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EARLY SURPRISES CROOK AT CEDAR CREEK.

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of preparation, disquieted them. At umn pressing fiercely on our right length, as the gray light of dawn and front. The resistance of the disclosed the eastern hill-tops, a tre- 19th corps was brief and bloody; mendous volley of musketry, on either and, when it had melted away, the flank and away to the rear, startled 6th, assailed in turn, gave ground— the sleepers into bewildered con- slowly, in good order, but as if consciousness; and the next moment, sciously unable to resist the deterwith their well known battle-yell, mined charge of the flushed and eager the charging lines came on. foe. And when at length it had gained a position where it seemed able and willing to stand, Wright saw that it had been crowded clear off the turnpike, while our forces had no other line of concentration or retreat; so that to hold here was to enable Gordon to interpose between it and the rest of our army: hence he ordered a general retreat; which was made in good order: our columns inclining toward the turnpike so as to recover their communications. The enemy, intent on plundering our captured camps, and doubtless hungry, thirsty, and exhausted with sixteen hours' arduous marching and fighting, had halted, or were advancing slowly and cautiously, their muskets silent, with but occasional shots at long range from their artillery. We had lost, beside our killed and wounded, the battle, our camps, defenses, equipage, 24 guns, and 1,200 prisoners.

"Tell the brigade commanders to move their men into the trenches," said Gen. Grover, calmly; and the order was given; but it was already too late. The Rebels, disdaining to notice the picket-fire, were themselves in the trenches on both flanks before our astonished soldiers could occupy them in effective force. On our side, all was amazement and confusion; on theirs, thorough wakefulness and perfect comprehension. In fifteen minutes, the Army of West Virginia was a flying mob; one battalion of its picket-line had lost 100 killed and wounded, and seven hundred prisoners. The enemy, knowing every foot of the ground as familiarly as their own door-yards, never stopped to reconnoiter or consider, but rushed on with incredible celerity.

Emory tried, of course, to stop them, but with no chance of success. Assailed in overwhelming force in front, on both flanks, and well to the rear, he pushed forward McMillen's brigade to breast the Rebel torrent, and give time for the 6th corps to come up. One-third of it was killed and wounded in the effort; but to no purpose, though two other brigades were sent up to its support. But Early's three divisions on our left, led by Gordon, continued their flanking advance, turning us out of every position whereon a stand had been made; while Kershaw led the col

Sheridan had slept unapprehensively at Winchester, on his return from Washington, while the enemy were executing his bold movement; but the morning breeze wafted ominous sounds to his ears; and he was soon riding rapidly southward, and not long in meeting the kind of drift that may be seen in the rear of every fighting army, more especially if that army is being worsted. Putting spurs to his horse, he reached the front at 10 A. M.; just as Wright had

halted and the enemy had ceased to indicative of more such to come. And press him.

now, at 3 P. M., all being ready, the order was given, "The entire line will advance. The 19th corps will move in connection with the 6th. The right of the 19th will swing toward the left, so as to drive the enemy upon the pike." Steadily, not eagerly, our infantry rose to their feet, and went forward through the woods to the open ground beyond. The scream of shells, the rattle of musketry, the charging shout, rolled at once from right to left; and soon the Rebels' front line was carried and their left decidedly turned. Gordon's division, which led the charge on our left that morning, had now been flanked and driven, if not broken.

The current notion that our army instantly faced to the front, charged, and routed the exultant foe, does justice neither to Sheridan nor to facts. The defeated are not thus easily converted into conquerors. Sheridan met his crest-fallen, shattered battalions without a word of reproach, but joyously, inspiringly, swinging his cap and shouting to the stragglers as he rode rapidly past them "Face the other way, boys! We are going back to our camps! We are going to lick them out of their boots!" Most of them obeyed, as the weaker will submits to the stronger. Then, having ordered each command to face to the front, form There was a pause in the advance, line, and advance, he rode for two but not in the fight. The Rebel guns hours along that line, gathering in- (they had a good part of ours) opened formation, and studying the ground, on our new position, and were rewhile he rapidly and cheeringly plied to mainly by musketry. Again talked to his soldiers. "Boys, if I Sheridan moved along our front, corhad been here, this would not have recting its formation, giving particuhappened!" he assured them, and lar orders to subordinates, and words they believed it. And so their spirits of cheer and confidence to all. Emogradually rose, and they became con-ry's 1st division was formed nearly vinced that their defeat was an awkward accident-unpleasant, of course, but such as might happen to any army so self-confident as to be easily caught napping. Finally, they be gan to doubt that they had actually been beaten at all.

at right angles with the Rebels' front, so as to face the turnpike and crowd them, when it charged, toward the way they should go. And now came the second charge, more determined, more confident, more comprehensive than the first; our cavalry advancing on both wings and, as the Rebel front gave way, charging fiercely upon their

Emory's 19th corps was strongly posted in a dense wood on the left, and had thrown up a rude breast-disordered ranks, and running them work of rocks and rails along its front. Here he was attacked at 1 P. M., but not in great force nor desperately; and, after a spirited fusillade, he sent word that the enemy had been repulsed. Sheridan accepted and reported the tidings as very natural and

through Strasburg. Our weary, famished infantry-whose rations and cooks had long since paid tribute to the enemy, or found shelter in Winchester-sank down in their recovered quarters to shiver through the night as they could.

CAVALRY RAIDS TO GRENADA, MISS.

Our loss in this double battle was nearly 3,000, including Gen. D. D. Bidwell, of N. Y., and Col. Jo. Thoburn, killed, with Gens. Wright (slightly), Grover, Ricketts, and acting Brigadiers J. II. Kitching and R. G. McKinzie, wounded. Many of our men taken prisoners in the morning were rescued toward evening. The Rebel loss was heavier, including Gen. Ramseur (mortally wounded, and died a prisoner next day), 1,500 prisoners, 23 guns (not counting the 24 lost by us in the morning and recovered at night), at least 1,500 small

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arms, besides most of their caissons, wagons, &c. In fact, Early's army was virtually destroyed; so that, with the exception of two or three cavalry skirmishes, there was no more fighting" in the Valley, because there was very little left for Sheridan to fight. And this victory, snatched from the jaws of defeat, affords one of the very few instances in which an army, thoroughly beaten in the morning, is even more thoroughly victorious in the evening, though it has meantime been rëenforced by but a single man.

XXVII.

BETWEEN VIRGINIA AND THE MISSISSIPPI. FROM VICKSBURG TO ABINGDON.

DURING the Autumn, Winter, and Spring of 1863-4, and the ensuing Summer, a great number of desultory, indecisive expeditions were impelled by one side or the other, which, though they exerted no considerable influence over the issue of the struggle, will be rapidly summed up, preliminary to the narration of Gen. Sherman's memorable Atlanta campaign.

Several detachments of cavalry or mounted infantry, about 1,600 strong, sent out by Gen. Hurlbut, commanding in West Tennessee, under Lt.-Col. J. J. Phillips, 9th Illinois (infantry), Lt.-Col. W. R. M. Wallace, 4th Ill. cavalry, and Maj. D. E. Coon, 2d Iowa cavalry, raided through north

"Early came down the Valley in November, crossing Cedar creek; but he was not in force to fight a battle, and, being pressed, retreated; his cavalry(under Lomax) being defeated and chased

ern Mississippi to Grenada; where they captured and destroyed' over 50 locomotives and about 500 cars of all kinds. At 94 P. M., Col. Winslow arrived from Gen. Sherman's army near Vicksburg, with orders not to destroy but save the rolling stock; and, he being the ranking officer, some effort was made to obey those orders; but fire had already done its work pretty effectually. Each party returned the way it came. They encountered little resistance, and their losses were inconsiderable.

Gen. McPherson, with Tuttle's and Logan's divisions of infantry and Winslow's cavalry, 8,000 in all, was pushed out from Vicksburg' nearly to Canton, skirmishing with and pushby Gen. Powell up the Luray valley, with a loss of 2 guns and 150 prisoners. On our side, Col. Hull, 2d, and Capt. Prendergast, 1st N. Y. cav alry, were killed. 1Aug. 16, 1863. 2 Oct. 14.

ing back Wirt Adams's cavalry and Cosby's, Logan's, and Whitman's brigades of infantry, until, finally, MePherson found himself confronted by a superior force, comprising Loring's division and other forces hurried down from Grenada and up from points so distant as Mobile; when he retreated without a battle, via Clinton, to Vicksburg.'

Under cover of demonstrations at Colliersville and other points by Chalmers, Lee, and Richardson, against our lines covering the Memphis and Charleston railroad, Forrest, with 4,000 mounted men, slipped through them near Salisbury, and advanced to Jackson, West Tennessee; which had ceased to be held in force on our side since the department headquarters had been transferred to Memphis. Drawing recruits from the sympathizers and supplies from the plantations and farms of all that region, he was soon emboldened to impel raiding parties in every direction; while Brig.-Gen. A. L. Smith-directed against him from Columbus, Ky., by IIurlbut, with 6,000 men, of whom 2,000 were mounted-was brought to a full stop by the execrable badness of the roads, and finally retraced his steps to Columbus. Hence, a cooperating force dispatched from Corinth on the south, consisting of Gen. Mower's brigade of infantry and Col. Mizener's cavalry, found nothing to cooperate with; while the 7th Illinois cavalry, Col. Prince, which had moved out from Memphis to Bolivar, was compelled to fall back to Somerville; near which, it was surrounded next day by Richardson's mounted force-1,000 4 Early in December.

Oct. 21.

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against 500-and routed with considerable loss.

Forrest had by this time taken the alarm, as well he might the forces at Hurlbut's command being three times his own--and had started southward to make his escape. Much of the country in this quarter being flat and swampy, and the rivers being bank-full, while Forrest was notoriously short of pontoons, he was obliged, after passing the Hatchie, to bear westward nearly to Memphis to find roads which even horsemen could traverse. Hurlbut was aware of this, and had ordered the burning of every bridge over Wolf river. His orders were obeyed everywhere but at the bridge near Lafayette; and it was for that bridge that Forrest, accordingly, struck; crossing over his army a 1 his plunder, including a large drove of cattle, and pushing rapidly southward. This movement was covered by a fresh feint by Richardson on Colliersville; so that Gen. Grierson, who was watching for Forrest at Lagrange, was misled; and, when the pursuit was actually commenced, the scent was too cold. Grierson followed to Holly Springs, and then desisted; Forrest getting safely away with more men and better horses than he led into Tennessee.

Gen. Sherman, with four divisions of Hurlbut's and McPherson's corps, and a brigade of cavalry under Winslow, moved eastward from Vicksburg through Jackson, crossing Pearl river on pontoons, and advancing through Brandon, Morton, Hillsboro', and Decatur, across the Octibbeha and Tallahaha, to Meridian '— a railroad junction on the eastern ' Dec. 24. *Feb. 3, 1864.

Feb. 14-16.

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SOVY SMITH'S FAILURE IN MISSISSIPPI.

border of the State-destroying a vast amount of railroad property, bridges, trestles, track, locomotives, cars, &c., &c. Lt.-Gen. Polk, with French's and Loring's divisions and Lee's cavalry, fell back before our army; skirmishing occasionally, but making no serious resistance; retreating at last behind the Tombigbee.

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reaching that city at 11 P. M. on the 25th. Attacked at Okolona," he had lost 5 guns in making good his escape; but it was claimed on his return that he had devoured or otherwise destroyed a large amount of Rebel property, mainly corn, and had lost but 200 men. Still, it is not recorded that he was ever again put in command of an important expedition.

Simultaneously with his advance from Vicksburg, Sherman sent some gunboats and a detachment up the Yazoo against Yazoo City; which did not succeed in again capturing that city, but claimed to have done considerable damage, with a loss of but 50 men.

Yet the expedition, though scarcely resisted, and doing vast damage to the Rebels, was essentially a failure, because too weak in cavalry. This deficiency was to have been supplied by a strong division sent by Hurlbut, under Gen. Wm. Sovy Smith; but that officer, who was to have been here on the 10th, did not leave Memphis till the 11th, and failed to reach even West Point, nearly 100 miles north of Meridian; whence he turned back,' and made all speed to Memphis. Sherman was therefore obliged to retrace his steps; leaving Meridian on the 20th, and sending Winslow's cavalry so far north as Louisville to feel for Smith, but without success: so our army slowly returned unmolested to Canton.' Its total loss during the expedition was but 171; while it brought away 400 prisoners, 1,000 White refugees, with 5,000 negroes, and returned in better condition for service than when it started. Gen. W. S. Smith, with about 7,000 men, including a brigade of infantry, had advanced by New Albany and Okolona nearly to West Point; when Gen. Jo. Johnston, commanding he found himself confronted by For- in northern Georgia, having disrest, Lee, and Chalmers, with more patched two divisions of Hardee's Rebels than he felt able to master; corps, under Stewart and Anderson, and, turning a very short corner, he to the aid of Polk in Mississippi, made his way back to Memphis in Gen. Grant, still commanding at the best time on record-his van Chattanooga, sent forward " the 14th

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Yazoo City was taken and occupied soon afterward by a Union force consisting of the 11th Illinois, Col. Schofield, 8th Louisiana (Black), Col. Coates, and 200 of the 1st Mississippi cavalry (Black). Col. Osband, who had dropped down the river from above, was here attacked" by a far superior Rebel force under Ross and Richardson, and a desperate streetfight ensued, in which our loss was 130; that of the enemy reported by them at 50, and by our side at 300. They carried a good part of the town, but could not take the fort, and were finally repelled by rëenforcements from below. The place was evacuated, by order from Vicksburg, soon afterward.

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