IN THE SHENANDOAH.
The fourth year of the war was now well advanced, and the very name
of the Shenandoah valley had long since passed into a byword as
the Valley of Humiliation, so often had those fair and fertile
fields witnessed the rout of the national forces; so often had the
armies of the Union marched proudly up the white and dusty turnpike,
only to come flying back in disorder and disgrace. With the same
rough humor of the soldier, half in grim jest, half in sad earnest,
yet always with a grain of hard sense lying at the bottom, the
Union veterans had re-named as _Harper's Weekly_ the picturesque
landscape that appeared to them so regularly; and Lee's annual
invasion of the country beyond the Potomac had come to be known
among them as the Summer Excursion and Picnic into Maryland.
To mete out the blame for this state of things; to apportion the
precise share of the mortifying result due to each one of several
contributing causes; to show how much should be ascribed to division
and subdivision of councils; how much to the unfitness of commanders,
too often disqualified alike by nature and training, for the
leadership of men in emergencies, or even for their temporary
profession, and in truth owing their commissions, in Halleck's
phrase, to "reasons other than military;" and how much finally to
a dense ignorance or a fine disregard of the very elements and
first principles of the art of war; all this lies outside the scope
of this history, curious, entertaining, and instructive though the
inquiry would be. Certain it is that at no period was the problem
at once comprehended and controlled until Grant took it in hand,
and equally so that the work was never done until he confided it
to Sheridan. To this, in fairness, must be added three considerations
of great moment. No commander had previously enjoyed the undivided
confidence of the government as Grant did at this period; the
relations between Grant and Sheridan were those of perfect trust
and harmony; and the Army of the Shenandoah was for the first time
made strong enough for its work. Moreover, though Early was a good
and useful general, and was soon to prove himself the master of
resources and resolution equal to the occasion, he was not Jackson;
and even had he been, no second Jackson could ever have fallen heir
to the prestige of the first.
The parallel ranges of the Blue Ridge, extending from the
head-waters of the James to the Susquehanna in mid-course, presented
peculiar strategic conditions of which the Confederates were as
quick as the government of the United States was slow to take
advantage. Rising in the southwest, the twin forks of the Shenandoah,
wedged apart by the long and narrow range, or rather ranges, known
as the Massanutten, unite near Front Royal, where the valley begins
to widen to a plain, and pour their waters into the Potomac at
Harper's Ferry. Of the two valleys thus formed, the easternmost,
through which runs the South Fork, takes the name of Luray, or, in
local usage, Page, from its chief county, while the more western
and more important, in the lap of which lies the North Fork,
preserves the name of Shenandoah, as well for the river as the
county. Through this valley lies the course of the great macadamized
highway that before the days of steam formed the chief avenue of
communication between Pennsylvania and Virginia. Soon after the
valley begins to widen, beyond Strasburg and Front Royal, the
Opequon takes its rise in the western range, here known as Little
North Mountain, and, flowing northeast, falls into the Potomac
below Williamsport. The Cumberland valley continues the valley of
Virginia into Pennsylvania, the two being separated by the Potomac,
which in this part of its course is usually fordable at many points.
Topography was by no means Grant's strong suit, yet he was not long
in perceiving that the southwesterly trend of this great valley
led and must always lead an invading column at every step farther
away, not only from its base on the Potomac, but practically also
from its objective at Richmond. Wherefore this zone was useless
to the armies of the Union, while for the Confederates it had the
triple advantage of a granary, an easy and secure way into Maryland
and Pennsylvania, and on the flank toward Washington a mountain
wall, cut by numerous gaps, of equal convenience in advance or
retreat, besides being a constant menace to Washington as well as
to the Union army operating between the Blue Ridge and the Potomac.
Thus it was that the Confederate force was able to move speedily
and unobserved to the north bank of the Potomac at Williamsport,
and there, ninety miles north of Washington, equally distant from
Baltimore and from Washington, and actually nearer to the Susquehanna
than the capital is, held the whole country at its mercy until the
Army of the Potomac could be hurried to the rescue.
Grant's first orders to Sheridan were twofold: he was to move
south by the valley, no matter where Early might be, or what he
might be doing, in full confidence that Early would surely be found
in his front; and he was to devastate the valley so far as to
destroy its future usefulness as a granary and a storehouse of the
Confederate army of Northern Virginia.
Following the instructions turned over to him by Hunter, Sheridan
moved out from Halltown on the 10th of August, and marching through
Charlestown, took up a position threatening the crossing of the
Opequon and Early's communications at Winchester. Crook, on the
left, rested on Berryville, Emory held the centre, and Wright
prolonged the line to Clifton. Torbert covered the right flank at
Summit Point, which lies eleven miles east-northeast from Winchester,
and the left, with the main body of the cavalry, nine miles south
by east from Winchester, at White Post, where his presence strongly
emphasized the menace to Early's rear. The position thus held
presently became known as the Clifton-Berryville line. While
worthless for defence, it had the double advantage of covering the
short roads to Washington through Snicker's Gap and Ashby's Gap,
and of elbowing Early out of his favorite position at Bunker Hill,
at the same time that by throwing back the right flank toward
Clifton, Sheridan's road to Charlestown and Harper's Ferry was made
safe. Early quietly let go his hold on the Baltimore and Ohio
railway, and, just as Grant had anticipated, hastened to place
himself across Sheridan's path at Winchester.
On the morning of the 11th of August, Sheridan took ground to the
left, meaning to seize and hold the fords of the Opequon, Wright
at the turnpike road between Berryville and Winchester, Emory
farther up the creek at the Senseny road, and Crook on Emory's
left, probably at the Millwood pike. The cavalry covered the right
of the Sixth Corps, and on both flanks threatened Winchester.
Early, who had moved on the previous day from Bunker Hill to a
position covering Winchester from the south, was in the act of
retiring on Strasburg when Torbert ran into his cavalry. Sharp
skirmishing resulted without bringing on a general engagement. At
night Early held and covered the valley turnpike between Newtown
and Middletown, while Sheridan, who before crossing the Opequon
had heard of Early's movement, and had simply continued his own
march up the right or east bank, rested between the Millwood crossing
of the Opequon and Stony Point on the road to Front Royal.
The melancholy failure attending the explosion of the mine before
Petersburg and the continued reduction of Grant's forces, brought
about by Early's diversions, coming on top of the losses since
crossing the Rapidan, had brought affairs on the James to a dead-lock.
While Grant in this situation was willing to spare the Sixth corps
and the Nineteenth and even to strengthen them by two divisions
of cavalry from the Army of the Potomac, Lee on his part not only
gave up all present thought of recalling Early, as had been the
custom in former years, but even sent Anderson with Kershaw's
division of infantry, Fitzhugh Lee's division of cavalry, and
Cutshaw's battalion of artillery, to strengthen Early, so as to
enable him to hold his ground, and thus to cover the gathering of
the crops in the valley, and perhaps to encourage still further
detachments from the investing forces before Richmond and Petersburg.
The first week of August found Anderson on the march and he was
now moving down the valley. Therefore Early very properly drew
back through Strasburg to wait for Anderson, and on the night of
the 12th of August took up a strong position at Fisher's Hill.
Its natural advantages he proceeded to increase by entrenchments.
Sheridan, following, encamped in the same order as before on the
left bank of Cedar Creek. On the 13th Wright crossed Cedar Creek
and occupied Hupp's Hill, and sending his skirmishers into Strasburg,
discovered Early in position as described; but at nightfall Sheridan,
who now had information that caused him to suspect Anderson's
movement, drew back and set the cavalry to guard the Front Royal
road. Then Early advanced his outposts to Hupp's Hill, and so for
the next three days both armies rested.
On the 14th of August, Sheridan received from Grant authentic,
rather than exact, information of Anderson's movement, for this
was supposed to include two infantry divisions, instead of one.
Coupled with this was Grant's renewed order to be cautious.
With his quick eye for country, Sheridan soon saw that he had but
one even tolerable position for defence, and that this was at
Halltown. The Confederate defence, on the other hand, rested on
Fisher's Hill, and between these two positions the wide plain lay
like a chess-board between the players. And now began a series of
moves, during which each side watched and waited for the adversary
to weaken himself, or to make a mistake, or for some chance encounter
to bring about an unlooked-for advantage. Finding his position at
Cedar Creek, to use his own words, "a very bad one," Sheridan was
about to retire to the extreme limit of the valley at the confluence
of the Potomac and the Shenandoah; and this was but to be the
beginning of a series of seesaw movements, in which, as often as
Sheridan went back to Halltown, Early would advance to Bunker Hill.
Early, having taken the offensive, was bound to keep it, or lose
his venture. Now, at this time, Early's objective was the Baltimore
and Ohio railway; but Sheridan's was Early. Thus, whenever he
found Early at Bunker Hill, wreaking his pleasure on the railway
and the canal, Sheridan had only to take a step forward to the
Clifton-Berryville line in order to force Early to hasten back to
Winchester, and to lay hold of the Opequon; and so this alternating
play might have continued as long as the war lasted, if other causes
and events had not intervened.
At eleven o'clock on the night of the 15th of August, Sheridan's
retreat began, Emory moving to Winchester, where he went into
bivouac at six o'clock on the morning of the 16th. At eight o'clock
on the evening of the 16th, Wright and Crook followed, and on the
17th Early, who had now been joined by Anderson, marched in pursuit.
The same evening Sheridan took up the Clifton-Berryville position
in the old order; the cavalry, now strengthened by the arrival of
Wilson's division, covering the rear and flanks. At Berryville,
at midnight, Grover joined Emory, from Washington by Leesburg and
Snicker's Gap, with the remainder of the Nineteenth Corps from the
James (1); and since the receipt of these reinforcements formed
Sheridan's only reason for staying at Berryville, on the 18th he
fell back to Charlestown, holding the roads leading thence to
Berryville and to Bunker Hill.
On the 19th and 20th of August, Sheridan stood still while Early
occupied Bunker Hill and Winchester; but, on the 21st, Early from
Bunker Hill and Anderson from Winchester moved together to the
attack. Rodes and Ramseur had a sharp fight with Wright, which
caused Sheridan to bring up Crook on the left and Emory on the
right; but neither came into action, because Merritt and Wilson
stood so stiffly that Anderson got no farther than Summit Point.
During the night Sheridan fell back to Halltown.
In retreating from Cedar Creek Sheridan began to put in force
Grant's new policy of making the valley useless to the Confederate
armies by burning all the grain and carrying off all the animals
above Winchester. "I have destroyed everything eatable," are
Sheridan's words.
On the 25th of August, after three days spent in skirmishing, Early
left Anderson to mask Halltown, and sent Fitzhugh Lee by Martinsburg
to Williamsport, marching himself to Shepherdstown. A rough fight
with Torbert's cavalry resulted near Kearneysville, in which Custer
narrowly avoided the loss of his brigade by a rapid flight across
the Potomac at Shepherdstown. Sheridan sent two divisions of
cavalry under Averell and Wilson over the Potomac to watch the
fords and to hold the gaps of the South Mountain. Thus when Fitzhugh
Lee got to the Potomac, he found Averell waiting for him, and
Anderson being pressed back by Crook on the 26th, Early fell back
behind the Opequon to Bunker Hill and Stephenson's Depot. On the
28th of August Sheridan advanced to Charlestown, and waiting there
five days while his cavalry was concentrating and feeling the enemy,
he again moved forward to the Clifton-Berryville line on the 3d of
September, and encamped in the usual order.
Two marked features had now become regularly established: as often
as the troops halted, no matter for how short a time, of their own
accord they instantly set about protecting their front with the
spade and the axe; and, secondly, the depots of the army were fixed
behind the strong lines of Halltown with a sufficient force to
guard them, and thence, as needed, supplies were sent forward to
the troops in the field by strongly guarded trains, and these, as
soon as unloaded, were returned to Halltown, thus reducing to a
minimum the impedimenta of the army as well as the detachments
usually demanded for their care. For the Nineteenth Corps, Currie's
brigade of Dwight's division performed this service during the
campaign.
The contingency for which Grant and Sheridan were waiting was now
close at hand. Anderson had been nearly a month away from Lee,
and meanwhile Grant had not only kept Lee on the watch on both
banks of the James, as well as for Richmond as for Petersburg, but
had taken a fast hold on the Weldon railway. Unable to shake off
Grant's clutch either on the James or on the Shenandoah, Lee greatly
needed Anderson back with him. Accordingly, on the very day when
Sheridan went back to Berryville, Anderson, seeking the shortest
way to Richmond, ran into Crook in the act of going into camp, and
darkness shortly put an end to a sharp fight that might otherwise
have proved a pitched battle. This brought Early in haste from
Stephenson's to Anderson's help, but when the next day Early saw
how strongly posted Sheridan was, he fell back across the Opequon
to cover Winchester, and finally, on the 14th of September, sent
off Anderson by Front Royal and Chester Gap, but this time without
Fitzhugh Lee.
The interval was occupied in continual skirmishes and reconnoissances.
Meanwhile Crook changed over from the left flank to the right at
Summit Point, the cavalry covering the front and flanks from
Snicker's Gap by way of Smithfield and Martinsburg to the Potomac.
On the 16th of September, Grant, pressed by the government in behalf
of the business interests disturbed by the enemy's control of the
railway and the canal, went to Charlestown to confer with Sheridan.
In the breast-pocket of his coat Grant carried a complete plan of
the campaign he meant Sheridan to carry out; but when, having asked
Sheridan if he could be ready to move on Tuesday, Sheridan promptly
answered he should be ready whenever the General should say "Go
in"--at daylight on Monday, if necessary,--so delighted was Grant
that he said not a word about the plan, but contented himself with
echoing the words, "Go in!"
(1) Grover's men made the hard march of 69 miles from Washington
in three days; the last 33 miles in 13½ hours, actual time. See
Major Tiemann's "History of the 159th New York," pp. 91, 92.