OCT 19: Knockout Blow at Cedar Creek
On October 19, 1864, Maj. General George Armstrong Custer makes a major contribution to a Union victory at the Battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia, forcing Confederate General Jubal Early’s troops to abandon the Shenandoah Valley.
Confederate Lt. General Jubal Early. (Credit: Library of Congress)
Although he was outnumbered by some 10,000 federal soldiers, Early launched a surprise attack on Maj. General Philip Sheridan. The previous evening, Early’s army embarked on a night march toward Sheridan’s encampment. At dawn, Confederate Maj. General John B. Gordon’s division routed Union Maj. General George Crook’s unsuspecting 8th Corps and took hundreds of prisoners.
Next, Gordon, with help from Maj. General Joseph Kershaw’s division, overpowered Maj. General William H. Emory’s 19th Corps. The Confederates then hit Maj. General Horatio G. Wright’s 6th Corps. By that time, Early believed he’d won the battle slowed his pace. Hungry Rebel soldiers “went on a looting spree throughout the Federal encampment,” according to American History Central.
Sheridan, who had been at nearby Winchester, Va., reached his fleeing army by mid-morning and began rallying Union soldiers. At around 3 p.m., Early tried to resume his advance, but the reorganized Federals repelled him. At 3:30, Custer’s cavalry division successfully assaulted Early’s left flank.
Union Maj. General William H. Emory. (Credit: Library of Congress)
Sheridan ordered a general counterattack around 4 p.m. that routed the Rebel army. As the Confederate withdrawal became a rout, “The road was full of charging cavalry,” Confederate private George Q. Peyton recalled. “And I saw Custer with his long curls hanging down his back.”
“The Battle of Cedar Creek, which began with such promise for Early, was a crushing defeat for the Confederacy,” according to American History Central. “Sheridan’s army suffered more casualties (5,665 killed, wounded, and missing/captured) than the Confederates (2,910 killed, wounded, and missing/captured), but Sheridan forced the Rebels to abandon the Shenandoah Valley.
