The National tribune., 1909-07-29
SHERIDAN AT CEDAR CREEK.
A Wisconsin Comrades Contribution Il
History.

SHERIDAN AT CEUAh Or>n-h'
A Wisconsin Comrades Contribution to
History.
Editor Nationsi Tribune: In your is
sue of June 10. 1909. you print a letter
from W. c. Barden, Of Battle Creek,
Mich, under the head line. sheridan
at Cedar Creek" The letter contains
some statements which are certainly
erroneous. 1t may not ordinarily be
matter of much Importance as to just
the hour of the day when a certain
event occurred, but have always
looked upon Sheridan's ride as one OF
the most important and dramatic his
torical events that have occurred on
this earth, and / think 1t is a matter
of Importance that whenever it is de-
scribed, it should be described accur-
ately. I think 1t due to the truth of
history that the error into which this
comrade has fallen be corrected.
Mr.. Barden describes considerable
fighting as having taken place at Cedar
Creek, and then he describes the
wounding of a comrade and states that
ne was ordered to assist the comrade 10
the rear, and that he went with him
about 40 rods and got him into an am
bulance. and that as they were parting,
at the request of his comrade to know
what time it was, he looked at his
3:37," and that just at that moment
Gen. Sheridan dashed past.
I know from my own observation
that it was utterly impossible that such
a thing could have occurred. 1 was
there that day was a private in the
First Division, Second Brigade of the
Sixth Corps. l was wounded early in
the engagement, and after making my
way to the rear was on the Winchester
w n
1 assert that the watch at which the
comraGe looked had been stopped over
six hours before, or il not, ii was a
watch and found that it was lust
as to be entitled to no credit whatever.
In other words, Gen. Sheridan did not
reach that field until long after 8
O'Clock and probably not before 10
o'clock.
The proof of this statement is at
hand. In the first place Gen. Sheridan
did not get there until long after the
whole army had been engaged and
driven back. I suppose no authority
need be cited to prove that fact. al
tho it is at hand. Whatever may have
been the facts in relation to the Eighth
Corps. the Sixth Corps was not engaged
until after sunrise. 1 remember dis
t!nctly of seeing the sun blazing in the
East long before the line broke. 1t is
said in Vailrs History of the I'd Conn:
The newly risen sun was on their side
in more senses than one. Our line
faced directly to the east and we could
see nothing but that enormous disc
rising out of the fog, while they could
see every man in our line and could
take good aim" Unless we suppose
Virginia took herself out of the Uni
verse. as well as out of the Union, the
sun must have been governed by the
same laws in Virginia at that time as
it always has been, and it cannot be
supposed that the sun was doing very
much shining prior to 3:37 on the 18th
day of October. 1t certainly did not
get up as early as that, unless it was
as erratic as / suspect Mr.. Barden's
watch was. From the time when the
line broke until the time when Gen
Sheridan came up on the Winchester
Pike elapsed a period which must GER
tainly have been two and one-half OF
three hours. So much for my per.
sonal experience and observation
If it depended entirely upon our re-
spective remembrances, 1 suppose Mr..
Barden could persist in his remem-
brance, and that 1 could not convince
him, but 1 think he will hardly fee
like disputing Gen. Sheridan himself
Gen. Sheridan in his book has set the
matter at rest. He makes statements
from which we can easily figure ou
about when he got to that field, altht
he does not say he had watch III.
says. AT about Z o'clock in the
morning on the 18th of October an
officer on picket at Winchester report
ed artillery firing, but supposing il
resulted from a reconnaissance which
had been ordered for this morning. ]
paid no attention to it and was un
conscious of the true condition of af.
fairs until after o'clock, when having
ridden thru the town of Winchester the
sound of artillery made a battle unmis.
taxable"
This. mind you. was at Winchester
- miles away. 1t is said that he rode
ms Famous horse and that he urged
MN to his highest rate of speed, bul
1t cannot be conceived that if he start.
ed from Winchester after O'Clock
that he reached the field of Cedar
Creek before 10.-Rufus B. Smith
Madison. Wis