The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-06-07
GEN SHERIDAN IN 1854
HOW HE FED HIS ARMY IN
VALLEY OF DBSOLATION,

AmIable TO His SubordInates, Zero
eIOus Toward His Foes.
The three generals of cavalry, Sheri-
dan, Custer and Torbert, who came to-
gether for the first time when Grant re-
moved Hunter and placed Sheridan in
command of he Army Of the Shenan-
doah, formed a striking contrast. Sher
idan was entirely devoid Of any person
al vanity, and, metaphorioally speaking
always had his guns shotted and deokl
cleared for action. He was always seer
in regulation uniform, and attending Il
the business in hand with an earnest
ness and blunt directness that some
times proved rather embarrassing to hi
subordinates.
Custer, on the other hand, was always
seen wearing a jacket of black velvet
over which his long fair hair fell to hi'
shoulders from beneath broad brim
med, low crowned felt hat. which was
occasionally replaced by jaunty car
made of the same material as his jack
ct.
Torbert was the most picturesque Of
the three. He was tall, we'll bull
man, remarkably handsome, in the typ
ical Italian bandit style. He usually
ing thoroughbred. He was often seer
riding along the valley turnpike wear
ing a black velvet blouse, white cords
and morocco boots drawn up to hi
thighs. A broad brimmed Garibald
hat worn sideways and ornamented
with white ostrich plume, together
with a sash of crimson silk around hi'
waist, gold spurs on the heels of his rid
nj
white as his cords completed a costume
that always made General Torbert thu
most conspicuous figure in the whole
army.
At the time Sheridan took command
Of the army there had been a long
drought in the valley and every roaC
was covered several inches deep witt
fine dust which the passage of the troops
and teams caused to rise IN clouds 81
dense as to be absolutely sitting, The
fine dust also made short work of a uni
form, and officers, when on the march
were in the habit of wearing long liner
busters. Sheridan had been in command
less than week when he issued an or
der prohibiting their use, saying as he
did so they made their wearers "looi
like lot of butchers attending target
excursion"
No act of Sheridan's excited more
comment than his order to lay waste the
valley so that Early would not be able
to feed his troops without carrying hi
supplies of food and forage along with
him. Sheridan's idea was, as he tersely
put it, to render it necessary for crow
flying over the valley to carry his ra.
Uions with him. To understand the ne
cessity of such measure, 1t should bt
remembered that although the valley
had been fought over from the begin
ming of the war 1t had always continued
to furnish supplies for the Confederate
troops charged with its defense, for tn:
reason that only in rare instances were
the Union generals able to get beyond
Fishers Hill. As fast as the Union
troops moved up the valley guerilla'
under Mosby and other leaders of lesser
note, closed in on their rear, shooting
stragglers and rendering communication
with the base of supplies, whether al
Martinsburg or Harper's Ferry, practi-
cally impossible. Time and again long
trains of wagons loaded with clothing,
rations. ammunition and forage were
captured, plundered and burned be-
tween Harper's Ferry and Fishers Hill,
the result being of course, that the
troops had to fall back,
As showing the straits to which they
were sometimes reduced it may be men
toned that the writer on one occasion,
after Mosby had captured an unusually
large train, found Major Mcclellan, a
brother of the General of that name,
roasting a couple of ears of corn, and he
said that was the only food he had been
able to get for twenty four hours. and
that other members of General Wright's
staff were in an equally bad way, At
that time many of the officers did not
have anything to eat for forty-eight
hours except a few ears Of green corn
they were able to pluck while riding
through the fields. Men and horses
were always in bad way after each OF
these advances and considerable time
was required to get them in proper con-
dition before they were again able to
move up the valley,
Sheridan determined that II he could
not get at EARLY, Early should not be
able again to bring an army down the
valley and threaten Washington and
Baltimore as he had done during the
early part of July, 1854, and for that
purpose he issued the order to lay waste
the upper part of the valley,
On his first advance up the valley he
was obliged, AS his predecessor had been
to return to Harper's Ferry in conse-
quence of Mosby having destroyed q
supply train that had been sent out
under an escort of about 200 men.
when that took place the troops were
on Cedar Creek where the famous battle
was subsequently fought, The rations
carried along were eaten and neither
food nor forage could be begged. bought
or hooked, A few enterprising cavalry,
men discovered loft of hay, which
they quickly appropriated, ana among
those fortunate enough 10 obtain q
small quantity was the writer, who
afterward divided it with General Rick
etts, commanding the Third Division Of
the Sixth Corps, whose horse had been
without forage for nearly twenty-four
hours, When scout came in with the
news that Mosby had burned and plum
dered the train, orders were immediate
ly issued for the army to again fall
back.
The march commenced shortly after
sunset, Rebel signal torches were wav-
ing on the SUBMITS of the Blue Ridge
Mountains, and Early with large force
led by Breckenridge was within shoot
ing distance at the front. The cavalry
and artillery were ordered to travel on
the fields at the side OF the turnpike and
a general order was issued impresslng
on the men the necessity of preserving
the strictest silence and mufiling their
arms and equipments to prevent any
jingling. Gen. Penrose WAS left behind
with the Jersey Brigade, and when the
troops reached the OPequan at sunrise
the sound Of his guns on the other side
of Winchester gave notice that Earlys
army was up and rapidly advancing,
Such was General Sheridan's first ex-
perience in the valley, and he imme-
diately organized what was known as
the provisional Division" body Of
$500 men, under command of Colonel
Ketching. Its duty was to escort sup
ply trains moving up the valley from
Harper's Ferry and Martinsburg. Sher.
idan said he would see that his men re-
ceived their rations regularly even II
it took a whole division to get the trains
through. After that there was no more
trouble resulting from captured trains.
Those who were with Sheridan in the
valley often wondered how it was that
no matter where he might be he was
always able to procure short clay pipe
as clean and white as if il had Just come
from the makers hands. His tobacco,
Lone Jack or Killikinick, he carried
loose in his coat pocket. During the
halts at the end Of every hour on a
march, he would dismount, stretch him.
self on the grass and IN few seconds
be contentedly smoking a short clay
pipe.
In his manner there was an entire alb