry across the valley 
 from the Blue Ridge to the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, 
 with directions to burn all forage and drive off all stock, &c., as 
 they moved to the rear, fully coinciding in the views and in- 
 structions of the Lieutenant-General tliat the vallej' should be 
 made a barren waste. Tiie most positive orders were given, 
 however, not to burn dwellings. 
 
 In this movement the enemy's cavalry followed at a respect- 
 ful distance until in the vicinity of Woodstock, when they at- 
 tacked Custer's division and harassed it as far as Louis brook, 
 a short distance south of Fisher's Hill. 
 
 On the night of the eighth, I ordered General Torbert to 
 engage the enemy's cavalry at daylight, and notified him that I 
 would halt the army until he had defeated it. 
 
 In compliance with these instructions, Torbert advanced at 
 daylight on the ninth of October, with Custer's division on the 
 back road, and Merrill's division on the Valley pike. 
 
 At Louis brook the heads of the opposing columns came in 
 contact and deployed, and after a short but decisive engage- 
 ment the enemy was defeated, with the loss of all his artillery 
 excepting one piece, and everything else which was carried on 
 wheels. The rout was complete, and was followed up to Mount 
 Jackson, a distance of some twenty-six miles. 
 
 On October tenth the enemy crossed to the north side of Cedar 
 creek, the Sixth corps continuing its march to Front Roj'al ; 
 this was the first day's march of this corps to rejoin Lieutenant- 
 General Grant at Petersburg. It was the intention that it 
 should proceed through Mannssas gap to Piedmont east of the 
 Blue Ridge — to which point the Manassas gap railroad had 
 been completed, and from thence to Alexandria by rail ; but 
 on my recommendation that it would be much better to march 
 it, as it was in fine condition, through Ashbj-'s gap, and thence 
 to Washiugton, the former route was abandoned, and on the 
 twelfth the corps moved to the Ashby gap crossing of the She- 
 nandoah river ; but, on the same day, in consequence of the 
 advance of the enemy to Fisher's Hill, it was recalled to await 
 the development of the enemy's new intentions. 
 
 The question now again arose in reference to the advance ou 
 Gordousville, as suggested in the following despatch : 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN 'S REPORT, 185 
 
 (Cipher.) 
 
 Wasbington, October 12, 186-t, 12 M. 
 
 Major- General Sheridan: 
 
 Lieutenant-General CTratit wishes a position taken far enough 
 south to serve as a base for further operations upon Gordons- 
 ville and Charlottesville. It must be strongly fortified and 
 provisioned. 
 
 Some point in the vicinity of llanassas gap would seem best 
 suited for all purposes. 
 
 Colonel Alexander, of the engineers, will be sent to consult 
 with you as soon as you connect with General Augur. 
 
 H. W. Halleck, 
 
 Major-General. 
 
 This plan I would not endorse, but, in order to settle it defi- 
 nitely, I was called to Washington by the following telegram: 
 
 WASnisGTON, October 13, 136-1. 
 
 Major-General Sheridan, throityh General Augur : 
 
 If you can come here, a consultation on several points is ex- 
 tremely desirable. I propose to visit &eneral Grant, and would 
 like to see you first. 
 
 E. M. Stanton, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 On the evening of the fifteenth I determined to go, believing 
 that the enemy at Fisher's Hill could not accomplish much; and 
 as I had concluded not to attack him at present, I ordered the 
 whole of the cavalry force under Gen(;ral Torbert to accompany 
 me to Front Royal, 'from whence I intended to push it through 
 Chester gap to the Virginia Central railroad at Charlottesville, 
 while I passed through Manassas gap to Piedmont, thence hy 
 rail to Washington. Upon my arrival with the cavalry at Front 
 Royal, on the night of the sixteenth, I received the following 
 despatch from General Wright, who was left at Cedar Creek in 
 command of the army: 
 
 Headquarters, Middle Military Tjivision, ) 
 October 16, 1864. J 
 
 Major-General P. H. Sheridan, commanding Middle Mili- 
 tary Division : 
 
 General — I enclose you despatch which explains itself (see 
 copy following): 
 
 If the enemy should be strongly reinforced in cavalry, he 
 might, by turning our right, give us a great deal of trouble. I 
 shall hold on here until the enemy's movements are developed, 
 and shall only fear an attack on my right, which I shall make 
 every preparation for guarding against and resisting. 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 H. G. Wright, 
 
 Major-General CommandiDg, 
 
186 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN 'S REPORT. 
 
 To Lieutenant-General Early: 
 
 Be reach' to move as soon as my forces join you, and we will 
 crusli Slieridan. 
 
 LONGSTREET, 
 
 Lieutenant-General. 
 
 This message was taken off the rebel signal flags, on Three 
 Top mountain. My first thought was tlint it was a ruse, but. 
 on reflection, deemed it best to abandon the cavalry raid, and 
 give to General Wright the entire strength of the army. I 
 therefore ordered the cavalry to return and report to him, and 
 addressed the following note on tb.e subject: 
 
 Front Royal, October 16, 1S64. 
 
 Major-General H. G. Wrighf, commandivg Sixth Army- 
 Corps : 
 General — The cavalry is all ordered back to you ; make 
 
 position strong. If Longstreet's despatch is true, he is under 
 
 the impression that we have largely detached. I will go over 
 
 to Augur, and may get additional news. 
 
 Close in Colonel Powell, who will be at this point. If the 
 
 enemy should make an advance, I know you will defeat him. 
 
 Look well to your ground, and be well prepared. Get up 
 
 everything that can be spared. I will bring up all I can, and 
 
 will be up on Tuesday, if not sooner. 
 
 P. H. Sheridan, 
 
 Miijor-General. 
 
 After sending tliis note I continued through Manassas gap 
 and on to Piedmont, and from thence by rad to Washington, 
 arriving on the morning of the seventeenth. At twelve o'clock 
 II. I returned by special train to Maitinsburg, arriving on the 
 morning of the eighteentli at Winchester, in company with 
 Colonels Thorn and Alexander, of the Engineer corps, sent 
 with me by General Halleck. Puring my absence the enemy 
 had gathered all his strength, and, in the night of the eighteenth, 
 and early on the nineteenth, moved silently from Fisher's Hill, 
 through Strasburg, pushed a heavy turning column across the 
 Ehenandoah, on the road from Strasburg to Front Royal, and 
 again recrossed the river at Bowman's ford, striking Crook, who 
 held the left of our line, in flank and rear, so unexpectedly and 
 forcibly as to drive in his outposts, invade his camp, and turn 
 his position. This surprise was owing, probably, to not closing 
 in Powell, or that the cavalry divisions of Merritt and Custer 
 were placed on the right of our line, where it had always oc- 
 curred to me there was but little danger of attack. 
 
 This was followed by a direct attack upon our front, and the 
 result was that the whole army was driven back in confusion, 
 to a point about one and a half miles north of Middletown, a 
 very large portion of infantry not even preserving a company 
 organization. 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 187 
 
 At about seven o'clock on the morning of the nineteenth 
 October, an officer on picket at Winchester reported artillery- 
 firing, but, supposing it resulted from a reconnoissance which 
 had been ordered for this morning, I paid no attention to ir, and 
 was unconscious of the true position of affairs until about nine 
 o'clock, when, having ridden through the town of Winchester, 
 the sound of the artillery made a battle unmistakable, and on 
 reaching Mill creek, one- half a mile south of Winchester, the 
 head of the fugitives appeared in sight, trams and men coming 
 to the rear with appalling rapidity. 
 
 I immediatel_y uave directions to halt and pack the trains at 
 Mill Creek, and ordered the brigade at Winchester to stretch 
 across the country and stop all stragglers. Taking twenty men 
 from my escort, I pushed on to the front, leaving the balance, 
 under General Forsyth and Colonels Thorn and Alexander, to 
 do what they could in stemming the torrent of fugitives. 
 
 I am happy to say that hundreds of the men, who on reflec- 
 tion found they had not done themselves justice, came back 
 with cheers. 
 
 On arriving at the front. I found Merritt's and Custer's divis- 
 ions of cavalry, under Torhert, and General Getty's division of 
 the Sixth corps, opposing the enemy. I suggested to General 
 Wright that we would fight on Getty's line, and to transfer 
 Custer to the right at once, as he (Custer) and Merritt, Irom 
 being on the right in the morning, had been transferred to the 
 left ; that the remaining two divisions of the Sixth corps, which 
 were to the right and rear of Getty about two miles, should be 
 ordered up, and also that the Nineteenth corps, which was on 
 the right and rear of these two divisions, should be hastened up 
 before the enemy attacked Gett3% 
 
 I then started out all my staff officers to bring up these 
 troops, and was so convinced that we would soon be attacked, 
 that I went back myself to urge them on. 
 
 Immediately after I returned and assumed command. General 
 Wright returning to his corps, Getty to his division, and the 
 line of battle was formed on the prolongation of General Get- 
 ty's line, and a temporary breastwork of rails, logs, &c., throwa 
 up hastily. 
 
 Shortly after this was done the enemy advanced, and from a 
 point on the left of our line of battle I could see his columns 
 moving to the attack, and at once notified corps commanders to 
 be prepared. 
 
 This assault fell principally on the Nineteenth corps, and was 
 repulsed. 
 
 I am pleased to be able to state that the strength of the Sixth 
 and Nineteenth corps, and Ciook's command, was now being 
 rapidly augmented by the return of those who had gone to the 
 rear early in the day. Reports comiug in from the Front Royal 
 
188 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN S REPORT. 
 
 pike, on which Powell's division of cavalry was posled, to the 
 etfect that a heavy column of infantry was moving on that pike 
 in the direction of Winchester, and that he (Powell) was retir- 
 ing and would come in at Newtown, caused me great anxiety 
 for the time ; and although I could not fully believe that such 
 a movement would be undertaken, still it delayed my general 
 attack. 
 
 At four p. jr. I ordered the advance. This attack was bril- 
 liantly made, and, as the enemy was protected by rail breast- 
 works, and in some portions of his line b}' stone fences, his 
 resistance was very determined. His line of battle overlapped 
 the right of mine, and by turning with this portion of it on the 
 flank of the Nineteenth corps, caused a slight momentary con- 
 fusion. This movement was checked, however, by a counter- 
 charge of General McMillans' brigade upon tlie re-entering 
 angle thus formed by the enemy, and his flanking party cut off. 
 
 It was at this stage of the battle that Custer was ordered to 
 charge with his entire division ; but, although the order was 
 promptly obeyed, it was not in time to capture the whole of the 
 force thus cut off, and many escaped across Cedar creek. 
 
 Simultaneous with this charge, a combined movement of the 
 whole line drove the enemy in confusion to the creek, where, 
 owing to the difficulties of crossing, his army became routed. 
 
 Custer flnding a ford on Cedar creek west of the pike, and 
 Devin^J, of Merritt's division, o:ie to the east of it, they each 
 made the crossing just after dark, and pursued the routed mass 
 of the enemy to Fisher's Hill, where this strong position gave 
 him some protection against our cavalry ; but the most of his 
 transportation had been captured, tlie road from Cedar creek to 
 Fisher's Hill, a distance of over three miles, being literally 
 blocked bv wagons, ambulances, artillerj^, caisson.?, &c. 
 
 The enemy did not halt his 7}iain force at Fisher's Hill, but 
 continued tlie retreat during the night to Newmarket, where 
 his army had, on a similar previous occasion, come together by 
 means of the numerous roads that converge to this point. 
 
 This battle practically ended the campaign in the Shenandoah 
 valley. When it opened we found our enemy boastful and 
 confident, unwilling to acknowledge that the soldiers of the 
 Union were their equals in courage and manliness ; when it 
 closed with Cedar creek, this impression had been removed 
 from his mind, and gave place to good sense and a strong 
 desire to quit fighting. 
 
 The very best troops of the Confederacy had not only been 
 defeated, but had been routed in successive engagements, until 
 their spirit and esprit were destroyed ; in obtaining these 
 results, however, our loss in officers and men was severe. 
 Practically all territory north of the James river now belonged 
 to me, and the holding of the line3 about Petersburg and 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN 'S REPORT. 189 
 
 Richmond, by the enemj^, must have been embarrassing, and 
 invited the question of good military judgment. 
 
 On entering tlie valle.y it Wiis not my object, by flanli move- 
 ments, to malve tlie enemy change liis base, nor to move as far 
 up as the James river, and tluis give liim the opportunity of 
 making me change my base, therebj' converting it into a race- 
 course, as lieretofore, bnt to destroy, to the best of my ability, 
 that which was trul}'^ the Confederacy — its armies; in doing 
 this, so far as the opposing army was concerned, our success 
 was such that there was no one connected with the army of 
 the Shenandoah who did not so M\y realize io as to render the 
 issuing of congratulatory orders unnecessary; every officer 
 and man was made to understand that, when a victory was 
 gained, it was not more than iheir duly, nor less than their 
 country expected from her gallant sons. 
 
 At Winchester, for a moment the contest was uncertain, but 
 the gallant attack of General Upton's brigade of the Sixth corps 
 restored the line of battle, until the turning column of Crook's 
 and Merritt's and Averill's divisions of cavalry, under Torbert, 
 " sent the enemy whirling throngh Winchester." 
 
 In thus particularizmg commands and commanders, I only 
 speak iu the sense that they were so fortunate as to be available 
 at these important moments. 
 
 In the above-mentioned attack by Upton's brigade, the 
 lamented Russell fell. Ho had been previously wounded, but 
 refused to leave the field. His death brought sadness to every 
 heart m the army. 
 
 * * if if if if 
 
 At Fisher's Hill it was again the good fortune of General 
 €rook's command to start the enemy, and of General Ricketts' 
 division of the Sixth corps to first gallantly swing in and more 
 fully initiate the rout. 
 
 At Cedar creek, Getty's division of the Sixth corps, and 
 Merritt's and (juster's divisions of cavahy, under Torbert, con- 
 fronted the enem}'- from the first attack in the morning until 
 the battle was decided, still none behaved more gallantly, or 
 exhibited greater courage than those who returned from the 
 rear, determined to reoccupj'' their lost camp. 
 
 In this engagement, early in the morning, the gallant Colonel 
 Lowell, of the Regular brigade, was wounded while in the ad- 
 vance €71 echelon of Getty's division, but would not leave his 
 <;ommand, remaining until the final attack on the enemy was 
 made, in which he was killed. 
 
 Generals iiidwellof the Sixth corps, and Thorburn of Crook's 
 command, were also killed in the morning, while behaving with 
 conspicuous gallantry. 
 
 I submit the following list of the corps, division, and brigade 
 commanders, who were wounded in the campaign, the killed 
 
190 MAJOR-GENERAL SHEUIDAN's REPORT. 
 
 having already beon especially noticerl, regretting that the 
 scope of this report will not admit of mj' specifying by name 
 all the many gallant men who were killed a-ad wounded in the 
 numerous engagements in the Shenandoah valley, and most 
 respectfully call attention to the accompanying sub- reports for 
 such particulars as will, I trust, do full justice to all. 
 
 Generals II. G-. Wright, J. B. Ricketts, Grover, Duval, E. 
 Upton, R. S. McKenzie, Kitchen, (since died of wounds,) J. B. 
 Mcintosh, G. H. Chapman, Thomas 0. Devins, Penrose, Colo- 
 nels D. D. Johnson, Daniel McAuley. Jacob Sharpe. 
 
 ******* 
 
 During this campaign I was at times annoyed by guerilla 
 bands, the most formidable of which was under a partisan 
 chief named Mosby, who made his headquarters east of the 
 Blue Ridge, in the section of country about Upperville. I had 
 constantly refused to operate against these bands, believing 
 them to be substantially a benefit to me, as they prevented 
 straggling, and kept my trains well closed up, and discharged 
 such other duties as would have required a provost guard of at 
 least two regiirents of cavalry. 
 
 * * * * ^ * 
 
 I attach hereto an abstract of ordnance and ordnance stores 
 captured from ihe enemy during the campaign (the one hun- 
 dred and one pieces of artillery being exclusive of the twenty- 
 four pieces recaptured in the afternoon at Cedar creek,) also a 
 detailed report of my casualties, which are in aggregate as 
 follows : 
 
 Killed, ],938; woimded, 11,89.3; missing, 3,121, total, 
 16,952. 
 
 The records of the Provost Marshal, Middle Military Division, 
 show about thirteen thousand prisoners (as per annexed certi- 
 ficate) to have been received by 'lim, and receipts are among 
 the records of the Assistant Adjutant-General, Middle Military 
 Division, for forty -nine battle-flags, forwarded to the Honorable 
 the Secretary of War. 
 
 I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 P. H. Sheridan, 
 
 Major-General IT. S. A. 
 
 Headquarters in the Fifld, ) 
 
 MOWOCACY KiDGK, Md., August 4, 1804. t 
 
 Major-Geveral D. Hunter, comvianding Department West 
 
 Virginia , 
 
 General — Concentrate all your available forces without 
 delay in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, leaving only such rail- 
 road guards and garrisons for public property as may be 
 necessary. 
 
 Use in this concentration the railroad, if by so doing time 
 can be saved. From Harper's Ferry, if it is found that the 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SHERIDAN'S REPORT. 191 
 
 enemy has moved north of the Potomac in great force, push 
 north following and attacking him wherever found; following 
 Jiim. if driven south of the Potomac, as long as it is safe to do 
 so. If it is ascertained the enemj^ has but a small force north 
 of the Potomac, then push south with the main force, detailing, 
 under a competent commander, a sufficient force to look after 
 the raiders, and drive them to their homes. 
 
 In detailing such a force, the brigade of cavalry now en 
 route from Wasiungtou via Rocksville may be taken into 
 account. 
 
 There are now on the way to join you three other brigades 
 of the best cavalry, numbering at least live thousand men and 
 liorses. These will be instructed, in the absence of further 
 orders, to join you by the south side of the Potomac. One 
 brigade will probably start to-morrow. 
 
 In pushing up the Shenandoah valley, as it is expected j'ou 
 will have to go tirst or last, it is desirable that nothing should 
 be left to invite the enemy to return. Take all provisions, 
 forage, and stock wanted for the use of your command, buch 
 as cannot be consumed, destroy. It is not desirable that build- 
 ings should be destroyed, they should rather be protected, but 
 the people should be informed that so long as an enemy can 
 subsist among them, recurrences of these raids must be ex- 
 pected, and we are determined to stop them at all hazards. 
 
 Bear in mind the object is to drive the enemy south, and to 
 do this you want to keep him always in sight. Be guided in 
 your course by the course he takes. Make your own arrange- 
 ments for supplies of all kinds, giving regular vouchers for 
 such as may be taken from loyal citizens. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 U. S. Grant, 
 
 Official : Lieutenant General . 
 
 T. W. C. Moore, a. a. g. 
 
 Headqdarters Military Division of thr Gulf, ) 
 
 Office op the Chief Signal Officer, J- 
 
 New Orleans, La., November 18, iBtio. j 
 
 Major-General P. H. Sheridan, U. S. Army: 
 
 General — I have the honor to report that the number of 
 Confederate prisoners received by the forces under your com- 
 mand from August tirst, 1864, to March first, 1865, was about 
 thirteen thousand. The names of nearly that number are 
 recorded on the books recently used in the office of the Provost- 
 Marshal General, Middle Military Division. 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 E. B. Parsons, 
 
 Late Provost-Marshal General, 
 
 Middle Military Divieion. 
 Official : 
 
 T. W. C. Moore, 
 
 Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 
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