New-York tribune., 1867-08-28
WINCHESTER AND THE GREAT gALEEY
SHERIDAN IN TIE sEENANDOAH.

,f iIV, and lOaIels, Huu WANT OK Pi"N" 80 ''
,,Iy OF ,pt pluck that had better refer 10 history
f,r the past and 60 TO work for the present, you
ebonld climb 10 what is now called MiIoys hhl'
and let tho landscape be your instructor The hlii'
lp the clear sunset only, affords panorama Oh war
such as no single spot the face OF the world az
Sords In this brick town, shady OF street,
;rst ST vonr feet. and in its outlying
lots inward Of eighty combats nave
been fought Monhave been sabered in doors sho' III
cellars and on roofs all the plain around the 'i"S
has been many times massively moving WIN p"''V'
Armies have raced through the streets III iuii
tl,r armies have concentrated here win al Oio,'
1a.tmuptions Just across the steepleS Oh the VII
ige yyere the plain is gentlest lie three cemeteries
ico,;o of the history and peril OF tins valley OF
tba Shenandoah That which you see tull OF whre
ravebcards Of wood too densely set is the cemetery
# The Vnion Some thousands Of skeletons lie there,
with an officer or two TO every row, and one OF TWO
women who died in the retreats beside their nus
banda share their repose. The flag is lonely
,ne that waves over them. Across small
ilne from the Union Cemetery the South
,rn dead are collected, Virginia mourning
~. mass of the defenders In front of both is the
cemetery of the town. covered with cool shade trees,
wherein under embTowned vaults lie those old family
names that Virgiuians love: Tuckers Hunters, Lees,
Tailfaxes, Conrads Rlyeses. Among them all, the
beautiful ruin of chapel stands, and these people
were for the better part Of the history of the United
States the directors of the State of Virginia that IN
turn gave wise and good Presidents to the he
public.
II you will look across all the plain Of battle and
harvest your eye will rest upon the beautiful line OF
the Blue Ridge Before you are Snickors Ashby s. ana
Manassas Gaps Through one OF these came the great
Lord Fairfax many year ago, with charter IN MS
hand for all the lands between the head-wators OF
the Potomac and the Rappahannock hundred anu
sixty BY sixty miles of virgin country watered Ike
tbeGa!den of Eden was spread before him. He sent
Cor all his kinsmen. and being himself a disap-
pointed old bachelor he built for himself
9ne-storied house. not far from Winchester
aud gave away his land by parcels, and founded
GOWNS and Hunted like the fine old gentleman he
was He established this village and settled it with
courticrs of his kidney, and by and by around this
lodge IN the wilderness there was a sort OF feudal
complimenting going on, which lasted until tho
Scotch-Insh poured in and while the old colony was
reeng betwix respect for my lord and saucyness in
its own behalf through one of these same gaps the
Coming Man came with his theOdolite. and looked
lust as YOU and do over the splendid wilderness.
Young Washington had got favor and work from
NV Lord and'the Misses Fairfax with theirnews from
- James and inteTectiOnS the stupid biueneSs OF
the West, thought him likely young savage ne
laid ont road OF two here and had hardly departed
before the great army OF the English De9ah 10 as
semblc on the Fairfax lands. Then Winchester was
oats of Yorktown: the last that was heard Of the
Misses af % Wssbr W2s sSS gfSS' aIs gn Il IS Is Presumed
they withered away, confirmed OLD MAIDS
lnding nobody good enough i3r or mem. ntln.
aud dice thrOweIs to the last, and they tgurnoW as
ntToducers and patrons only OF better men 70 us,
9omed MaHagsa built p "store" and tavern. He was
he original Manassas Gap that swallowed up the !
halves of four armies. Nearer Ashb%s Cap where
The ancestors of Turner Ashby, railway SIall9n1
leepcr built hut lie was o handsome bearded
.idcr, one OF the splendid galaxy OF physical men
hat lived in this valley and fate gathered him nome
when ne had slain his thousands. .
At the foot of this HILL rather on its side be-
.weeen and the town, lies what seems TO be the
cellar of an unfinished house, A few bricks are
aroitnd: behind it. among some wild apple-trees,
here are the remains of what seem to have been
says that James Mason lived here, an author
of the secession of Virginia and of the over
throw OF the great Republic of the United
states. Just HeaveH what an age it seems,
,ook counsel of this extinct man. 1 never saw in
Rome or Pompei more absolute obhtera4ion. The
~ is The land is the Governments; 1T has been
samped over thousand times, and IS again 70 r. & be
his hawker and baTtcTer Of his country TO this hill
,op, and show him the valley Here, where you lived,
James Mason, you saw the nOblest prospect IN the
Vest. The harYests II were boundless;
no tnts OF it were beWlldeIing. The men
it wero peers of princes each inspired
IVA personal honor aworldly independence, proud
Intelligence that made, together the maximum OF
lJunau content. 1Ou, more than any man IN VIZ
gina. sOwed ruin here You whispered to these
,Oung men enyiOus and greedy words. You inter
married. with strong men to seduce them through
heir wives. You laid out your Tipest time of life to
work ruin to this mediterranean OF mans enjoyment
aud lighted the fire in the Shenandoah that drove
he good and the wicked TO war together.
There were owls in MaSOn's ruins when quilted |
MilTOys Hill.
Among the newer ones the strong historic figure of
this Valley was Sheridan lie was the most perfect
embodiment of the professional cavalTyman that
over appeared on our continent His two grand quail
lies lightning perception and lightning action.
When he came Eastward from the scene of hls West
ern campaigns, he mastered the topography of the
country so rapidly that it seemed he had climbed to
some look out, and examined 10 all at a glance He
found the cavalry of the East handled by vicious
system, used for picket and Gordon duty merely its
horses wasted BY perpetual TO good result ssd
ne laid down the broad principle that cavalry ought
20 light cavalry, and infantry TO tight infantry In
snemys foot he dsmOunted his carbineeTS, although
ie had in high degree that Muiat eye for the weak
pOnt of line of battle that powerful cavalry col
umn could penetrate. De used light infantry ard
-avary together with marvellous unanimity and his
tayOIte plan of battle was to sweep upon the right
dank with the former and haf-wheel the latter
10 link in line of battle again His his
tory in the East cOmprchended altogether one
year and five days, and he sent an average
If two captured battle flags every three days
turing all that time to the central 'Goyenment. In
the same period he sent captured heldplece every
rWO days, aud his flags united equal TO all the
)ther armies of the Union. lie had instinct and
"wIigRle iii a wonderful degree, but il always
wIiggie forward. lie adapted himself to changed
conditions with bon hOmmie that was udicrous, If
Lightning can be udicIOus and still his decision
. almost heraeneSs. Ii newspaper correspondent
could keep mp with hin he always said Gomez p |
and IN this respect he was high-minded
and thick-sknned beyond any other General. |
lie was invaded when one of his great raids by |
CwO Richmond newsbOys with the papers of the day.
tho General shook hands with them, and commended |
their enterprise in his official report. AT White /
House he found the bridge down instead Of sending
eighty miles, as advised 70 Fortress Monroe for pom