railroad at Dublin Station, where, forming a junction with Averill, he
hoped to be able to march to Lynchburg, and capture that important town,
the possession of which was vital to the sustenance of Lee’s army. He
proceeded without opposition nearly to Princeton, where two companies of
the enemy, one of cavalry and one of infantry, were encountered and
driven off. Near the southwestern base of Lloyd’s Mountain, about four
miles from Dublin depot, a more considerable force of the enemy was
found. These were under the command of General Jenkins. In the
engagement which ensued, that officer was killed, and the command of the
rebel forces was then assumed by General McCausland. After some
skirmishing, the enemy were attacked in front and flank and driven
through Dublin to New river bridge. The Federal loss was one hundred and
twenty-six killed, and five hundred and eighty-five wounded; and that of
the enemy was severe, but unknown. On the next day an attack was made on
the enemy’s position near the bridge, which was destroyed. The
expedition proceeded as far as Newberne, on the Virginia and Tennessee
railroad, ninety-nine miles from Bristol, destroying the railroad for
some distance. The resistance of the enemy, with the approach of a
strong force under General Morgan, caused General Crook to withdraw to
Meadow Bluff, in Greenbrier county.
General Sigel, with fifteen thousand men, moved up the Shenandoah valley
to New Market, about fifty miles from Winchester. This movement, like
that of the Kanawha valley, was designed to occupy Gordonsville and
Lynchburg, thus destroying the western communication of Lee’s army.
The Confederate authorities were early apprised of General Sigel’s
movements, and General Breckinridge was dispatched in great haste with
all the troops he could muster, to meet Sigel’s army.
The advance forces of the two armies encountered each other on the 13th
of May, and skirmishing ensued, which continued throughout the following
day, Saturday, and also on Sunday. General Sigel had not yet been able
to bring up all his force, but took position at three P. M., on the
15th, when the enemy immediately moved to the attack. A severe
engagement now ensued, which resulted in the defeat and discomfiture of
Sigel’s army, who fell back in great disorder, abandoning his hospitals
and destroying a portion of his train, and retreated to Cedar Creek,
near Strasburg. The Federals lost seven hundred men, one thousand stand
of arms, and six pieces of artillery.
By the result of this movement the Union commander incurred the
displeasure of General Grant, who asked the removal of General Sigel
from command, which was done, and Major-General Hunter was appointed to
supersede him.
General Hunter’s instructions were embraced in the following dispatches
to Major-General H. W. Halleck, Chief of staff of the army:
“NEAR SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE, VA., May 20, 1864.
“The enemy are evidently relying for supplies greatly on such as are
brought over the branch road running through Staunton. On the whole,
therefore, I think it would be better for General Hunter to move in
that direction, and reach Staunton and Gordonsville or
Charlottesville, if he does not meet too much opposition. If he can
hold at bay a force equal to his own, he will be doing good service.
“If Hunter can possibly get to Charlottesville and Lynchburg, he
should do so, living on the country. The railroads and canal should be
destroyed beyond possibility of repairs for weeks. Completing this, he
could find his way back to his original base, or from about
Gordonsville join this army.
“U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.
“Major-General H. W. HALLECK.”
BATTLE OF PIEDMONT, VA.
JUNE 5, 1864.
General Hunter immediately took up the offensive, and moving up the
Shenandoah valley, met the enemy on the 5th of June at Piedmont, and
after a well-contested battle of ten hours, routed and defeated him,
capturing on the field of battle one thousand five hundred men, three
pieces of artillery, and three hundred stand of small arms.
On the 8th of the same month Hunter formed a junction with Crook and
Averill at Staunton, from which place he moved direct on Lynchburg, via
Lexington, which place he reached and invested on the 16th day of June.
Up to this time he was very successful, and but for the difficulty of
taking with him sufficient ordnance stores over so long a march, through
a hostile country, he would no doubt have captured that, to the enemy,
important point. The destruction of the enemy’s supplies and
manufactories was very great. To meet this movement under General
Hunter, General Lee sent a force, perhaps equal to a corps, a part of
which reached Lynchburg a short time before Hunter. After some
skirmishing on the 17th and 18th, General Hunter, owing to a want of
ammunition to give battle, retired from before the place. Unfortunately,
this want of ammunition left him no choice of route for his return but
by way of Kanawha. This lost to the country the use of his troops for
several weeks from the defence of the north; at a period, too, when they
were urgently needed.
Had General Hunter moved by way of Charlottesville, instead of
Lexington, as his instructions contemplated, he would have been in a
position to have covered the Shenandoah valley against the enemy, should
the force he met have seemed to endanger it. If it did not, he would
have been within easy distance of the James river canal, on the main
line of communication between Lynchburg and the force sent for its
defence. General Grant says: “I have never taken exception to the
operations of General Hunter and I am not now disposed to find fault
with him, for I have no doubt he acted within what he conceived to be
the spirit of his instructions and the interest of the service. The
promptitude of his movements and his gallantry should entitle him to the
commendation of his country.”
As soon as it was ascertained by the enemy that General Hunter was
retreating from Lynchburg by way of the Kanawha river, thus laying the
Shenandoah valley open for raids into Maryland and Pennsylvania, he
returned northward, and moved down that valley. When this movement of
the rebels was ascertained, General Hunter, who had reached the Kanawha
river, was directed to move his troops without delay, by river and
railroad, to Harper’s Ferry; but owing to the difficulty of navigation
by reason of low water and breaks in the railroad, great delay was
experienced in getting there. It became necessary, therefore, to find
other troops to check this movement of the enemy. For this purpose
General Grant detailed the Sixth corps, taken from the armies operating
against Richmond, to which was added the Nineteenth corps, then
fortunately beginning to arrive in Hampton Roads from the Gulf
department, under orders issued immediately after the result of the Red
river expedition had become known. The garrisons of Baltimore and
Washington were at this time made up of heavy artillery regiments,
hundred-days’ men, and detachments from the invalid corps. One division
under command of General Ricketts, of the Sixth corps, was sent to
Baltimore, and the remaining two divisions of the Sixth corps, under
General Wright, were subsequently sent to Washington.
On the 3d of July the enemy approached Martinsburg. General Sigel, who
was in command of the Federal forces there, retreated across the Potomac
at Shepardstown; and General Weber, commanding at Harper’s Ferry,
crossed the river and occupied Maryland heights. On the sixth, the enemy
occupied Hagerstown, moving a strong column towards Frederick city.
General Wallace, with Rickett’s division and his own command, the latter
mostly new and undisciplined troops, pushed out from Baltimore with
great promptness, and met the enemy in force on the Monocacy, near the
crossing of the railroad bridge. A spirited engagement took place, but
owing to the inferiority of General Wallace’s command in numbers and
discipline, he was unable to withstand the rebel army, and the Federal
arms suffered defeat. An important result was gained, however, for the
rebel army was checked in its onward march, and sufficient time gained
to enable General Wright, with two divisions of the Sixth corps, and the
advance of the Nineteenth corps to reach Washington, and guard the
national capital from the peril which was threatening it. General
Wallace was warmly commended by the commander-in-chief, for his courage
and promptness in meeting the enemy at that important crisis.
Great alarm was now manifested in Baltimore and Washington, which was
heightened by the daring and success of numerous raiding parties from
Early’s command, who spread themselves in all directions, carrying off
horses and cattle, and levying contributions from the inhabitants.
Darnestown, in Maryland, was visited by one party, and Brestown, sixteen
miles from Baltimore, by another. A third party swept round Baltimore,
inflicting damage on the Northern Central railroad, while a fourth
reached the Baltimore and Philadelphia railroad, stopped the train, and
robbed the passengers, capturing Major-General Franklin, who was a
traveller in citizen’s dress. The house of Governor Bradford, of
Maryland, within five miles of Washington, was burned by Early’s
soldiers.
From Monocacy, General Early, the Confederate chief, marched direct for
Washington, his cavalry advance reaching Rockville on the evening of the
10th. General Wright, who had now reached the outer defences of
Washington, was placed in command of all the forces that could be made
available to operate against the enemy in the field, and made
preparations to advance and meet Early, with the design of forcing him
to battle, or of pursuing him as far as prudence would warrant.
A reconnoissance was thrown out from Fort Stevens on the 12th of July,
and the enemy was soon discovered in force. A short but severe
engagement ensued in which only a small portion of the Union forces were
engaged; but the enemy were soon put to flight, and Early commenced a
retreat, vigorously pursued by the Federal troops. The Union loss in
this engagement was about two hundred and eighty in killed and wounded;
while the rebel loss was probably somewhat greater. On the 13th a
portion of Early’s forces were overtaken at Snicker’s Gap, where a sharp
skirmish occurred. On the 20th, another portion of the rebel army was
confronted at Winchester, by General Averill’s command, in which the
enemy was engaged and defeated, with the loss of several hundred
prisoners and four pieces of artillery.
The protracted absence of General Hunter’s corps on his unsuccessful
expedition to Lynchburg, encouraged the rebel forces in the valley to
attempt another raid into Maryland and Pennsylvania. The enemy moved
down the valley, and on the 30th of July, a raiding party burned
Chambersburg in Pennsylvania, and then retreated towards Cumberland,
pursued by the Federal cavalry. Near that point they were met and
defeated by General Kelly, and then, with diminished numbers, they made
their escape into the mountains of Western Virginia.
During the whole of these movements in the months of June and July, in
the department of Western Virginia, Washington, Susquehannah, and the
Middle Department, much confusion arose from the rebel forces invading
so many points where they were brought in conflict alternately with
different, and independent Federal commanders, who all received their
instructions and reported to the General-in-chief, or through General
Halleck at Washington. From the time of the first raid the telegraph
wires were frequently down between Washington and City Point, making it
necessary to transmit messages a part of the way by boat. It took from
twenty-four to thirty-six hours to get dispatches through and return
answers back; so that often orders would be given, and then information
would be received showing a different state of facts from those on which
they were based, causing a confusion and apparent contradiction of
orders that must have considerably embarrassed those who had to execute
them, and rendered operations against the enemy less effective than they
otherwise would have been. To remedy this evil, it was recommended by
General Grant that one general should be appointed to have supreme
command of all the forces actively engaged in the field in those
departments. On the 2d of August, General Grant ordered General Sheridan
to report in person to Major-General Halleck, chief-of-staff, at
Washington, with a view to his assignment to the command of all the
forces against Early.
[Illustration: CONFEDERATE GENERALS. GUST. W. SMITH. PILLOW. BOWEN.
MARSHALL. HAMPTON. EARL VAN DORN. STEWART. HANSON.]
At this time the enemy was concentrated in the neighborhood of
Winchester. General Hunter’s forces at that time were posted on the
Monocacy, at the crossing of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Before any
definite orders were given in relation to army movements, General Grant
paid a visit to General Hunter at his headquarters, and gave definite
written instructions for the coming campaign. General Hunter having
expressed a willingness to be relieved of command, General Sheridan was
telegraphed to join General Grant at Monocacy.
On the 7th of August the middle department and the departments of West
Virginia, Washington, and Susquehanna were constituted into the “Middle
military division,” and Major-General Sheridan was assigned to command
of the same.
Two divisions of cavalry, commanded by Generals Torbert and Wilson, were
sent to Sheridan from the Army of the Potomac. The first reached him at
Harper’s Ferry about the 11th of August.
General Sheridan was confronted by a rebel force of about twenty
thousand men. Although a much larger force than this was at his
disposal, yet the numerous points that lay exposed to the incursions of
the enemy prevented the Federal commander from concentrating his army
for offensive operations, and the movements of the campaign for the
first month were of a desultory character.
On the 11th of August a detachment of Federal cavalry encountered the
enemy a few miles beyond Winchester, and engaged him for two hours, with
a loss to the Unionists of thirty men. Some infantry supports coming up,
the contest was continued from eleven o’clock till two, when the rebels
were driven from their position, but not until they had inflicted severe
loss on the Federals. The enemy were followed the next day to Cedar
creek, a few miles from Strasburg, where, from a strong position, they
resisted the Union advance throughout the day, but retreated at
nightfall, when the Federals pursued, and entered Strasburg.
On the 15th, Colonel Mosby, the noted rebel guerrilla, made a foray
through Snicker’s Gap, and succeeded in capturing a Federal supply
train, which he carried off in safety, securing seventy-five wagons, two
hundred prisoners, six hundred horses, and two hundred beeves.
Not knowing the extent or character of the rebel forces in their rear,
the Federals became alarmed, and beat a hasty retreat to Winchester,
destroying many of their stores, which they were unable to remove in
their flight. Being closely followed by the rebels, the Unionists
continued their retreat to Harper’s Ferry, fearful that Longstreet’s
army had reinforced Early.
On the 21st of August, General Sheridan had posted his army on an
important eminence called Summit Point, two miles out from Charlestown,
where he was attacked by General Early on that day, the fight lasting
from ten o’clock till dark, when the Federals were defeated, losing
three hundred men. They were compelled to retreat to Bolivar Heights.
During all this time, General Sheridan was restrained from inaugurating
any decisive movement against the enemy, owing to the important points
which it was necessary for him to cover, and which would be jeopardized,
should any serious misfortune befall his army. At a conference held on
the 15th of September, at Charleston, between Generals Grant and
Sheridan, it was determined that an immediate advance should be made on
the enemy. General Sheridan, always noted for the celerity of his
movements, took the field in less time than General Grant thought it
possible for him to be in readiness, and at 3 o’clock on Monday, the
18th, the troops marched to meet the foe.
BATTLE OF OPEQUAN CREEK, VA.
SEPTEMBER 19, 1864.
The rebel army was intrenched from the Opequan Creek to Winchester, in
the vicinity of Bunker Hill. The Federal troops advanced rapidly up the
valley through a narrow defile, designing to deploy beyond the gorge
before attacking the rebels, who were stationed in force in a ravine
whose sides were thickly wooded and steep, and bordered on the south by
a ridge of high hills. Early’s plan was to allow a portion of the
Unionists to pass along the ravine, and then attack before the remainder
could march through the narrow defile and take part in the conflict.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the Sixth corps emerged through the
ravine, and filing to the left in two columns, occupied some rifle-pits
and a wood on the enemy’s right, without opposition. A portion of the
Nineteenth corps and Rickett’s division now advanced and occupied the
centre, where they met a most determined resistance from the enemy, but
maintained their position against several furious charges of the rebels,
in which severe loss was suffered on both sides. Grover’s division
passed through the defile at eleven o’clock, and pressing immediately
into action, afforded welcome assistance to their exhausted
comrades-in-arms. An immense body of the rebels, hitherto lying
concealed, now advanced with loud shouts against the Union columns, and
for a time there was great danger that Sheridan would suffer defeat
before he could bring the whole of his force into action. The rebel
columns bore down on Grover and Ricketts, and poured volley after volley
into their unflinching ranks, until finally Rickett’s division wavered,
and was driven back along the Berryville and Winchester road towards the
mouth of the gorge. Many regiments for the time lost their organization,
and Early’s stern veterans pursued vigorously their advantage, already
confident of the overthrow of the Federal forces. The patriot commanders
exerted themselves to the utmost to stay the retreat of the
panic-stricken troops. A section of the First Maine battery availed
itself of a favorable position, and finally General Grover, assisted by
his officers and others of Emery’s command succeeded in opposing an
unbroken front to the advancing Confederates, and very soon the First
division of the Nineteenth corps, emerged from the defile, and again the
entire army was rallied and valorously contesting the field with their
opponents.
The undulating nature of the ground, and the dense woods which
obstructed the view on all sides, shut out the scene of conflict from
all the participants, who could only take cognizance of what was
transpiring in their immediate vicinity, and remained in ignorance of
the destiny of the battle in other portions of the field. It was a wild,
chaotic scene. The battle was now raging with the greatest fury, and was
urged with great desperation by both parties.
One regiment, the One Hundred and Fourteenth New York, suffered a loss
of one hundred and eighty-eight men in killed and wounded, more than
half their effective force brought into the field. The battle raged over
many miles of rugged country—of steep hills and stony ravines, dense
groves and tall grass.
Crook’s division executed a brilliant flank movement about three o’clock
in the afternoon, from the extreme right of the Federal lines, for which
the enemy seemed to be fully prepared. The battle at that point was for
a time of the most desperate character; and the prolonged and heavy
firing from that quarter, which appeared to deaden the noise from the
many lesser points of attack and defence, excited much anxiety in the
minds of all for the issue. But the gallant charge of Crook’s troops
upon the very stronghold of the enemy, became the signal for the advance
of the whole Federal line; and an impetuous charge now took place, which
the rebels found it impossible to resist, and they were soon routed with
great slaughter, and driven back into the woods.
The Federal cavalry now came forward, and dashing upon Early’s
disordered regiments, scattered them wildly in all directions, and drove
in their prisoners in large numbers. The Federals captured five thousand
prisoners, five cannon, and six thousand small arms. The entire rebel
loss must have exceeded seven thousand men.
BATTLE OF FISHER’S HILL, VA.
SEPTEMBER 21, 1864.
Though badly defeated, the strength of General Early’s army was not
broken. He retreated up the valley beyond Strasburg, and on the
succeeding day, the Federal advance found the rebels confronting them on
a strong position known as Fisher’s Hill. After a thorough
reconnoissance General Sheridan at once determined to attack the enemy
in his intrenchments.
Early’s forces lay on the north fork of the Shenandoah river, with his
left on North Mountain, his line extending across the Strasburg Valley.
The attack was made by Sheridan on the 21st of September, and the combat
lasted with varying success until evening, when the Confederates were
driven from their intrenchments in great confusion, leaving the line of
their retreat strewed with the debris of a routed army.
Eleven hundred prisoners and sixteen cannon were the fruits of this
victory, besides an immense quantity of wagons, caissons, horses and
camp stores. Sheridan pursued him with great energy through
Harrisonburg, Staunton, and the gaps of the Blue Ridge. After stripping
the upper valley of most of the supplies and provisions for the rebel
army, he returned to Strasburg, and took position on the north side of
Cedar Creek.
* * * * *
Having received considerable reinforcements, General Early again
returned to the valley, and on the 9th of October his cavalry
encountered General Sheridan’s near Strasburg, where the rebels were
defeated with the loss of eleven pieces of artillery, and three hundred
and fifty prisoners.
During the interim of the defeat of the rebels and the return of Early,
with reinforcements, General Sheridan, not anticipating important
movements, had gone to Washington, and was on his return to the army at
the time of Early’s advance. The Union army was posted on Cedar Creek,
behind breastworks, in a line of four or five miles in extent, while the
rebel camp was about four miles distant. Custer’s cavalry on the right,
was assailed on the 16th, but after a severe skirmish the enemy were
driven back.
BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK, VA.
OCTOBER 19, 1864.