The National tribune., 1908-01-16

those seasoned veterans of Early'S vic
torious army of the early morning broke
in wild panic our cavalry rendered sig
nal service in the pursuit.
The 81 pieces of artillery taken from
the ConfederateS were not lost by them
in the. regular engagement, but We're
abandoned in the wild retreat which
ensued. Most of those guns were lost
to the enemy as the result of the break
ing down of a narrow culvert, covered
with two-inch planks, between Stras-
burg and Fishers Hill. The first gun
that came laundering down upon that
culvert broke the plank covering, the
fore wheels going down a few feet. All
of the threats, pieadings and entreaties
of the officers could not rally enough
men to pull that gun out, tho all the
appliances were at hand. Fifty men
could have pulled that gun out in 10
minutes Some of the officers, with
drawn revolyers, tried TO check the rush
long enough to clear the road by lifting
up that single gun. Neither threats nor
appeals to their manhood availed. There
was no getting around that broken cul-
vert; on the right steep bluff, on the
left a steep embankment. 1t was thus
that the Confederates lost nearly all
their guns. ambulances and long wag-
on train. Just think of so trifling an
accident as the breaking of q common
plank leading to such results in one of
the most remarkable battles in all his
tory! OF the 81 guns abandoned by the
enemy, "a were our own, lost by us in
the early morning.
Now, as to the part taken by Gen.
Ayerills Brigade in the battle / have
nothing to say. / have no doubt, tho,
that the brigade was true to its splen-
did record. There was no braver in
our entire army than they. and no BRAY
~ .f n "a har in a nv
war than the 1st W. Va. Cav. Comrade
Hays memory simply fails him in the
minor incidents of that wonderful en-
gagement. 1t is well, tho, to bear in
mind that 43 years have rolled by since
the battle of Cedar Creek, and to many
of us who participated all but the most
salient features of the gigantic struggle
are growing dim; and Comrade Hays,
too, with the rest OF us. but exempiifies
the fact that Years steal fire from the
mind as vigor from the limb" Com
rade Hays should know that Gen. Aver
i'll was not in the battle of Cedar Creek
at ALL II his memory was not at fault
he would know that Gen. Sheridan re-
lieyed Gen. Averill of his command on
the day following the battle of Fisher
Hill, and as he then left the Army of
the Shenandoah he could not have TAX
en- part in the battle of Cedar Creek.
which was fought 26 days after Fishers
Hill. The charge was similar to that
for which he suspended Warren the day
after the battle of the Five Forks. Sher-
loan ordered Ayerill to move with his
brigade around the rebel left at Fishers
H!ll, and cut off retreat when their line
gave way That the enemy would be
6islodged from their position he SEEM
ed to have no doubt at all. From "a
strategicaI point of view the writer re-
CARDS Sheridans management of the
battle of Fishers Hill as the most con-
summate exhibition of generalshiP OF
the entire war. AverIil failed, however,
to get around to the valley pike IN time
to cut off the Confederate retreat. He
was about an hour late, and Early
made good his escape. For this failure
Ayerill was relieved OF his command
the next day. 1t will always remain a
mooted question as to whether Sheri-
dan was justified. Anyone knowing the
nature of the ground over which those
mounted men had to pick their way
(most of the distance in single fle) Will
be disposed to hold Gen. Averill blame
less
If Gen. Averill was reinstated. return
ing to the command OF his division priol
to the battle OF Cedar Creek. the writer
can only say that he never heard OF
it-Tim Ford, 10th W. Va, Leaven-
worth, Kan.