At daylight the next morning, General Terry entered the city. The poorer inhabitants of the place received the troops with great joy. The conquest of Wilmington was one of the most brilliant achievements of the war. Cape Fear River, from Wilmington to the ocean, was more strongly fortified than any river had been before in the history of the world. Nineteen forts and batteries, of the heaviest character, constructed upon the most approved principles of engineering skill and thoroughly armed, lined its banks.

In addition to this, the rebels had three distinct lines of obstruction to prevent the passage of the fleet. These consisted of piles, rafts, chain cables, sunken ships, and torpedoes. The city stood upon a terrace some thirty feet above the river, and was protected by a series of lakes and swamps, extending across the peninsula from the river to the ocean. It was evident that the rebellion was in its dying struggle. The fall of Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, and Wilmington rendered it certain that the rebels could not anywhere successfully resist, for a long time, the National arms.

CHAPTER XLIII.

THE VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH.

(From August, 1864, to March, 1865.)

GENERAL SHERIDAN TAKES COMMAND.-HE ASSUMES THE OFFENSIVE. THE ADVANCE AND RETREAT. STRATEGY.-THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER-SUBLIME SPECTACLE.-RETREAT OF EARLY.-FISHER'S HILL-THE PATRIOTS SURPRISED.-THE ROUT.-ARRIVAL OF GENERAL SHERIDAN.-DEFEAT OF THE REBELS.-THE LULL.-WINTER-QUARTERS.-SHERIDAN'S RAID.REBEL DISASTERS.

In the early part of September, 1864, there was a strong rebel force in the Valley of the Shenandoah, under General Early. General Sheridan was sent there to oppose him, and was at that time preparing to assume the offensive. On the 7th of August, General Sheridan had taken command of what was called the Middle Military Division and had established his head-quarters at Harper's Ferry. The rebel force amounted to not more than twenty thousand men. General Sheridan could summon around his banners dispersed forces amounting to twice as many. At sunrise on the 10th of August, General Sheridan began to move for the repossession of the valley. It was one of the hottest days of the season. heat, dust, and drouth rendered the march exceedingly uncomfortable. The troops moved along nearly parallel roads in the direction of Charlestown and Winchester.

The

The next day, Thursday, as they were a few miles beyond Winchester, near Newtown, with the cavalry in advance, the enemy was encountered in some force. After a fight of two hours we were driven back, with a loss of thirty men. Some Union reënforcements came up, and the battle was renewed, raging quite severely from eleven until two o'clock, when the enemy was driven from his strong position, but not until he had inflicted heavy loss upon our troops. The next morning, Friday, the 12th, the column moved on, following the retreating enemy. The cavalry, in advance, was engaged with the rear-guard of the foe, in almost a constant skirmish, until they reached Cedar Creek, but a few miles from Strasburg. Here the enemy were again found in a strong position on a hill, from which they shelled our troops. In the night the rebels continued their retreat, and the Union troops entered Strasburg the next morning. Soon the enemy reappeared in such numbers that our advance drew back, surrendering to them Strasburg. The whole Union army was drawn back a little, posted along Cedar Creek, where it remained inactive Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, with occasional skirmishing. Mosby, the most redoubtable of rebel guerrillas, with his hardy band, made a plunge through Snicker's Gap, which we had left unguarded in our rear, and com

pletely surprised our supply-train. The small guard, overpowered, fled in all directions. Mosby captured and destroyed seventy-five wagons, took two hundred prisoners, nearly six hundred horses, two hundred beef cattle, and quite a quantity of valuable stores.

This disaster caused great cominotion. It was rumored that Longstreet was in our rear with a powerful army, threatening our entire destruction. A retrograde movement was immediately ordered. It was commenced at eleven o'clock Monday night, and the Union troops fell back to Winchester. On the retreat, all stock, hay, grain, and every thing which could aid the rebel army in its pursuit, was destroyed. The enemy followed close on our heels, and before Wednesday night reached Winchester. Our troops continued their retreat back to Harper's Ferry. There was fearful commotion through all that region, as the rumor spread that the rebels were in great force, on the move for another invasion of Maryland.

We

On Sunday, the 21st, General Sheridan had posted his troops on an important eminence called Summit Point, two miles out from Charlestown. General Early came up with a part of his columns, and made a very energetic attack. The fighting lasted from ten o'clock until dark. lost four hundred men, and were again compelled to retreat to Bolivar Heights. But these days of darkness and gloom were now soon to come to an end. A writer in the "Army and Navy Journal," commenting upon these alternate advances and retreats, says :

"It is not difficult to see that such manœuvres were the best means to accomplish the purpose for which Grant had placed Sheridan at the mouth of the valley-first, to detach a force from Lee; second, to employ that force in the valley, so that not a man of it might be sent to Hood at Atlanta; third, to guard Washington and the border from the attack of this force.

"For about five or six weeks, Sheridan's incessant backing and filling' kept Early busy, and yet idle; and did this so effectively that Hood could not get a man from Lee, and was forced to suffer defeat at Jonesboro', and to evacuate Atlanta, for lack of reënforcements. Meanwhile, Early and Sheridan were living off the valley farms, and together destroying much food and forage precious to Lee; and in all those weeks, Early did no damage to us."

Upon the fall of Atlanta, Sheridan proceeded to the second part of his campaign. It was no longer his object to avoid a battle. About the middle of September, Early had moved his troops to the vicinity of Bunker Hill. General Sheridan resolved to improve the opportunity of falling upon Early's rear. On Sunday, the 18th, the troops were placed under arms, with orders to be ready to march at a moment's notice. At three o'clock Monday morning the order came for the advance to be made.

The Union army was pushed rapidly forward, up the valley, through a narrow defile; to deploy beyond the gorge, and to make an attack upon the rebels there stationed in force. Just beyond the ravine, whose sides were steep and thickly wooded, there opened an undulating valley, bordered on the south by a ridge of strong hills. Sheridan wished to pass

through the ravine and deploy in the valley. The rebel General Early's plan was to let a part of the Union force pass through the ravine, and then destroy them before the rest could force their way through the narrow defile to their aid.

About ten o'clock in the morning the Sixth Corps emerged from the ravine, and, filing off in two columns to the left, took possession of some rifle-pits and a wood on the enemy's right. This movement the rebels did not seriously oppose. The Nineteenth Corps and Ricketts's Division of the Sixth Corps took position in the centre, to meet the brunt of the rebel attack. Heroically the Nineteenth Corps performed its mission, stemming the torrent of the rebels' most furious charges, and, after a fearful loss of killed and wounded, not only maintaining its position, but pressing back the foe. Grover's Division emerged from the defile about eleven o'clock, and at a double-quick, the brigades following at a right-shoulder shift, with deafening yells rushed upon the foe.

Early now became alarmed, lest all of Sheridan's troops should force their way through the defile. The first line of the rebels was thrown back. But immediately an immense mass of troops was developed by the foe from a position where it had been lying concealed. The column came rushing forward upon the ranks of Grover and Ricketts, pouring in volley after volley of a deadly fire. For a time the advance was successful, and General Sheridan was threatened with a disastrous repulse. Ricketts's Division was driven back along the Berryville and Winchester road towards the mouth of the gorge. The onset was so overwhelming, that it was found in vain to attempt to hold the position, and the order to retire was given. Grover and Ricketts's commands were thrown into a state of confusion which threatened serious disaster. Many regiments lost for a time their organization. Early's veterans pressed sternly on with yells of triumph, threatening us with a most bloody and irremediable defeat. The patriot commanders exerted themselves to the utmost, as they in vain endeavored to arrest the flight of the panic-stricken stragglers. Captain York, of General Emory's staff, seized a regimental flag, shouting, "Men, don't desert your colors," when a spent ball struck him in the throat, and the flag-staff dropped from his hand. Captain Bradbury, of the First Maine Battery, mentions the following incident, illustrative of bravery and self-possession in this hour of terror and of death :

"In the midst of this stormy scene, Captain Rigby, of the Twenty-fourth Iowa, was seen leading a sergeant and twelve men, as composedly as if on the parade-ground.

"You are not going to retreat any farther?" said Captain Bradbury. "Certainly not," was the reply. "Halt, front; three cheers, men." The little band cheered lustily. It was the first note of defiance that broke the desperate monotony of the panic. It gave heart to every one who heard it, and made an end of retreat in that part of the field. In a few minutes the platoon swelled to a battalion, composed of men from half a dozen regiments. "Captain Bradbury," said General Grover, "you must push a section into that gap. We must show a front there."

“Under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery, two pieces galloped

into the open, and, unsupported by infantry, commenced a cannonade, which assisted greatly in checking the rebel advance and in encouraging our men to rally."*

Thus gradually our shattered line was reunited. By this time the First Division of the Nineteenth Corps emerged from the defile, and was drawn up in two columns behind General Grover's re-formed line. They were not at the time fully aware of the defeat of Grover's men. The dense woods and the undulating ground shut out the scene of conflict, and they could only hear the rattle of musketry and the roar of artillery. They, however, pressed cautiously forward, till the whole field of the fighting was opened before them. It was indeed a chaotic scene. The battle was then raging with the utmost fury, each side being equally desperate and determined. The One Hundred and Fourteenth New York stood its ground so valorously, that it offered up its heroic sacrifice of one hundred and eighty-eight men and officers, in killed or wounded. Three out of every five of this glorious regiment fell on that bloody field.

It is impossible to describe the spectacle now witnessed. Infantry, artillery, cavalry were moving in all directions. Artillery balls were ploughing up the ground and cutting down the trees; shells were shrieking, and bullets filling the air with their sharp hum. Billowy volumes of smoke rose and floated away upon the gentle breeze. Batteries were planted on eminences; infantry were concealed in the forests, or behind fences, or lying flat upon their faces beneath the tall grass. Aids were galloping in all directions. Squadrons of horsemen, with their silken banners and gleaming sabres, swept over the plains, now disappearing behind an eminence, and now plunging into the forest. Over many a mile, broken with rugged hills, and stony ravines, and dense groves, the battle raged. But a small portion of the field could be seen by any eye. Even from a balloon the battle-ground would have presented but a bewildering maze, like the changes of the kaleidoscope, with victory here and defeat there, and entire uncertainty as to the final result of the conflict. There were cheers and groans, impetuous charges and wild flight, the anguish of despair and merry jokes, with loud peals of laughter. The dead were everywhere. The wounded were painfully creeping along, leaving a trail of blood behind, seeking water or shelter.

About three oclock in the afternoon, far away upon the right, there was heard a tremendous battle-shout, which lasted, without intermission, for ten minutes. It was from Crook's Division, which had swept around to assail the enemy in flank. The rebels were prepared for the assault, and opened fire upon the assailants. "It was," writes an eye-witness, "he most terrific, continuous wail of musketry that I ever heard. It was not a volley, nor a succession of volleys, but an uninterrupted explosion, without a single break or tremor. As I listened to it, I despaired of the success of the attack, for it did not seem to me possible that any troops could endure such a fire."

The assailing party moved across the field in a single line, keeping

* Sheridan's Battle of Winchester, Harper's Magazine.