Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1899-08-24

may ueClue W nave III
-. meet early as FebrV,lv "a 1854
IT, The Nebraska delv point We
The and silver requby tba whole has
proveo aatbed a B.yan pander relieved
only by Ave, democrseeess At Winches-
ter, in which he & cured four guns
and some prisoners. Wright and
| Crook accomplished nothing, and
| Wright started back as soon as he got
where he might have done something
worth while. AS it is Early has got off
with the whole of his plumber. Had
Wright remained in the valley the
combined forces might have made a
sure campaign, at least against the
railroad and the corps.-A. G. Dana"
] Mr.. Dana was at that time assistant
secretary Of war, and this dispatch was
sent in answer to an official inquiry
from army headquarters at City Point.
Early, although largely outnumbered
by the scattered Union forces along the
Potomac front, had the address to hold
his ground in the lower Shenandoah
valley and continue to harass them IL
most with impunfty. Grant finally
! placed Gen. p. H. Sheridan in supreme
command in this quarter of the mill
tary theater with orders to go out
against Early and either destroy or
drive him off. Some of the finest and
most successful operations of the war
| followed. Sheridan collected an army
nearly double in numbers that under
| tha confederate onp,xpandar and aio
nally defeated Early at the hard-fought
battle OF the 0pequan. in which victory
| Gen. Wright gloriously participated
with his sixth corps, which, under
Sheridan, he directed with ability.
This battle took place on the 18th Of
September, 1864 near Winchester.
Early was completely routed and fed
Up the river to Fishers Hill, where
the remnants of his demoralized army
were rallied in a strong position. Here
Sheridan, following with energy, by
mastery skill surprised Early on the
22nd in broad daylight routing his
army again and making large captures
These two decisive victories within
four days completely reversed the stu
"
idan was the hero of the hour; there
was no longer any question about who
was in line for promotion. But within
month one of those Kaleidoscope
changes incident to war happened,
which for a space OF few hours
threatened again to turn the tide with
an overwhelming union disaster It
ha oil IL, L.
as 1t illustrates the difference on the
| same field of action betty cen an in
div.duality instinct with aggressive
ness and the genius of leadership and
mere I'M .lectual machine, endowed
with TOO keen and sensitive percep-
tions yet lacking in the moral grasp
and initiative necessary to success, the
circumstances must be recited
Sheridan, after cowing Early and
pushing him back up the valley, had
been called to Washington for confer
ence with Lincoln and Stanton. He
lett the army reluctantly, because there
was an unauthenticated story that
Early had been reinforced by Long
street and would take the initiative
He left Gen. Wright in command
along Cedar Creek, in good defensive
position, enjoining him to watchful-
ness He spent but a few hours in
Washington, and then hurried back by
train via Harper's Ferry and Win
chester, at which last named place he
slept on the night OF the 18th of Octo-
Der, 1864.
True enough Early had been rein
forced, and was at this very hour
crouched like the ambushed tiger for
spring upon the army of the ShenaR-
doah whose temporary commander was |
all unaware of his close vicinity and
aggressive design. Early made a
night march, and at daylight of the
10Th Gen. Wright's left flank was sud
denly attacked with terrific energy, and |
such was the momentum and unexpect- |
edness of the blow that the entire |
union army was driven from its camps
in confusion, with the loss of muni- |
tons. cannon and tents. 1t was a |
total surprise and the rout was as dis |
astrous and complete as that of Early !
month previously, the only differ |
ence being thai the union army was
caught mapping and male little or no
resistance. Gen. Wright was so over
whelmed with the magnitude of the de- |
feat, 1t is said, that in very maudlin |
despair he cried like baby. The
army was driven back fully four miles. |
and. with the exception of two or three
divisions, was pretty we'll scattered. |
The outlook was black enough and
Wright's tears were justified. Forty
thousand veterans. victors within al
month in two battles, routed by halfl
their numbers through the negligence
Of their leaders.
While Sheridan was still lying in bed
az Winchester picket officer hurridly
entered his chamber and informed the
general that there was heavy artil-
lery firing toward the front. Later he
reported that the firing still continued.
Sheridan became restless and asked
to have breakfast hurried up. BY 81
o'clock he was mounted and headed
tow2tdVl edar Creek. This was "Sheri-