DEFEAT OF THE CONFEDERATES.

371

General Wright, as we have seen, had already brought order out of confusion, and had made disposition for an advance upon the foe. Sheridan approved his arrangements, and at about three o'clock gave the order, "The entire line will advance. The Nineteenth Corps will move in connection with the Sixth. The right of the Nineteenth will swing toward the left, so as to drive the enemy upon the pike." It was followed by an immediate forward movement. Already, at one o'clock, Emory had quickly repulsed an attack, which inspirited the whole army. Now a general and severe struggle ensued. The

first line of the Con

federates was soon

driven. Then Early opened his cannon upon the new position of the Nationals. They were checked for a moment, when two most gallant charges by Emory's corps, and by the cavalry coming down upon both flanks, sent the Confederates in hot haste up the valley pike. It was a perfect rout.

In great disorder,

BRIDGE NEAR STRASBURG.1

pressing close upon each other's heels, the fugitives fled through Middletown and Strasburg to Fisher's Hill, leaving the highway strewn with abandoned hinderances to speedy flight. As they

pressed along the narrower dirt road beyond Strasburg, the way became clogged by masses of men, wagons, cannon, and caissons; and at a little bridge over a small stream in a deep channel, Early, hard pressed, felt compelled to abandon his guns and train. With the remnant of his ruined army he escaped to Fisher's Hill. That army was virtually destroyed; and, with the exception of two or three skirmishes between cavalry, there was no more fighting in the Shenandoah Valley. That night

1 This is a view of the bridge, half a mile from Strasburg, where Early lost his artillery. Sheridan's sharpshooters killed the artillery horses, which fell on the bridge and clogged the way. The little clear stream comes out of the base of a hill near by. A little beyond it is seen Fisher's Hill, and in the far distance a peak of the Massanutten range.

2 This house was also the head-quarters of General Shields, and to it he was taken when he was wounded on the 22d of March, 1862. See page 369, volume II. Shields was wounded on a ridge a little to the northwest of the house.

372

VISIT TO THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

the National troops occupied their old position at Cedar Creek. Sheridan's promise, “We will have all the camps and cannon back again,” had been kept. The conqueror returned to Kernstown, near Winchester, and there, in the house of Mrs. Francis Mahaney, he established his head-quarters for awhile. Government and people united in praise of the young leader, and there was joy in every loyal heart because of his achievements. Art and song celebrated "Sheridan's Ride" from Winchester to the front; and when, less than three weeks afterward, General McClellan resigned, and thereby created a vacant major-generalship in the regular army, the victor in the Shenandoah Valley was substantially rewarded by a commission to fill his place.

• Nov. 4, 1864.

3

The writer, with friends already mentioned (Messrs. Buckingham and Young), visited the theater of Sheridan's exploits in the Shenandoah Valley, from the Opequan and Winchester to Fisher's Hill, early in October, 1866.' We left Gettysburg in a carriage, for Harper's Ferry, on the morning of the first, and followed the line of march of the corps of Howard and Sickles, when moving northward from Frederick, in the summer of 1863. We passed through the picturesque region into which the road to Emmettsburg led us, with the South Mountain range on our right, dined at Creagerstown, twenty miles from Gettysburg, and rode through Frederick toward evening, stopping only long enough to make the sketch of Barbara Freitchie's house. Then we passed along the magnificent Cumberland road over the lofty mountain range west of Frederick, into the delightful Middletown Valley. From the road, on the summit of that range, we had some of the most charming views to be found anywhere in our broad land. The valley was smiling with plenty, for the most bountiful crops, gathered and a-gathering, were filling barns and barracks on every side. We passed through the valley, and following the line of march of a portion of McClellan's army, reached the summit of South Mountain after dark, where we lodged. We visited the battleground there the place where the gallant Reno was killed-early the next morning, and rode on to Sharpsburg. There we remained long enough to visit the Antietam battle-ground, the National Cemetery, McClellan's headquarters, and other localities of special interest, and after a late dinner, went down the Antietam Valley to the Potomac, at the mouth of the Antietam Creek. Then we passed over the rugged hills west of Maryland Heights, and descending through gorges, passed along the margin of the river at the base of that historical eminence at twilight, and at dark reached Harper's Ferry.

Having visited places of interest at and around Harper's Ferry, we left that picturesque place in the afternoon of the 3d, for Winchester, where we arrived in time to ramble over the hills and among the fortifications on the northern side of the town, before nightfall. We spent the following morning in visiting Kernstown, and places of interest in the city of Winchester;' and in

See page 466, volume II.

4 See page 468, volume II.
volume II.
Sheridan and Milroy occupied

1 See page 400, volume II. 2 See page 59. See page 470, volume II. See page 475, Among these were the quarters of different commanders during the war. Mr. Logan's house (see page 366). Banks's was at the house of George Seavers, on Water Street. "Stonewall Jackson" occupied the house of Colonel Moore. We visited the site of old Fort Frederick, on Loudon Street, at the northern end of the city, and drank from the fort well, which is one hundred and three feet deep, where, during the French and Indian war, Washington often appeased thirst. We also visited the grave of General Daniel Morgan, the Hero of the Cowpens: it is in the Presbyterian church-yard, covered by a broken marble slab.

VISIT TO THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

373

the afternoon, Colonel Russell, the post commander, kindly took us in his carriage to the Opequan Ford, where Sheridan's army crossed,' and on the following morning he sent us on our way up the valley, in an ambulance, as far as Middletown. There we dined, and hiring a light carriage, went on to Stras burg, stopping at Cedar Creek on the way. After making arrangements for taking the stage for

Harrisonburg, that evening, we rode to Fisher's Hill, along an excellent road, making the sketch of the bridge seen on page 371. That road crosses a little stream at Fisher's Hill, over a picturesque stone bridge, and turning at a right angle, passes along a shelf in the almost perpendicular acclivity, in a gradually rising course, to the summit. There we found the lines thrown up

by Early well preserved. And from that eminence we had a very extended view of the rolling valley in the direction of Winchester, overlooking Strasburg at our feet, and Middletown a little beyond, with the lofty range of the Blue Ridge on our right, and the Massanutten Mountains nearer. We supped at Strasburg that evening, and at nine o'clock took passage in a crowded stage-coach for Harrisonburg, fifty miles up the valley.3

Let us here leave, in winter quarters, the troops destined to capture Richmond and Lee's army, and consider the events of the important campaign of General Sherman in Georgia.

1 See page 364.

2 At this bridge, where the road turns at an acute angle and is very narrow, a large number of prisoners were taken from Early. This bridge was choked by the fugitives, and there was no other way for them to reach the shelter of the works on the summit of the hill. The sycamore tree seen at the left was an Anak of the primitive forest, twenty feet in circumference.

3 See page 400, volume II.

374

THE OPPOSING ARMIES.

CHAPTER XIV.

SHERMAN'S CAMPAIGN IN GEORGIA

1861.

T the same time when the Army of the Potomac moved from the Rapid Anna toward Richmond, at the beginning of May," General William T. Sherman, who had succeeded General Grant in the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, marched southward from the vicinity of Chattanooga," with nearly one hundred thousand men,' having for his chief objectives, the destruction of the Confederate army under General Joseph E. Johnston, then at Dalton,

May 6.

in Northern Georgia, and the capture of the city of Atlanta.

General Sherman received his orders from Lieutenant-General Grant to advance, on the 30th of April, and he moved on the 6th of May. On that morning the Army of the Cumberland lay at and near Ringgold; that of the Tennessee at Lee and Gordon's Mill, on the Chickamauga, and that of the Ohio near Red Clay, on the Georgia line north of Dalton. The Confederate army then lay in and about Dalton. To strike that position in front was impracticable, for between the armies lay a rugged mountain barrier known as the Rocky Face Ridge. Through it, at an opening called Buzzard's Roost Gap, a

WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.

1 His forces were composed as follows: Army of the Cumberland, Major-General GEORGE H. THOMAS, commanding; Infantry, 54,568; Artillery, 2,377; Cavalry, 3,S28. Total, 60.773. Number of guns, 130. Army of the Tennessee, Major-General J. B. MCPHERSON, commanding; Infantry, 22,437; Artillery, 1,404; Cavalry, 624. Total, 24,465. Number of guns, 96. Army of the Ohio, Major-General J. M. SCHOFIELD, commanding; Infantry, 11,153; Artillery, 679; Cavalry, 1,697. Total, 13,559. Number of guns, 25. Grand aggregate number of troops, 98,797, and of guns, 254.

About this number of troops were kept up during the campaign, the number of men joining from furlough and hospitals about compensating for the loss in battle and from sickness. "My aim and purpose was," says Sherman in his report, "to make the Army of the Cumberland 50,000 men, that of the Tennessee 85,000, and that of the Ohio 15,000."

2 Johnston's army was composed of about 55,000 men -45,000 (according to Sherman's estimate) heavy infantry and artillery, and 10,000 cavalry under Wheeler. It was arranged in three corps, commanded respect. ively by Generals W. J. Hardee, J. B. Hood, and Leonidas Polk.

• May 7, 1864.

small stream flowed and the railway and wagon road passed; but it was so thoroughly fortified that no army could safely attempt the passage. Sherman therefore determined to turn the Confederate position at Dalton, and for that purpose he sought a passage of the great hills at Snake Creek Gap, farther south. To mask that movement, General Thomas menaced Johnston's front; but in so doing, he had quite a severe engagement with the Confederates at Buzzard's Roost Gap. He pushed their cavalry well through the pass, and two divisions (Newton's of Howard's [Fourth] corps, and Geary's, of Hooker's [Twentieth] corps) gained portions of the Ridge. But they were soon driven off with considerable loss. Meanwhile, Schofield, with the Army of the Ohio, came down from the north and pressed heavily on Johnston's right; and McPherson, marching rapidly from the Chickamauga, by way of Ship's Gap and Villanow, passed through Snake Creek Gap, at the southern end of the Chattanooga Mountain, and appeared suddenly before the Confederate works at and near Resaca, on the railway south of Dalton. These works were too formidable to warrant an attack with his force alone, and so McPherson fell back to a strong position in Snake Creek Gap, to await the arrival of the main army.

May.

Sherman was somewhat disappointed by the result of McPherson's movement, but felt that an advantage was gained. On the 10th' he ordered Thomas to send Hooker's corps to the support of McPherson, and to follow with Palmer's (Fourteenth) corps. Schofield was ordered to follow on the same day with his entire force; and on the 11th the whole army, excepting Howard's corps and some cavalry left to menace Johnston's front at Dalton, was marching in the grand turning movement, westward of Rocky Face Ridge, for Snake Creek Gap and Resaca. This compelled Johnston to abandon Dalton, and fall back, closely pursued by Howard, to the menaced position. That position, by good and direct roads, he reached, and took post behind a line of intrenchments, before Sherman could get to Resaca over the rough country from Snake Creek Gap. McPherson was pushed forward from that gap, preceded by Kilpatrick's cavalry, which drove the Confederates from a cross-road near Resaca. Kilpatrick was wounded, and his command was turned over to Col. Murray. McPherson pressed on, drove the Confederate pickets within their intrenchments, and took post on a ridge of bald hills, with his right on the Oostenaula River, and his left abreast the village. Thomas came up on his left, facing Camp Creek, and Schofield forced his way through the dense woods to the left of Thomas, and confronted the Confederate intrenchments on a group of hills covered with chestnut-trees, at the north of the village.

Such was the position of the opposing forces at Resaca, on the 14th of May, when Sherman ordered a pontoon bridge to be laid across the Oostenaula at Lay's Ferry, and directed Sweeny's division, of the Sixteenth Corps, to cross and threaten Calhoun, farther south. At the same time the cavalry division of General Garrard moved from Villanow in the direction of Rome, with orders to destroy the railway between Calhoun and Kingston. Sherman, meanwhile, was severely pressing Johnston at Resaca, at all points, and a general engagement ensued in the afternoon and evening of the 15th. McPherson had secured a lodgment across Camp Creek, near the town, and held a hill which commanded the bridges across

• May.