Battle of Cedar Creek

The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. During the morning, Lieutenant General Jubal Early appeared to have a victory for his Confederate army, as he captured over 1,000 prisoners and over 20 artillery pieces while forcing seven enemy infantry divisions to fall back. The Union army, led by Major General Philip Sheridan, rallied in late afternoon and drove away Early's men. In addition to recapturing all of their own artillery seized in the morning, Sheridan's forces captured most of Early's artillery and wagons.

In heavy fog, Early attacked before dawn and completely surprised many of the sleeping Union soldiers. His smaller army attacked segments of the Union army from multiple sides, giving him temporary numerical advantages in addition to the element of surprise. At about 10:00am, Early paused his attack to reorganize his forces. Sheridan, who was returning from a meeting in Washington, D.C. when the battle started, hurried to the battlefield and arrived around 10:30am. His arrival calmed and revitalized his retreating army. At 4:00pm his army counterattacked, making use of its superior cavalry force. Early's army was routed and fled south.

The battle ruined the Confederate army in the Shenandoah Valley, and it never again could maneuver down the valley to threaten the Union capital city of Washington, D.C. or northern states. Additionally, the Shenandoah Valley had been a key producer of supplies for the Confederate army, and Early could no longer protect it. The Union victory aided the reelection of Abraham Lincoln, and along with earlier victories at Winchester and Fisher's Hill, won Sheridan lasting fame.

Background

Union and Confederate strategies for Virginia in 1864

thumb|upright=.8|[[Lieutenant general (United States)|LTG U.S. Grant|alt=Old picture of an American Civil War general with beard]]

In March 1864, Major General Ulysses S. Grant was summoned from the Western Theater, promoted to lieutenant general, and given command of all Union armies. Grant's strategy, different from his predecessors, was for the Union armies to fight together with the objective of destroying Confederate armies instead of conquering territory. He would use multiple Union forces at the same time, making it difficult for the Confederates to transfer forces from one battlefront to another. In Virginia, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was a target. Not only would Lee's army be pursued, but steps would be taken to cut off its supplies that came from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. Those supplies often moved on the Virginia Central Railroad, Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, and other railroads—which also became targets.

The Confederate Army of the Valley was created by Lee in June 1864 as a detachment of the Army of Northern Virginia's Second Corps and was commanded by Lieutenant General Jubal Early. Its purpose was to protect the Shenandoah Valley, which was a major source of food for Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Another objective was to threaten the Union's capital of Washington, forcing the Union to divert resources and relieve some of the pressure on the Army of Northern Virginia near the Confederate capital of Richmond. In June, Early beat Union forces in the Battle of Lynchburg and Second Battle of Kernstown. On July 9, he won the Battle of Monocacy in Maryland. Two days later, Early threatened Washington in the Battle of Fort Stevens, but was repelled by reinforcements rushed to the battlefield. Early then sent cavalry commanded by Brigadier General John McCausland on a northern raid in late July that resulted in the burning of the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

Sheridan's campaign

thumb|right|upright=1.25|Sheridan's operations in the Shenandoah Valley|alt=Map of Shenandoah Valley showing Sheridan pushing Early south and area of "The Burning" between Harrisonburg and Staunton

After the cavalry raid that burned Chambersburg, Grant decided that Early's threat had to be eliminated. In early August, Grant consolidated four military organizations into the Middle Military Division, and Major General Philip Sheridan assumed command on August 7—calling his force of cavalry and infantry the Army of the Shenandoah. At its creation, the army had three objectives. First was to drive Early's army away from the Potomac River region and lower (northern) Shenandoah Valley, and pursue it southward. Second was to destroy the valley's capacity to provide Lee's army with food and supplies. Third was to disrupt the Virginia Central Railroad.

Sheridan was cautious in August because of a concern that any military disaster could hamper the re–election of President Abraham Lincoln. In September Sheridan had decisive victories over Early at the Third Battle of Winchester and at Fisher's Hill. Sheridan took possession of the Shenandoah Valley as far south as Staunton, Virginia, and considered Early's army cleared from the valley.

With Early much less of a threat, Sheridan could focus on denying the Confederacy the means of supplying its armies in Virginia. Sheridan's army (mostly cavalry) did this aggressively, burning crops, barns, mills, and factories. The operation, conducted primarily from September 26 to October 8, has been known to locals ever since as "the Burning" or "Red October". It encompassed the area of Harrisonburg, Port Republic, Staunton and Waynesboro. Sheridan claimed that when the destruction was completed, "the Valley, from Winchester up to Staunton, ninety-two miles [148 km], will have but little in it for man or beast." While this action achieved one of Grant's goals, Grant preferred attacks on the railroads that supplied Lee's army in Richmond. It consisted of 8,748 infantry effectives. In an order written October 12, Wright's VICorps were ordered to depart on the next day through Ashby's Gap for Alexandria, Virginia. From Alexandria, Sheridan planned to send the VI Corps to reinforce Grant and the Army of the Potomac.

Hupp's Hill and Sheridan goes to Washington

Concealed from Sheridan's army, Early's troops arrived at Hupp's Hill, just north of Strasburg, on October 13. They deployed in battle formation, and began shelling the camp of the XIXCorps. Early's attack was a surprise for the Union infantry, and Crook originally believed the Confederates had sent a small reconnaissance force for the purpose of causing the Union soldiers to reveal their strength and location. Colonel Joseph Thoburn's division from the Army of West Virginia moved forward to silence the guns and fought with Kershaw's division at the Abram Stickley farm, which resulted in 209 Union and 182 Confederate casualties. The engagement was a mistake for Early, as the 9,000 veterans from the VI Corps made a big difference in the battle that would take place six days later. Grant and Stanton still wanted Sheridan to move his army toward Gordonsville and Charlottesville to threaten Confederate railroad operations. Sheridan continued to argue that the logistics would be difficult. At that time, Sheridan was notified that Early was sending wig-wag signals implying that Longstreet's First Corps might join him (Early) from Petersburg. This was disinformation on Early's part, hoping that it would induce the Federals to withdraw down the Valley, but instead, Sheridan sent his cavalry back to the infantry camps along Cedar Creek. Sheridan and his staff arrived in Washington on the morning of October17.

Gordon makes a plan

thumb|right|upright=1.25|Gordon's plan was a three-column attack|alt=Map of the Strasburg - Middletown area of Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley showing Gordon's plan of attack

On October 17, Gordon climbed Massanutten Mountain and determined that the Union left was vulnerable, as the Union forces appeared to be relying on the mountain and rivers for defense. Gordon persuaded Early to approve an attack on the Union left flank, and believed they could destroy Sheridan's army. Early's approval was contingent on Gordon finding a concealed route that would enable the Confederate troops to get around the Union left. On the next day, Gordon scouted along the Shenandoah River (North Fork), and found a narrow trail. He presented his findings to Early, and Early approved an attack that would begin on the morning of October 19.

The attack would be made before dawn, and would take advantage of the morning fog that normally occurred in the valley. Gordon would lead three divisions in a rear attack on the Union left while Kershaw's Division would attack the front. Wharton's Division and the artillery would attack down the pike, northwest of Kershaw, waiting until the Union artillery was turned toward Gordon and Kershaw. Rosser would move north along Cedar Creek, hoping to keep Union cavalry located on the Union right from coming to assistance on the Union left. Gordon's force would use the narrow mountain trail to get behind the Union left, which required an evening (October 18) departure time in order to be in position before dawn. A small brigade of cavalry commanded by Colonel William H. F. Payne would move with Gordon with the mission of capturing Sheridan at his headquarters at the Belle Grove Plantation house near Middletown. Lomax would move via Front Royal to Newtown (later named Stephens City), where he could cut off a Union retreat down the Valley Pike. During the time Gordon had command of the column of three divisions, Brigadier General Clement A. Evans would command Gordon's Division. On October 18, the Confederate leaders synchronized their timepieces. They planned to be in position for the attack at 5:00am. As they hoped, the Confederates' quiet approach was aided by the presence of heavy fog. All three columns were in position by 3:30am. His men skirmished briefly with Custer around 4:00am. Early joined Wharton around 5:15am.

Army of West Virginia

Kershaw's Division attacked the trenches of Thoburn's Union 1st Division around 5:00am.|group=Note Surprise was virtually complete and most of the Army of West Virginia troops were caught unprepared in their camps—many were asleep in their tents.|group=Note The partial brigade conducted a fighting withdrawal to the Valley Pike that took over 30 minutes. Du Pont's efforts and Wildes's two regiments were only thing (other than fog) slowing the initial Confederate thrust by Kershaw's Division.|group=Note The Union 1st Division commander, Colonel Thoburn, was mortally wounded by Confederate cavalry while trying to rally his troops near Middletown.

Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, commander of the Union 2nd Division, learned of the attack on Thoburn's division only a few minutes before his own division was attacked by a line of seven brigades from Gordon's column. Hayes had two brigades, and only his First Brigade was in formation to receive Gordon's attackers. His Second Brigade, located on his right (southwest), was still in their tents—and then had Thoburn's retreating men racing through their camp. Soon, Hayes's division was also retreating. During the retreat, Hayes's horse was killed and he was briefly knocked unconscious. Although injured and almost captured, he escaped. Further north, Union Colonel J. Howard Kitching's Provisional Division of raw recruits fled after showing little resistance. On horseback, Kitching was wounded in the foot, but continued trying to rally his men. Although initially repulsed, Kershaw and Evans drove the two Union divisions northwest by 8:00am. This put two Confederate divisions, Kershaw and Evans, beyond Getty's right. At that time, Getty's 2nd Division became the only organized Union infantry south of Middletown. With no support on his right, Getty moved his division back about to a stronger defensive position at the town cemetery on a partially wooded hill west of Middletown. For over an hour, Getty's division defended this position against Confederate frontal assaults from the divisions of Ramseur, Pegram, and Wharton. During this time, Getty assumed command of the VICorps because of the wounding of Ricketts, and Brigadier General Lewis A. Grant assumed command of the division. Between 9:00am and 10:00am, Wright ordered Torbert to move the cavalry from the Union right to the Union left. Leaving three companies from Custer's Division to face Rosser, Custer and Merritt moved to the west side of the Valley Turnpike, about threequarters of a mile (1.21km) northeast of Middletown. Although they faced strong artillery fire, they prevented Early from getting to the rear of the Union army. At 6:00am on October 19, pickets south of Winchester reported to him that they heard the distant sounds of artillery. Sheridan assumed the noise was from Grover's reconnaissance mission, and dismissed the report. As additional reports arrived, he ordered the horses to be saddled and ate a quick breakfast. By 9:00am he was riding south to the Valley Pike. Sheridan noticed that the sounds of battle were increasing in volume quickly, so he inferred that his army was retreating in his direction. He encountered retreating men and wagons less than south of Winchester. Hearing stories from panic-stricken men that all was lost, he ordered a line set up to intercept stragglers. Wright had already begun to organize a defensive line between Newtown and Middletown. Sheridan arrived around 10:30am and began to rally the men to complete the line. His presence inspired his soldiers, and one soldier described it as like an "electric shock".

Early's halt

By 10:00am, Early believed he had a Confederate victory, after capturing 1,300 Union prisoners and 24 artillery pieces, and driving seven infantry divisions off the field. When Early rode into Middletown, he found that the Confederate attack had been stalled by Union artillery and cavalry. Ironically, the main reason two of the Union cavalry divisions were present for the battle was Early's Longstreet ruse from a few days earlier. Instead of exploiting his victory, Early ordered a halt in his offensive to reorganize, a decision for which he later received criticism from subordinates such as Gordon.

In a second meeting with Early, Gordon wanted to press the attack against the VI Corps immediately, and later wrote that the "fatal halting...converted the brilliant victory of the morning into disastrous defeat in the evening". Bohanan says the fatal halt was the afternoon lull that lasted from 1:00pm until 4:00pm.|group=Note Early's main reason for caution was concern over the Union cavalry, which had repeating rifles, on the Confederate flanks. Another problem was that many of the hungry Confederate troops had stopped to plunder the Union camps abandoned in the early morning attack.

The Union counterattack began just before 4:00pm. The XIXCorps, with Brigadier General William Dwight now commanding the 1st Division and Grover returning to command the 2nd Division, was on the right of the main Union line. The VICorps was to the left of Grover. Crook's Army of West Virginia was held in reserve close to the turnpike, as support for the VI Corps.

The Union infantry attack stalled. Dwight overlapped Gordon's left flank but could not push Gordon's Division toward the pike. On Gordon's right, the divisions of Kershaw and Ramseur were positioned behind stone walls and assisted by artillery. Grover's Division and Wright's VICorps had little success against them, and Grover was again wounded. On the Union left, Merritt's cavalry made two charges only to be repulsed by Confederate artillery and enfilading fire from enemy infantry that had resisted the advance of the VICorps.

Custer joins the attack

On the extreme Union right, Custer's First Brigade was engaged in halfhearted fire with Rosser. Custer left his brigade commander with three of his regiments, and took the remaining men from his division toward the infantry attack on his left. He planned to get to the rear of Early's men and secure the Valley Pike at the bridge over Cedar Creek—which would cut off the main Confederate route of retreat. As many of the Confederate soldiers saw Union cavalry moving toward their escape route, they began to panic and retreat. The appearance of Custer riding toward the creek was a signal for Dwight to resume his infantry attack. The remnants of Gordon's Division, already panicked from Custer's appearance, now had a renewed attack from Dwight and more Union infantry on the Confederate right. Soon most of Gordon's men fled toward the pike, and it caused a domino effect that spread to Kershaw's Division and then Ramseur's. During this time, Ramseur, who was already wounded, tried to rally his men. His horse was shot dead, and he was mortally wounded.

While Custer was on the Union right, Merritt's Division was on the Union left. Colonel Thomas Devin's Second Brigade from Merritt's Division took possession of the Cedar Creek bridge before Custer got there, so Custer took his two lead regiments (5th New York and 1st Vermont) to the right of the bridge where they forded the creek and continued chasing the fleeing enemy up (south) the Valley Pike. The Official Records identify the commander, as of October 31, 1864, as Colonel C. C. Sanders.|group=Note The fields between Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill were filled with fleeing men, wagons, ambulances, and artillery—all being chased by Union cavalry using sabers. The situation worsened for the Confederates when a small bridge on the Valley Pike south of Strasburg collapsed, making it impossible to cross with wagons or artillery. Early's army was forced to abandon all of the captured Union guns and wagons from the morning attack, as well as most of its own. Sheridan's pursuit ended at nightfall. The retreating Confederate soldiers gathered temporarily on Fisher's Hill, and moved further south before dawn on the next day.

Casualties

The official report for the Union listed 644 officers and men killed, 3,430 wounded, and 1,591 captured or missing—a total of 5,665 casualties for the Union side of the battle. Both the VICorps and XIXCorps had over 2,000 casualties, but the VICorps had more killed and wounded. As the principal victims of the surprise attack, the Army of West Virginia had 540 men captured or missing, and 790 of the XIXCorps' 2,383 casualties were captured or missing. Two Union brigade commanders were killed: Brigadier General Daniel D. Bidwell from the VI Corps, and Colonel Charles Russell Lowell from the Cavalry Corps. This totals to 2,910, which is far less than the Union casualties. The Confederates also lost 300 wagons and ambulances, and 43 artillery pieces (including 20 Union pieces captured in the morning). The American Battlefield Trust lists casualty totals of 5,764 for the Union and 3,060 for the Confederates.|group=Note The highest ranking Confederate casualty was Major General Ramseur, an infantry division commander, who was mortally wounded and captured by the 1st Vermont Cavalry Regiment. The Union army captured many more soldiers than the 1,591 count, including some soldiers multiple times, but many prisoners escaped in the darkness while their captors searched for more men. Once the Union cavalry was utilized, it had a crucial role in the Union victory. Two days after the battle, Sheridan sought promotions for two cavalry commanders, Merritt and Custer, and one infantry commander, Getty.

Many people gave Sheridan credit for the Union victory, and he was featured on the cover of Harper's Weekly. It is "beyond dispute" that Sheridan had an electrifying effect on his men when he arrived at the battlefield. Others believe that Wright deserves much of the credit, as his VI Corps stopped the Confederate attack, and Wright's tactical judgements made it possible for Sheridan to rally his men. The Confederate army's relative inactivity after 10:00am, one of Gordon's complaints, allowed the Union army to reorganize and eventually win the battle.

Sheridan's victories in the Shenandoah Valley helped boost President Lincoln's re-election campaign to victory in November. Earlier in August, Lincoln was being advised that his reelection was in doubt. The Union army's numerical superiority was in trouble, and the country was tired of the war.