The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1885-02-20
sHERTDAN's RIDE.

Sheridan n Torbert-The Fight at
Cedar Creek.
Philadelphia Times.
have seen a painting representing
the General coming on the scene on
that occasion riding his black horse
(which was given him by some Michi-
gan friend and, by the way, / have
heard the cavalrymen curse that horse
in vigorous terms. He was the fastest
walker in the army, and when the
General was riding at the head of the
column on the march, the rest of the
command would be kept on a little
jog-trot about half the time, and any
cavalryman knows how trying that IS,
especially for the non-combatants, such
as cooks, camp carriers, ETC., who are
loaded down with camp and garrison
equipage. I!could always tell at night
when I heard our cavalry marching
near me if the General was in lead by
the jingle of the tin and iron kettles as
they closed up in the rear. Well, this
painting that I mention shows the
General with sword in hand, a broad
brimmed, stiff regular hat, with waving
plume on his head and looking very
much excited, as, of course, he had q
right to be under the circumstances.
But the artist drew very largely on
his imagination. 1t would be hard to
exaggerate the beauty and majesty of
the horse-big, black, vigorous, champ
ing his bit, n~ostrils red and dilating,
his long tail swinging to and fro like a
banner; it would be hard to picture
anything more striking or grand than
the big black on that occasion. But as
to the General, excepting that his eyes
were blazing and fierce, there was not
much sign of excitement shown by him.
He wore some of the regulation uni
form, but not much. On his head was
alittle round CAP, such as German stu
dents wear. In his right hand he held
small riding whip, which, Judging by
the welts on his horses TANKS, had been
industriously used. He was splashed
with mud, and had a big daub of it just
under one eye, which gave him a sort
of "been-to-a-wake" look. If he had
any gauntlets they were in his pockets.
As he rode on the hill beyond Middle
tor he was met by n of General Tor
bert's aids, who was mounted on q big
gray horse, nearly as large as Rienzi.
The officer jumped the stone wall and
joined the General just as he came in
sight of the field, and rode side by side
toward a group near the woods on the
right of the pike in the rear of the sixth
corps, where Generals Wright, Emory,
and Torbert and their stats were gath
cred.
/ asked the aid afterward what the
General said when he joined him. He
replied: "Well the Generals first
words were, Now is not this HI and
then he said, 1T was just such a did
mess out West as this that gave me
my brigaadier star in the regulay army,
and / am going to make it a double star
this time He then asked, Where is
Wright?'" and soon after joined the
other Generals. / had been riding
along behind as fast as my little mar
could jump, when the General looked
back and said: Scout, hunt mp tbo
ammunition wagons and order them up"
Back in the rear on the valley pike the
Generals STAFF were making their way
up as fast 5 they could. / transferred
my orders to one of the aids, for j knew
pay much attention to a man in a
blouse, and then turned and rode back
after the General.
When / reached the group on the
hill / saw General Wright sitting on
the ground; the tip of his chin had
been cut away by a bullet early in the
morning, and he was otherwise harmed,
pro badly, as he seemed to be dazed
and not to have his wits about him for
the time. General Emory, "Old Bull of
the woods" as some of the wild young
cavalry staff called him, commander of
the nineteenth corps, stood by with his
hands crossed behind his back, looking
down at General Wright. General
Iorbert leaned on his horse and pulled
at his mustache, and General Sheridan
was quietly asking questions from all
OF them. In a few moments he knew
all they couldstell him, and pulling q
dispatch book from his pocket, began
by writing something which he put in
q little dispatch envelope and addressed,
and then looking up, his eye fell on me
and blazed up a moment. He said:
What the devil are you doing here? 1
thought 1 sent you after the ammunition
wagons" / explained matters to him.
ne gave me a sharp look and said;
fou've got a healthy gall to order my
stan officers about. Take this dispatch
70 Winchester quick as you can" and
.aen away he rode down the line.
PRESENTLY one of the staff came gallop-
ing after me before / had gotten more
than q mile beyond MiddletnWn and