Battle of Cedar Creek ~ Civil War Battles

The Battle of Cedar Creek or Battle of Belle Grove, October 19, 1864, was one of the final, and most decisive, battles in the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. The final Confederate invasion of the North, led by Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early, was effectively ended. The Confederacy was never again able to threaten Washington, D.C., through the Shenandoah Valley, nor protect the economic base. This victory aided the reelection of Abraham Lincoln and Union Army Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan won lasting fame.

Battle of Cedar Creek Background

Early had withdrawn "up the Valley" (southwest into the higher elevations of the Shenandoah Valley) under pressure from Sheridan and his Army of the Shenandoah. Sheridan's army was engaged in destroying the economic base of the Valley, including current crops and stored goods, meant to deprive Gen. Robert E. Lee's army of needed supplies. They were encamped at Cedar Creek, in parts of Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren counties of Virginia.

Sheridan ordered the VI Corps under Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright to return to the Petersburg siege lines. He believed that Early could not muster attacks after more than a month of battling. However, after a reconnaissance in force by Early turned into a division-sized skirmish between the armies, Sheridan recalled Wright. He sent two divisions of cavalry off to raid the Virginia Central Railroad. Early planted rumors that Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's corps might join him from Petersburg, and Sheridan brought all of his forces back to the camps along Cedar Creek.

In a letter of October 12, 1864, Lee told Early, "You had better move against him and endeavor to crush him. ... I do not think Sheridan's infantry or cavalry numerically as large as you suppose." Early examined the Union position behind Cedar Creek and found an opening. Expecting an attack across the open valley floor to the west, the Union left relied on natural obstacles for cover. Early planned to get his men across the creek and attack the Union left, rolling up the line and defeating each part in detail. His choice was either to attack or retire to replenish his dwindling supplies. Early chose boldness and planned an assault on superior forces, using surprise to his advantage.

Battle

Early deployed his men in three columns in a night march, lit only by the moon. Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's division started at 8 p.m. and followed a "pig's path" along the base of Massanutten Mountain and across the river. Just before sunrise, operating under a cover of dense fog, Gordon struck. The surprise was complete, and the first Union corps (Maj. Gen. George Crook's VIII) fought momentarily, then broke. The Confederates took hundreds of Union prisoners, many still in their bedclothes. During this attack Union Col. Joseph Thoburn was killed and Union Col. J. Howard Kitching was mortally wounded.

The XIX Corps under Maj. Gen. William Emory was next to be hit, by Gordon and the division of Maj. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw, who joined the attack from the west. Emory's soldiers broke, too. The Confederate assault moved so swiftly that they had little time to prepare. Retreating soldiers from Emory's corps caused confusion and damaged the morale of the defenders. And since their hasty battle line faced south rather than west, Confederate guns across the creek were able to shell the open Union flank.

Wright's VI Corps, last in the line, fought a strong defensive battle, withdrawing slowly under heavy pressure. He attempted to advance his lines southward to meet Early's initial assault, but the attack moved too quickly for him to get them moving. Early did not keep up his pressure, however, as he was pleased with his victory, including the capture of over a thousand prisoners and eighteen guns. He mistakenly assumed that Wright would retreat from the battlefield. The Union troops had withdrawn past Middletown. Early's failure to pursue them is considered his fatal mistake in the battle. It caused lasting enmity between him and Gordon.

Sheridan was away at Winchester, Virginia, at the time the battle started. Hearing the distant sounds of artillery, he rode aggressively to his command. (Thomas Buchanan Read wrote a famous poem, Sheridan's Ride, to commemorate this event.) He reached the battlefield about 10:30 a.m. and began to rally his men. Fortunately for Sheridan, Early's men were too occupied to take notice; they were hungry and exhausted and fell out of their ranks to pillage the Union camps.

General Sheridan wrote in his official report an account of the famous ride:

[I] was unconscious of the true condition of affairs until about 9 o'clock, when having ridden through the town of Winchester, the sound of the artillery made a battle unmistakable, and on reaching Mill Creek, half a mile south of Winchester, the head of the fugitives appeared in sight, trains and men coming to the rear with appalling rapidity. I immediately gave directions to halt and park 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 Thom and Alexander to do what they could in stemming the torrent of fugitives. I am happy to say that hundreds of the men, when of reflection found they had not done themselves justice, came back with cheers. ... still none behaved more gallantly or exhibited greater courage than those who returned from the rear determined to reoccupy their lost camp. ...

— Philip H. Sheridan, Report of Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, U.S. Army, commanding Middle Military Division, including operations August 4, 1864 – February 27, 1865: The War of the Rebellion, Vol. 43, Part I, pages 52–54.

At 3 p.m. Early resumed his offensive with a minor attack that might have succeeded in the morning, but was easily repulsed. At 4 p.m., Emory's corps counterattacked. Early's three divisions were stretched out on a line about three miles (5 km) long, with the flanks unprotected. Emory was reinforced by Brig. Gen. George A. Custer's cavalry division, which exploited the open left flank and broke the Confederate line. Other cavalry units destroyed a bridge in the Confederate rear, cutting off their escape route. Many of the veteran Southern troops surrendered, certain they could not fight their way out of the debacle. The Union took hundreds of prisoners, 43 guns (18 of which were their own guns from the morning), and supplies that the Confederacy could not replace.

Battle of Cedar Creek Aftermath

The battle was a crushing defeat for the Confederacy. They were never again able to threaten Washington, D.C., through the Shenandoah Valley, nor protect the economic base in the Valley. The reelection of Abraham Lincoln was materially aided by this victory and Phil Sheridan earned lasting fame. Future U.S. Senator Henry A. du Pont was awarded the Medal of Honor for his handling of an early retreat at Cedar Creek, contributing to Sheridan's ultimate victory.

Jubal Early's command was effectively ended. His surviving units returned to assist Robert E. Lee in Petersburg that December.

The Vermont Brigade's actions in the battle (more Vermonters took part in this battle than in any other in the war) are commemorated by a large wall-sized painting in the Cedar Creek Room on the second floor of the Vermont State House in Montpelier. In 1997, proposed highway construction threatened a Virginia ridge where the 8th Vermont Regiment, commanded by Stephen Thomas, lost nearly two-thirds of its men in a heroic early morning stand. The proposal prompted the Vermont State Legislature to adopt a resolution asking Virginia to prevent building on the ridge.

Battle of Cedar Creek

Part of the American Civil War