The National tribune., 1901-06-13

umns.
The Federal army, composed of tn
Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, the Army o
| West Virginia, and quite large force o
cavalry, on the right wing, in all (the en-
tire army numbering about $4,000 men
rested on the banks of Cedar Creek, Va
a part of Sheridan's cavalry force occu
pied a position ut Front Royal, Il few
miles to the left.
The banks of Cedar Creek had beer
well fortified. The redoubts and rifle pit.
were, in military parlance, zen echelOn,
l. e., in successive steps, thus:
Army of West Virginia,
| Nineteenth Corps,
Sixth Corps
The Army of West Virginia held the
most advanced position. The turnpik,
leading south passed between the position,
occupied by the Army of West Virginia
and Nineteenth Corps.
-Four miles beyond this entrenched posi-
ton, ut Fishers Hill, was the flower OF
Lees army, Stonewall JacksOn's old corps
under the immediate command of Gen. Ju.
bal \. Early. His command had been re
| inforced by two divisions from Gen
LOngStreet Corps, and quite a formida
bic body of militia, the most of which
| were without arms, ana trusting to the
surprise that followed to secure supply
Between these two armies the skirmish.
ers were in close proximity, keeping up u
constant fusilade day and night. On the
night of Oct. IS, and under cover of the
darkness, Gen. Early had advanced his
entire force to his own skirmish line
The bayOncts of his soldiers were left in
their camp, lest the clanking of their
shanks against their canteens should at
tract attention. One of Early's spies had
succeeded III getting the countersign from
l....,.
regiment of rebel cavalry i'll Union uni
forms rode up and with the stolen coun-
tersign bagged every picket in front of
the Army of West Virginia, and that wing
of the Confederate army lay within ZUU
yards of the rifle pits.
Five divisions of the rebel army under
Pegram, Wharton, Lomax, kerchaw, and
Ramseur, fianked the Federal position,
overlapping the same for nearly two miles
The Confederate strategy now became as
plain as the nose on mans face, viz, TO
capture and annihilate the Army of West
Virginia, under Gen. Crooks, and turn the
Union position. At 4 q. m., while the
great body of Crooks soldiers were sleep
ing i'll their tents, their front was swept
as by an inundation, the five rebel divi-
siOns simultaneously sweeping in from the
east. The surprise was complete, and the
panic for the time being was frightful
No trained veterans in the world could
have withstood the outset. Many were
shot while sleeping III their tents. If
there had been 10 surprise the conditions
would have warranted the commander of
that wing i'll making n hasty retreat, as
there could have been but two other re-
suits, massacre or an unconditional sur
render There were no better soldiers
anywhere than the rank and file of the
Army of West Virginia. On a score or
more battletields they had proven their
devotion and courage, and the man who
charges them with cowardice on that oc-
casiOn is simply fool for want of sense.
Two miles i'll the rear of this body of men
the 91st Ohio had been detached, and were
guarding 800 head of cattle for the army.
The former Colonel Gen. Il. L. Coates
had command of the brigade up in front,
and Immediately dispatched swift
rider, Capt. w. w. Prather, to apprise
the regiment of its danger and to move
the cattle out of the corral and on to Win
chester.
A few days before this battle Gen.
Sheridan had visited Washington for Il
conference with President Lincoln and
Gen. Grant, and had reached Winchester,
Va, on his return to the army on the
night of Oct. IS, 1864. The heavy firing
of artillery and the roll of musketry on
the following morning attracted the at
tcntlon of his practiced ears, and RienZ
and his rider were off on the wings of the
wind for the battlefield 30 miles away"
The regiment in charge of the cattle
that morning had not been strangers TO
the screech of shells and the whiz of
mimic balls, and yet with unbroken front
and soldierly bearing they had reached a
point seven miles TO the rear when Gen
Sheridan came up at Il swinging gait
The gallant, coal-black stced was flecked
with foam. His quick eye took in the sit
uan0n at glance--a regiment in solid
column and i'll splendid order, marching to
the rear; far out across the country Il
small army Of fleeing fugitives in full re-
treat. refining his horse before our Col
onel, he asked almost Indignantly why
his regiment was going to the rear in good
order and the fields black with fugitives 2"
We'll, said Col. Cadet. my rec-slent has
been detached for weeks, and | was or
dered to take the regiment and drive the
cattle TO Winchester. 'Al! right, Col
onel,' said Gen. Sheridan, use two COM
panies for that purpose and take the bal
ance OF your regiment and drive the straG-
glers back into the battle" And again
the gallant General was Oh the wing to
where the artillery. thundered, and the
roared necessarily.
ten. Sherman once wrote the Mayor Of
Atlanta, War is cruel, and you cannot
refine II" and to another he said, War is |
hell, and on the evening of Oct. 10, 1864. |
while we were driving thc stlagglcrs back |
INTO the action at Cedar G eek on the |
Widespread plains Of the Shenandoah Val |
ley, thought | could see practical ap- |
plication or illustration of Sherman's terse |
that War is hell" and 5000 |
soldiers were weltering in their blood. |
The rider who rode from Winchester |
DOWN in the gathering gloom of the !
night had reaped a great victory without |
4 single reinforcement, and inflicted n
crushing defeat on the mnions of rebel
ion.-J. III. PRATHER, Co. Il, 91st Ohio,
Ohio.