Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-04-17
THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER.
DFFIUIA RPORe eV sEN. sHTELDs'
HAN. .oukaiERs sHrELnS DIvIIou, I
uyt-,h,.tsr Va March 90

Hulp. ora niERs SHTEEn6 DIvIsIou,
WincbesteF, Va. March 90.
"a NoSor Gsasral Bankt .-Sir--l have /
the honor to report that during my recon-
,o6iagfice Of the 18th and 18th instant, n the /
direction Of Mount Jackson, / ascertained
that the enemy, under jackson, was strongly ]
posted near that place, and In direct oommu- |
nioation with q force al Luray and another |
at Washington. Il became important, there
fore. 10 draw him from his position and sup
porting force, II possible. To endeavor to
eject thia / fell back 10 Winchester on the
20th, giving the movement all the appear
auoe Of retpaat The last brigade Of the
6rat division Of Banks corps 4 nElss, GereTal
williams commanding, took ita departure for
Centreville by way Of Berryvllle on the
morning Of TIE 22d leaving only Shields
division ana Eis Nichlgan cayalIy Ia Vim
chester. Ashby's cavalry, observing this
movement from distance, came to the con-
clusion that Winchester vas being evacuated,
audgignalissd Jackson TO taat effect We
paw their signal fires and OWNED their i'm
port On the 32d, about FIVE o'clock P. n,
they attacked and drove in our pickets. By
order Of General Banks put my command
under arms, and pushed forward one brigade
and two batteries Of artillery to drive back
the enemy but to keep him deceived as to
our strength, only let him see two regiments
ofinfantry, a small body Of cavalry, and part
Of the artillery. While directing one OF our
batteries to its position, l was struck by the
fragment Of q she'll which fractured my arm
above the elbow, bruised my shoulder, and
injured my side. The enemy being driven
from his position, we withdrew to Winches-
ter. The injuries had received completely
prostrated me, but were not such ss to pre-
vent me from making the required disposi-
/ tons for the ensuing day. Under cover of
/ the night pushed forward Kimbsll's brig
ade nearly three miles on the Strssburg
road. Daum' artillery was posted in q strong
position 10 support his brigade, If attacked.
/ Sullivan'a brigade vas posted in the rear of
Kimball's, aud within supporting distance of
It covering sIl the approaches to the town by
Cedar creek, Front Royal, BerryEille and
Romney roads. This brigade and Broad
heads cavalry were held in reserve, 30 IS to
support our force in front at any point where
Il might be attacked These dispositions be-
ing made, I rested for the night, knowing
that sll the approaches by which the enemy
might penetrate 10 this place were efeotuslly
guarded.
deem It necessary in this place to gives
brief description Of these approaches, as well
as Of the field, which next day became the
scene Of one Of the bloOdiest battles of the
war. Winchester Is approached from the
south by three principal roads-the Cedar
Greek road on the west the valley turnpike
road leading 70 Strasburg IN the centre, and
the Front Royal road on the east. There is
q iittle village called KernstoWn on the val
lev road, about three and q half miles from
Winchester. On the west side of this road,
about half mile north OF KearnstoWn, is a
ridge of goound which commands the sp-
proach BY the turnpike and q part Of the
surrounding country. This ridge was the
key point of our position. Here Col. Kim
ball, the senior officer in command on the
Geld, took bis station. Along this ridge
Lieut. Col Daum, chief Of artillery, posted
three OF his batteries, keeping one of his bat
teries in reserve some distance in the rear
Part Of our infantry wa first placed in DO.
sition in the rear and within supporting dis
tance of these batteries, well sheltered in the
Windngs and sinuosities of the ridge. The
main body Of the enemy on the ridge was
posted in order Of battle about half q mile
beyond KernstOWn, his line extending from
the Cedar Greek road to Ii tie ravine, near
the Front Royal road, q distance Of bout
two miles. This ground had been 30 skill
fully selected th {, while it afforded facilities
for manoeuvring, it was completely masked
by high and wooded ground in front. These
woods he filed With skirmishers, supported
by battery on each flank and 30 adroitly
had this movement been conducted, and 50
skillfully had be concealed himself, that at 8
o'clock, A. n, on the 23d, nothing was vis-
] 1 1Na 49, Aka narna Gnrnn nm izE AstshF HniCH
had been repulsed the previous evening"
Not being able to reconnOitre the front in
person, dispatched an experienced officer,
Col John 7. Mason, of the Fourth Ohio Vol
unteers, about o'clock A. NJ, to the 'front.'
to perform that duty, and to report to me-
as promptly as possible, every circumstance
that might indicate the presence of the enc
my. About sn hour after Col. Mason re-
turned, and reported me that he had careful
" reconnoitsred the country in front and on
10th tanks, and found no indicstons of any
hostile forcs exoeptthat Of Ashby's.
1 communicated this information to Major
General Banks, who was then with me, and
after consulting together we both concluded
that Jackson could not be tempted to hazard
himself 30 far away from his main support
Having both come to this conclusion, Gen.
Banks took his departure for Washington,
being already under orders to that effect -
The officers of his stat, however, remained
behind, intending to leave for Gentreville in
the afternoon. Although I began to con-
J clude that jackson was somewhere in the
, vicinity; knowing the crafty enemy we had
. to deal with, took care not TO omit sim
gle precaution. Between eleven and twelve
} o'clock, A. NJ, a message from Col Kimball
! informed me that another battery on the en-
emy's right had opened on our position and
that there was some indications of a consid-
ersble force Of infantry in the woods in that
quarter. On receiving this information /
! pushed on Sullivsn's brigade, which was
placed by order of Colonel Kimban in q po-
sition 10 oppose the advance of the enemy 8
right wing. The action opened with q fire
Of artillery on both sides, but at too great a
I distance to be very effective. The initiative
{ was taken by the enemy. He pushed for.
( ward few more guns to the right, support
ed by a considerable force of infantry and
cavalry, with the apparent intention Of en-
fading our position and turning our left
J flank. An active body of skirmisheTs con.
sisting of the Eight Ohio, Col. Carroll, and
three companies Of the Sixty ty-seventh Ohio,
was immediately thrown forward on both
sides Of the valley road to resist the enemy 5
advance. These skirmishers were sdmira-
bly, supported by four pieces of artillery un-
der Captain Jenk's and SGlliYan's gallant
brigade. This united force rePulsed the en-
: eTay at all points aud gave him such check
that no further denomination vas made up
, on that flank during the remainder of the
day. The attempt against our left flank hav-
ing thus failed, the enemy withdrew the
, greater part Of his force to the right, and
formed it into reserve to support his left
flank in q forward movement. BE then