Later in November 1864 the hill overlooking the North Branch of the Shenandoah River and the Valley Turnpike again became a battlefield, as divisions of Philip Sheridan's Union cavalry engaged Confederate General Jubal A. Early. Having routed Early at the Battle of Fisher's Hill on September 22, 1864, and again at the Battle of Cedar Creek, north of Strasburg, on October 19, Sheridan employed scorched earth tactics and destroyed the economic infrastructure of the Shenandoah Valley as part of his 1864 Valley Campaign. Early retreated roughly 33 miles to the highly defensible Rude's Hill, occupying the hill from October 21–31. Early moved his troops north to Woodstock and skirmished, but then fell back again to Rude's Hill by November 12. Two of Sheridan's Union cavalry divisions pursued Early, who rallied and deployed his remaining Confederate infantry in line across the top of the hill on November 22, 1864. The Union cavalry pursued the Confederates but were repulsed in a sharp action. Early then reteated from Rude's Hill to Harrisonburg, eventually retreating to the entrance of the Shenandoah Valley at Browns Gap in the Blue Ridge. Locust Grove manor was looted by Union troops.