The Washington herald., 1914-12-06
SHERIDANS CAVALRY In
L0UD0UN VALLEY.
December I.

sheridan's cavalry. under Gen. Wesley
Merritt. was cleaning up" Loudoun
Valley, east of the Blue Ridge Noun
tains, from the Manassas Gap Railroad
north to the Potomac River.
The operations were designed to rem
der that section of Virginia untenable
for the ranger Mosby and his men.
Sheridan was determined to rid himself
OF them by desolating their country in
and wagon teams.
Sheridan had been frequently urged
from Washington to proceed against
Mosby. but IL was late In November be-
| fore the Federal commander in the
Shenandoah was prepared to do so. On
November 26 he informed Gen. II. w.
Halleck, chief of stan. that he would
soon commence work on Mosby."
Heretofore" he continued. Il have
made no attempt to break him up, as l
would have employed ten men to his
one.
81 will soon commence on Loudoun
County and let them known there is a
God in Israel Mosby has annoyed me
considerably, but the people are begin
ming to see that he does not injure me
! great deal. but causes loss to them
of all that they have spent their lives
in accumulating."
SherIdan's Order to Destroy.
The following day Gen. Sheridan or
dered Gen. Merritt to proceed with his
division. comprising the brigades of
Col. Peter Stagg. Brig. Gen. Thomas c.
! Devin. and Lieut.. Col Casper Crownin-
shield. from the Shenandoah to Lou
doun by way of Ashbys Gap. and to de-
vastate the country.
This section" the order read. has
! been the hot-bed of lswless bands, who
. IN nanFRdatR0
upon small parties on the line OF army
communications, on safeguards left at
houses. and on small parties OF our
troops.
ITO clear the country OF these parties
you will consume and destroy all for
age and subsistence. burn all barns and
mills and their contents. and drive OF
all stock in the region.
This order must be literally exc
cuted. bearing in mind, however, that
no dwellings are to be burned and that
no personal violence be offered citizens.
. This destruction may as well
commence at once, and the responsible
| ity of il must rest upon the authorities
at Richmond. who have acknowledged
the Legitimacy of guerilla bands"
Acting under these instructions. Mer-
ritts men rode through Ashbys Gap
early on the morning of November %.
The main body headed for Upperville,
while two regiments were sent north
among the farms at the foot of the
mountains and off toward Bloomfield.
and a second detachment south. toward
Piedmont. on the Manassas Gap Rail-
road. Both detachments completed their
work and rejoined the command at Up
perville at night.
The following day the destruction be-
gan in earnest. Strong bodies of troops
secured the country side as far south
afnG nd Sal hR
nassas Gap Road. and then north in
Loudoun County. through Middleburg.
Philamont and Millville. to Smokers
willie. Men were far out on the fianks
of the columns. burning barns and
mills, uncovering considerable stores OF
corn and other forage and driving off
all cattle. horses. hogs, and sheep.
Million Dollar Destruction.
Columns of smoke marked the prog
ress OF Merritts campaign of destruc-
tion. All the north end OF Fauquier
County was wasted. and the Federals
turned their attention to LoudOun.
which extended between the Blue Ridge
and Bull Run Mountain to the Potomac
River.
The third brigade. under Gen. Devin.
sweeping through Philomont. Circle
Vile. Hamilton. and Waterford. and
thence down the banks of CatOCtin
Creek, left in its wake a trail OF char
red ruins. BY more westerly roads that
cut up the valley near the foot of the
Blue Ridge, Col. Crowninshields bri-
gade did equally effective damage. The
two commands united at the river and
returned south to Snickersville in the
evening of December /.
Scarcely foot of country escaped the
ravages of the Federals. Col. Crownin-
shield reported that his brigade alone
1 - Ina
of 500; 474 beef-cattle, worth $50 each.
and 100 sheep. worth Sc each. making a
total valuation of $23.520. In addition.
his men destroyed go barns. Of an
average value of 500: eight mills, at
5000; one distillery, at $1,000; 10000
tons of hay, at $40 per ton. and $4,000
bushels of grain at $2.5O a bushel. all
totaling at $3Ss, 100. making a grand to-
tai of S4l1,620.
There is reason to believe that the
other two brigades did an equal
amount of work, which would aggre-
gate a destruction and capture of ''pri-
vate rights" to a value of nearly a mil
lion and a quarter dollars.
In the course of the expedition there
was a noticeable absence of Rangers
Efforts were made to run them down
or cautpre them by stratagem," wrote
Gen. Merritt, but these in most in
stances failed. The sides OF the noun
tain bordering Loundoun Valley are
practicable for horsemen. and the guer-
rillas, being few in numbers, mounted
on feet horses and thoroughly con-
versant with the country, had every
advantage of my men"
There were, however, many evidences
OF the presence of these partisan bands
in the country. A member of the First
United States Cavalry, who had strag-
gled, was killed while the command
was on the return march.
Having completed the work assigned
it, the command returned to the Shen
andoah, through Smokers Gap, and in
the morning of December rode into
the Federal camps at Kernstown.
where Sheridan made his headquarters.
Gen. Merritt reported that his men had
killed between thirty and forty guer-
ilIas and run of or destroyed between
5000 and 5000 head OF cattle. includ-
ing sheep and hogs, and from 500 to
700 horses.
The destruction in the valley and
in the mountains bounding it was most
complete" he wrote. Gen. Sheridan was
able to telegraph Merritt's preliminary
report to the Washington authorities as
evidence that a war against Mosby and
his men had begun.