The Red Cloud chief., 1888-08-10

he returned to the army On the 24tH. havia- "a
stroyed many miles OF railroad Tack ts>i..eS
trains and a great quantity of rat!sns. aad -
capturing Xj Union soldiers on 'heir Nav u
Libby prison. This expedition Included rspl,-
ses Of the enemy ss Beaver Dam. Nay p. aai
At Meadow Bridge Oh tho 18th. and the H. .e@-
on the intervening day. OF j. e E. St-lrC,
cavalry at Yellow Tavern. where S:cart wa>
killed. Sheridan was next engaged II Halo.c--
town and TotopofOmy creek, May -, Iiase-'
Store. May Is: MatadeQuiH creek, May p.
Cold Harbor, May 81 and June l. On June & he
was sent with two divisions 70 cut the Virginia
Central railroad near charlottesville AMI 70 g.
valley forces Of General Hunter. The e..cnys
cavalry. under Hampton. disputed H.
progress at Treviiiia1 station June u
but were driven back. after a severe
battle. The next Gay. however. Sheridan.
satisfied that neither charlottesville NOE Cor
donsuiile could be reached, and hearing moth
ing of Hunter, withdrew his forces, having
broken the railroad at TrcvilliaA On his return
the enemy's cavalry attacked him az Tnnstal!,
On the 2lst. and be skirmisAed again on the e4th
q. 81. Mary's Church.. Toward the end Of july
Sheridan moved north Of the James. 10 ald
General HanCock's operations at Deep Bottom,
and on tho 18th vas engaged AZ Darby town
Meanwhile. Early maintained q threatening
position In the valley. Grant, accordingly. on
August .. put General Sheridan IN command o:
the middle military division. with an army con-
prisiug two divisions OF his own cavalry. The
Sixth corps. under Wright, a part OF the Nln--
teenih. under Emery. and the Army Of West
Virginia. under Crook SE weeks passed with
GU. result, - Early had been reinforced and
kept Sheridan on the defensive near Harper
Ferry. But on September ~. when Earlys
forces had been diminished Sheridan crossed the
OpeQuOn, and, In Q hard battle. completely &C.
feated HIN. sending him. as Sheridan teie-
graphed, '-whi.ling through Winchester" The
Lext day President LincOlr, a. Grants recon-
mendatiOn. appointed Sheridan q Brszri,er-
General in the regular army. Pursuing Early
up the valley turnpike. on the 2lta, Sheridan
found him strongly posted on Fishers Hill.
Just beyond StraSburY. Secretly moving
Cooks NINA through the woods. he turned
tn enemy's left on the I'D. and drove him
from his stronghold. capturing sixteen guns.
The losses of Sheridan and those OF Early
were almost exactly equal in these two battles
combined. being about $40 each: but
Sheridan had also captured twenty one guns
ard many small arms Sheridan continued tie
pursuit up the valley, and took post At Harrison
burg, while Early withdrew TO Browns Gap.
Believing it impracticable or hazardous 20 pro
coed either 70 Lynchburx or Charlottesville.
Sheridan. with Grants approval. withdrew
down the VALLEY, burning It's mills. barn 5 and crops
on the way. EaEiy followed with his c$valry under
ROsser and LomaX TO Toms Brooh, near Fish
er's Hill. where Sheridan's horsemer under Tru-
bart turned and defeated them, O6tober9. cap
turing eleven cavalry guns. and. irdeed, almost
'.every thing on xheels." and drivtlg them back
twenty miles. Sheridan then passed through
Strasburg and posted his troop on the farther
bank OF Cedar creek. while he himself. on the
10th. went to Washington in response TO a re-
quest from Mr. Stanton. for consultation Be
fore sunrise Of October 10 Early, who had been
reinforced, aided by a fog surprised the Jeff of
the Union army. held by Crooks command,
and uncovered the position also Of the Nine
teenth corps, capturing twenty-cour guns and
about L.%U prisoners. General Wright sue
ceeded in retaining his grasp on the turnpike
by moving the Sixth corps to its western side
and the cavalry to its eastern. 1ut the whole \
army. in the process, had been driven back be-
yond MiddletOwn. Sheridan Who was ut Win
chester. on bis return from Washington. hear
the notae of battle. dashed up the pike with
m escort Of twenty men, ~raliy!1c thesfugitives
on the way. and. after q ride OF a dozen miles,
reached the army, which received him with
great enthusiasm Having fully prepared
his forces during a lull OF several
hours, he ordered an advance. and
swept the enemy from the field In one OF the
most overwhelming rOuss OF the war; All Of
The lost Union guns w-re retaken and twenty
four Confederate guns and many wagons were
captured. Congress passed a vote of thanks 10
hin aud his tnoops for the brilliant series of
IN the valley. and especially the one
u Cedar creek" Sheridan was appointed br
he President q MajorGcaeral in the regu,a:
army FOR the personal gallantIy. military skill
md Just confidence in the courage and patriot
SIN VI your troops disp aged by you on the 18th
lay Of October"
On February q. 1865. General Sheridan moved
IFS cavalry. 1900 strong. up the valley &c
where March 9 10 overthrew the
remnant Of Early's force. capturing about i.ss
men. He then destroyed the locks of the
lanes rive4 canal and broke the railroads
Oward Gof1oDsville ana Lynchburg. Making
III way towards Grants army, he arrived a,
House March 10
With She fidan's cavalry at his DISPOSAL Grant
aow 6e9Sn the anal c~npaign. Crossing the
20 James river March "a. Sheridan
,assed to the Eet Of the Union army. and OF
he <9th occupied Dinwiddie court house. TwcA
lays later be Vas aaacked by Q heavy force CT
Lee's infAntsy under Pickett and johnson. but
he following day, being reinforced by the Fifth
'osps under Warren. Sheridan. by q besutitul
aettc movement. entrapped ad completely
outeA Pickett and johnson at Five Forks. cap
uring thousands OF prisoners. Petersburg BE-
ng assaulted the next morning, Lee abandoned
hat city and Richmond and took flight. The
'ursuit was prompt. with Sheridan far in the
constantly harassing the e1emy and final
aided by the Sixth AID Second corps, cap
uring neariy all Of Eweu's ccmmand on the 9Th
& Sailors creek Two dess later Sheridan
gain fought the enemy at AnpOmat,ax station,
md on the 9th occurred Lees surrender.
Later In April. Sheridan conducted an ex-
edition into North Carolina. and on June {
ook command OF the military division Of the
at New Orleans. Relieved by Pres 4
Dent johnson. August Is. 1866. during the re- Y
obstruction troubles in Louisiana. he was as
igned September II 70 the Department OF the
dissOuri. On March L 1853, he was
70 the rank Of Lieuten-
nj GeneraA and on the 10th assumed
Of the Division Of the Missouri. with
eadQuaTters 1t Chicago. During the Franco
va, Of lSe0sl. he visited Europe. anc
'as present as a spectator at several famous
On November /. lSS3. by Gi-
ecfion Of President Arthur. he assumed corn-
land OF the army Of the United States. with
ead4uarters at Washington, in place Of Gen
raj Sherman, who was relieved by request.
70 retirement in the spring Of 1884.
General SheridAn's rank until recently had 4
cen tina: Of Lieutenant General, but since his
lnesS- a. dn evidence of the high esteem in
his services to his country were regarded
Dali was quickly passed by both houses OF
engress and signed by the President. confer
As- ~