Cedar Creek - The Federal Counterattack - October 19, 1864 - 4pm to 5:30pm

American Battlefield Trust's map of the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864 from 4:00PM to 5:30PM

Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah had been completely surprised by the Confederate attack that forced them from their camps. Only confusion and serious miscommunication in the Southern ranks—as well as a few brave defensive stands by the Federals—prevented the rout from becoming an unmitigated Union disaster.  By mid-morning, Yankee corps commanders were thinking only of how to best bring their battered troops gathered around Middletown out of harm’s way.  That is, of course, until Sheridan arrived.  The Union chief had been in Winchester, some twenty miles away, when the fighting began. Upon hearing of the battle, he saddled up his prize horse, Rienzi, and rode to the scene of the action. Once there, he commenced rallying his dispirited troops and launched a counterattack that not only drove the Rebels from the field, but also ended effective Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah Valley for the duration of the war. 

Learn More: The Battle of Cedar Creek