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392

BANKS'S RETREAT TOWARD THE POTOMAC.

wounded, and himself and seven hundred of his men, with a section of rifled 10-pounders and his entire supply-train, fell into the hands of the victors.'

Banks was at Strasburg, about fifteen miles distant, unsuspicious of great danger being so near, when, at evening, he was startled by intelligence of Kenly's disaster, and the more astounding news that Jackson, at the head of about twenty thousand men,' was rapidly making his way toward Winchester. It was Jackson's intention to cut Banks off from re-enforcements and capture or disperse his troops. Banks had perceived his danger too soon, and with his usual energy and skill he resumed his flight down the valley at nine o'clock the next morning," his train in front, escorted by cavalry and infantry, and with a rear-guard or covering force of cavalry and six pieces of artillery, under the command of General John P. Hatch. The vanguard was led by Colonel Dudley Donnelly, and the center by Colonel George H. Gordon.

• May 24,

1862.

3

Just as the column had passed Cedar Creek, three miles from Strasburg, word came that the train had been attacked at Middletown, two miles farther on. The news was instantly followed by a host of frightened fugitives, refugees, and wagons, "which," says Banks, "came tumbling to the rear in wretched confusion." The column was instantly reorganized, with the train in the rear, and Colonel Donnelly, pushing on to Middletown, encountered a small Confederate force there, which was easily driven back on the Front Royal road by Knipe's Forty-sixth Pennsylvania, supported by Cochran's New York Battery and the Twenty-eighth New York, Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Brown. Broadhead's First Michigan cavalry now took the lead, and soon reported the road clear to Winchester, thirteen miles below Middletown; but before Banks's main body had all passed the latter village, the Confederates occupied it in large numbers. The rear-guard were compelled to fall back to Strasburg. Making a circuit to the Northward, Tompkins's First Vermont cavalry rejoined Banks at Winchester the next morning, and De Forest's Fifth New York cavalry made its way among the mountains of the Potomac with a train of thirty-two wagons and many stragglers, and joined Banks at Clear Spring. The main column meanwhile had moved on and encountered a Confederate force near Newton, eight miles from Winchester, which was repulsed by the Second Massachusetts, Twenty-eighth New York, and Twenty-seventh Indiana; and by midnight' the extraordinary race for Winchester was won by Banks, who had made a masterly retreat with very little loss, and had concentrated his infantry and artillery there. Broadhead's cavalry first entered the city.

May 24.

1 On the same day the Thirty-sixth and Forty-fourth Ohio, under Colonel George Crook, stationed at Lewisburg, in West Virginia, were furiously attacked by General Heth, with three Virginia regiments of Confederates. The assailants were soon repulsed, with a loss of arms, 400 prisoners, and about 100 killed and wounded besides. Colonel Crook, who was wounded in the foot, lost 11 killed and 51 wounded. Heth arrested pursuit by burning the bridge over the Greenbrier River.

2 His force consisted of Ashby's cavalry, the brigades of Winder, Campbell, and Fulkerston, the command of General E. S. Johnson, and the division of General Ewell, composed of the brigades of Generals Elzy, Taylor, and Trimble, the Maryland line, consisting of the First Maryland and Brockenborough's battery, under General George H. Stewart, and the Second and Sixth Virginia cavalry, under Colonel Flournoy.

In view of a possible necessity for a return to Strasburg, Banks sent Captain Abert, of the Topographical Engineers, to prepare the Cedar Creek bridge for the flames. Abert and the accompanying troops (Zouaves d'Afrique, Captain Collins) were cut off from the column, had a severe skirmish at Strasburg, and did not rejoin the army until it was at Williamsport, on the Potomac.

BATTLE AT WINCHESTER.

The retreating troops found very little time for rest. little time for rest.

393

The Confederates,

composed entirely of Ewell's corps, were closing around them in vast num

bers compared to their own. Banks's

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force was less than seven thousand effective men, with ten Parrott guns and a battery of 6-pounders, smoothbore cannon. The Confederate force was full twenty thousand in number. The leaders of the latter felt confident that on the morrow they would see the capture or destruction of their opponents. Yet they did not idly revel in these pleasing anticipations. Like a vigilant soldier, as he was, Ewell, who bivouacked within a mile and a half of Winchester, began operations to that end before the dawn. The equally vigilant Banks was on the alert, and at daylight his troops were in battle order. Colonel Gordon, commanding the right, was strongly posted on a ridge, a little south of the city, and Colonel Donnelly was in charge of the left. Near the center, the troops were well sheltered from their foes by stone walls. General Hatch (who was cut off at Middletown), with Tompkins's cavalry, had rejoined the army just in time to participate in the battle.

RICHARD S. EWELL.

1862.

The battle opened furiously in front of Winchester. Ewell May 25, had placed a heavy body of troops on the Berryville road, to prevent re-enforcements reaching Banks from Harper's Ferry, and regiments were heavily massed on the National right, with the evident intention of turning it. This danger was so boldly and bravely met, that the Confede rates were kept in check for five hours by a steady and most destructive fire.1

In the mean time Jackson's whole force had been ordered up, and Banks's signal officers reported the apparition of regimental standards in sight that indicated a strength equal to twenty-five thousand men. The Union commander perceived that further resistance would be only a prelude to destruction. In anticipation of this contingency, his trains had been sent toward the Potomac, and now an order for retreat was given. Under a most galling fire of musketry the army broke into a column of march, and, covered by a rear-guard composed of the Second Massachusetts and Third Wisconsin, passed rapidly through Winchester, assailed in the streets by the secession

1"One regiment," says Banks in his report, "is represented, by persons present during the action, and after the field was evacuated, as nearly destroyed."

2 The battle thus far had been fought by Ewell without the aid of Jackson, and even without his knowledge of what was occurring in front of Winchester, for he was seven miles in the rear. So ignorant was he of the situation of affairs at the front, that at the moment when Banks was about to retreat, Colonel Crutchfield came to Ewell with orders from Jackson to fall back to Newton, seven miles distant, for the Nationals were being heavily re-enforced. Jackson supposed Ewell to be four or five miles from Winchester, when, as we have observed, he had encamped within a mile and a half of the city the evening before. It is evident from the manuscript daily record of Ewell's brigade, consulted by the writer, that to Ewell, and not to Jackson, is due the credit of driving Banks from Winchester.

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ists of both sexes.' On leaving the city in some confusion (but finally in good order), it moved rapidly on toward Martinsburg, twenty-two miles distant, in three columns, and reached that point late in the afternoon. There the wearied and battle-worn soldiers rested less than two hours, and then, pressing on twelve miles farther, reached the Potomac, opposite Williamsport, in the course of the evening,' where soon afterward a thousand camp-fires were blazing on the hill-sides. Jackson had halted his infantry a short distance from Winchester, but George H. Stewart had followed the fugitives with cavalry to Martinsburg, where the pursuit was abandoned. Three days later a Confederate brigade of infantry drove a small Union force out of Charlestown.

Within the space of forty-eight hours after hearing of Kenly's disaster at Front Royal, Banks, with his little army, had marched fifty-three miles, with an overwhelming force on his flank and immediate rear a part of the way, and fought several skirmishes and a severe battle. Jackson attributed his failure to crush Banks to the misconduct of Ashby and his cavalry, who, stopping to pillage the abandoned wagons of Banks's train between Middletown and Newton, did not come up in time to pursue the fugitives after the battle at Winchester.3

• May 30, 1862.

After menacing Harper's Ferry, where General Rufus Saxton was in command, Jackson began as hasty a retreat up the Valley as Banks had made down it, for he was threatened with immediate peril. General Shields, as we have observed, had been ordered to join McDowell in a movement toward Richmond, to co-operate with McClellan. He reached McDowell's camp with eleven thousand men on the day of the battle of Winchester. On the following day the President and Secre6 May 23. tary of War arrived there, when McDowell, whose army was then forty-one thousand strong, was ordered to move toward Richmond on the 26th. That order was countermanded a few hours later, for, on their return to Washington, the President and his War Minister were met by startling tidings from the Shenandoah Valley. The safety of the National capital seemed to be in great peril, and McDowell was ordered to push twenty thousand men into the Valley by way of the Manassas Gap Railroad, to intercept Jackson if he should retreat. At the same time Fremont was ordered by telegraph to hasten with his army over the Shenandoah Mountain to Harrisonburg for the same purpose, and with the hope that he and the troops from McDowell might join at Strasburg in time to head

144 "My retreating column," said Banks, "suffered serious loss in the streets of Winchester. Males and females vied with each other in increasing the number of their victims, by firing from the houses, throwing hand-grenades, hot water, and missiles of every description."-Report to the Secretary of War, June, 1862.

HAND

Hand-grenades are usually small shells, about two inches and a half in diameter, and are set on fire by a short fuse. They are sometimes made of other forms, with a percussion apparatus, as seen in the annexed illustration. This kind is used more on the water, and has a stem with guiding feathers, made of paper or parchment.

2 Banks's loss during this masterly retreat, exclusive of Kenly's command, and the sick and wounded left in hospitals at Strasburg and Winchester, was 35 killed, 155 wounded, and 711 missing. making a total of 904. Only 55 of his 500 wagons were lost, and not a gun was left behind. A large amount of commissary and quarter-master's stores were destroyed. Jackson's reported loss, including that at Front Royal, was 65 killed and 329 wounded. He also reported that he captured 2 guns, 9,354 small arms, and about 3,050 prisoners, including 750 sick and wounded. The actual number of prisoners was a little less than 8,000.

3 Jackson's Report to the Confederate "Secretary of War." "Never," he said, "have I seen an GRENADE opportunity for cavalry to reap a richer harvest of the fruits of victory."

A RACE IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY.

395 off Jackson. McDowell obeyed, but with a heavy heart, for, he said, "it is a crushing blow to us all."

Fremont's army made as rapid a march as possible over the mountain region, through drenching rains, and with five days' rations of hard bread. He took a more northerly road to the Valley than the one from Franklin to Harrisonburg, and reached Strasburg on the evening of the 1st of June, a little too late to intercept Jackson, for the latter had passed through that town a few hours before. Next morning Shields's vanguard of cavalry, under General Bayard, reached Strasburg, too late likewise for the intended service of interception. And now began a race up the Valley as exciting as the one down it ten days before. Shields marched vigorously up the South fork of the Shenandoah, between the Massanutten Mountains and the Blue Ridge, along the lateral Luray Valley, hoping to head his foe at some point above, while Fremont followed directly in his rear, up the North fork, along the great pike to Harrisonburg. The rains had swelled many of the little mountain tributaries of the Shenandoah into torrents too formidable to ford with safety, and Jackson destroyed all the bridges behind him, and sent cavalry through the Massanutten passes to break down or burn those in front of Shields. Thus he kept his prisoners at least a day in his rear, reaching Harrisonburg on the 5th of June.

Jackson now perceived that his only chance for escape was to cross the swollen Shenandoah at Port Republic, where there was a strong bridge; so, after a brief rest, he diverged to the southeast from the pike to Staunton, for that purpose. Another object in view was to prevent Shields, who was near at hand on the east side of the river, crossing the stream or forming a junction with Fremont, when the united forces would equal his own in numbers.

Jackson's rear was well covered with his cavalry (Second and Sixth Virginia), under General Turner Ashby. About two miles from Harrisonburg this rear-guard was attacked by a reconnoitering party of cavalry, under Colonel Percy Wyndham. A smart skirmish ensued, and at first the Nationals were repulsed, with the loss of that leader and sixty-three of his men, who were made prisoners.' General Bayard and Colonel Cluseret then pushed forward with cavalry and infantry, when Ashby, hard pressed, called for an infantry support. General Stewart's brigade was ordered up, and was soon engaged in a sharp fight, in which the little band of Kane's Pennsylvanians (Bucktail Rifles) performed uncommon deeds of valor. Kane was wounded and made prisoner, and lost fifty-five of his men. Ashby was killed. His death was a severe blow for the Confederates. They regarded his loss as equal to that of a regiment, for he was one of the most fearless and enterprising of their cavalry commanders.'

Fremont was so close upon the Confederates, that the latter were obliged to turn and fight before attempting the passage of the Shenandoah at Port Republic. Jackson left Ewell with three brigades (Elzy's, Trimble's, and

1 The record of Ewell's Adjutant, mentioned in note 1, page 391, was kept in a blank book captured at this time, in which Colonel Wyndham had begun to enter copies of his military orders.

2 A few minutes before his death, Ashby was riding a horse that belonged to Lieutenant Willis, his own very fine black English stallion being in the rear. Willis's horse was the same that was wounded under General Jackson at the battle of Bull's Run. He was now killed, and Ashby was on foot, just in front of the line of the Fifty-eighth Virginia, when he was shot through the body. He advanced a few paces and fell.

396

BATTLE OF CROSS KEYS.

Stewart's) of the rear division of his army at Union Church, about seven miles from Harrisonburg, to keep back the Nationals and gain time, while he should throw forward his own division to cover the bridge at Port Republic, five miles farther on, and prevent

A. ELZY.

Shields from crossing it.

Ewell strongly posted his force, about five thousand strong, on a ridge that crossed the road near the church, with his flanks well protected by woods. This excellent position was chosen by General Elzy. Trimble was a little in advance of the center; Stewart was on the right, and Elzy on the left. In that position he was attacked on Sunday morning, the 7th, @ June, 1862. by Fremont, who had

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moved out of Harrisonburg at six o'clock, and at nine was ready for battle. Schenck was on the right,' Milroy in the center, and General Stahl on the left, forming a line about a mile and a half in length. Between Milroy's right and Schenck's left were the Sixtieth Ohio, Eighth Virginia, and the Garibaldi Guards of Blenker's division, commanded by Colonel Cluseret. Stahl's wing was supported by Bohlen's brigade, and the remainder of Blenker's division was held as a reserve. The Nationals moved steadily to the attack, down through a little valley and up a slope, in the face of a storm of shot and shell. At eleven o'clock the conflict was general and severe. It was specially so at the center, and continued several hours, Milroy and Schenck all the while gaining ground; the former with heavy loss. The brunt of the battle fell upon him and Stahl, and upon Trimble on the part of the Confederates. Stahl's troops finally gave way, and an order was

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UNION CHURCH AT CROSS KEYS.4

given at about four o'clock for the whole line to fall back, at the moment when Milroy had penetrated Ewell's center, and was almost up to his guns. That daring soldier obeyed, but with the greatest reluctance, for he felt sure

1 With the Thirty-second, Fifty-fifth, Seventy-third, Seventy-fifth, and Eighty-second Ohio.

2 With the Second, Third, and Fifth Virginia and Twenty-fifth Ohio.

With the Eighth, Forty-first, and Forty-fifth New York and Twenty-seventh Pennsylvania, with the remnant of the brave Bucktails who survived the battle on the previous day.

4 This little picture shows the appearance of the church when the writer sketched it, in October, 1966. It was built of brick, and stood in a grove of oaks, a short distance from the Port Republic road from Harrisonburg. Its interior was a ruin, and its walls showed many scars of heavy shot and shell. In front of it was a cemetery, in a substantial inclosure. Fremont used the church for a hospital.

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