Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan and his generals in front of Sheridan's tent, 1864. Library of Congress
"The Shenandoah Valley was very important to the Confederates, because it was the principal storehouse… for feeding their armies," wrote Ulysses S. Grant. "It had been the source of a great deal of trouble to us… I determined to put a stop to this. I started Sheridan at once for that field of operation..."
In August 1864, Lt. Gen. Grant put Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan in command of the Army of the Shenandoah, ordering him "to put himself south of the enemy and follow him to the death…" In just over two months, Sheridan dealt the Confederates a string of stinging defeats, took the vital Valley from them, and left much of it in ashes, unable to feed Confederate armies.
A cautious start
Grant gave Sheridan three orders: beat Early, destroy the Valley's resources, and above all avoid defeat. So Sheridan moved carefully at first, maneuvering and skirmishing in the lower Valley while he organized his new army of about 40,000. Lt. Gen. Jubal Early, commanding the Confederate Army of the Valley, judged Sheridan overcautious and spread his smaller force — about 15,000 — to threaten the Potomac corridor.
By mid-September Grant was growing impatient. Then Rebecca Wright, a pro-Union civilian in Winchester, got word to Sheridan that some of Early's troops had left for other fronts. Sheridan showed Grant his plan of attack; Grant's reply was simply: "Go in!"
The campaign
| Date (1864) | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| September 3–4 | Battle of Berryville — moving to cut Early off south of Winchester, Sheridan's men ran into Mosby's Rangers, then Early's army along the Berryville Turnpike | the Federals held; after Early withdrew, Sheridan pressed on |
| September 19 | Third Battle of Winchester — Sheridan's 35,000 against Early's 15,000 | Early's army suffered crippling casualties but escaped to Fisher's Hill |
| September 22 | Battle of Fisher's Hill | for the second time in four days, Federal troops climbed the hill and swarmed the earthworks as the Confederates fled |
| Before October 9 | "The Burning" | as the war turned from limited to total war, the Valley was laid waste to hasten the end |
| October 9 | Battle of Tom's Brook — the "Woodstock Races" | Sheridan's cavalry chased Early's horsemen as far as Woodstock, wrecking their morale |
| October 13 | Skirmish at Hupp's Hill, north of Strasburg | a reinforced Early probed a larger, overconfident Federal army |
| October 19 | Battle of Cedar Creek | a Federal victory that ended Confederate resistance in the Valley |
Cedar Creek came just three weeks before the presidential election; the news lifted Northern spirits and helped carry Abraham Lincoln to a landslide reelection.
Sources
Based on "Sheridan's Valley Campaign," Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park, National Park Service, part of the series The War Consumed Everything; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Quotations are from Ulysses S. Grant.
In these publicationsCedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical ParkThe War Consumed Everything
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.nps.gov
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