USA > Pennsylvania > The Twenty-second Pennsylvania cavalry and the Ringgold battalion, 1861-1865; > Part 38
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' The five brigades of cavalry moving in parallel lines were positioned from left To right as follows :
DEVIN
LOWELL
CUSTER
POWELL SCHOONMAKER
Merritt's Division
Averill's Division
372 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
the national airs, presented in the sunlight one moving mass of glit- tering sabers. This, combined with the various and bright colored banners and battle-flags, intermingled here and there with the plain blue uniforms of the troops, furnished one of the most inspiring as well as imposing scenes of martial grandeur ever witnessed upon a battle-field. No encouragement was required to inspirit either man or horse. On the contrary, it was necessary to check the ardor of both until the time for action should arrive. The enemy had ef- fected a junction of his entire cavalry force, composed of the di- visions of Lomax and Fitzhugh Lee; they were formed across the Martinsburg and Winchester Pike, about three miles from the latter place. Concealed by an open pine forest, they awaited our approach. No obstacles to the maneuvering of large bodies of cavalry were encountered ; even the forests were so open as to offer little or no hindrance to a charging column. Upon our left and in plain view could be seen the struggle now raging between the in- fantry lines of each army, while at various points, columns of light- colored smoke showed that the artillery of neither side was idle. At that moment, it seemed that no perceptible advantage could be claimed by either, but that the fortunes of the day might be de- cided by one of those incidents or accidents of the battle-field, which, though insignificant in themselves, often go far toward deciding the fate of nations. Such must have been the impressions of the officers and men composing the five brigades advancing to the attack. The enemy wisely chose not to receive our attack at a halt, but advanced from the wood and charged our line of skirmish- ers. The cavalry were then so closely connected that a separate account of the operations of a single brigade or regiment was almost impossible. Our skirmishers were forced back and a portion of my brigade was pushed back to their support. The enemy relied wholly upon the carbine and pistol ; my men preferred the saber. A short but closely contested struggle ensued, which resulted in the repulse of the enemy. Many prisoners were taken and quite a number of both sides were left on the field. Driving the enemy through the woods in his rear, the pursuit was taken up with vigor. The enemy dividing his columns from necessity, our forces did likewise. The division of General Averill moved on the right of the Pike and gave its attention to a force of the enemy which was directing its retreat toward the commanding heights west of the town. Mv command, by agreement with General Averill, took charge of all (the enemy's) forces on the Pike and those in the immediate vicin-
373
BATTLE OF WINCHESTER.
ity of the ground to its left. Other portions of the 1st Division made a detour still farther to the left, so that which had lately been one unbroken line, was now formed into several columns of pursuit, each with a special and select object in view. Within three-quarters of a mile from the point where the enemy had made his last stand, he rallied a portion of his forces. His line was formed beyond a small ditch, which he no doubt supposed would break if not wholly oppose an attacking column. Under most circumstances, such might have been the case, but with men inspired with a foretaste of victory, greater obstacles must be interposed. Without designating any par- ticular regiment, the charge was sounded, and portions of all the regiments in my brigade joined in the attack. The volleys delivered by the enemy were not sufficient to check the attacking column, and again was the enemy driven before us, this time seeking safety in the rear of his line of infantry. Here he re-formed for his last attack to check our advance. The batteries of the enemy were now enabled to reach us. At this time one of his batteries, with appar- ently little support, was being withdrawn. My command, owing to the repeated charges, had become badly broken, rendering it im- possible to avail myself of the services of a single organized regi- ment. With detachments of each regiment, a charge was ordered upon the battery which, but for the extreme smallness of our num- bers, would have proved successful."
Custer made two successful charges after this and was at the final stampede, mentioned further on.
Averill says, in his brief and rather general report: "My division advanced at a trot when within three miles of Winchester, never failing to drive the enemy before it. The enemy, one mile in front of the town, presented a strong line at 2:30 P. M., but the attack of my division swept away that portion of his line west of the Pike, captured one piece of artillery, seized the heights west of the town, and penetrated the town itself, when the giving away of Custer's Brigade opened my left flank to the enemy's attack, an opportunity which he quickly embraced with infantry and artillery, but without succeeding in making my division relinquish the im- portant position it had gained."
While Crook and Torbert were coming in on the right, the 6th and 19th Corps had advanced with equal success on their fronts, driving Ramseur and Rodes steadily back to Winchester. For "as soon as the firing was heard in rear of our left flank," says Early, "the infantry commenced falling back along our whole line." A
374 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
mile of such progress on both flanks brought the Union troops close to the town, where a line of breastworks, constructed early in the war, gave the shattered Confederate forces some refuge, and bat- teries were planted there and also at the toll-gate and cemetery.
Let the boys of the 22nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry tell their own story: " As we emerged from a strip of timber some distance north of Winchester, we saw the Rebel cavalry drawn up in line of battle, a good half-mile or more away. We had been following and fighting a part of this force for many miles through fields and woods, over fences, ditches and ravines, and this was the first time we had a wide-enough expanse of open country to get a good, broad view of them. Our division (Averill's) formed a long line, two ranks deep, to the right or west of the Martinsburg Pike. On our left and to the east of the Pike, was another large body of cavalry lined up in the same way. This was Merritt's Division. The enemy, now facing us, comprised almost the entire cavalry force of General Early's army, which he had ordered there under command of General Fitz Lee, for the purpose of checking the ad- vance of our cavalry. They, also, were formed in two ranks and made a long line of battle."
When our division came out into this open plain, the men, ob- serving the enemy in line of battle, gave a rousing cheer, bent on going in without any delay. Lieutenant Colonel Greenfield was in command of the regiment. He and Major Troxell rode along the line shouting, " Hold on, boys! Hold on!" But the boys had their blood up, and could hardly be restrained. Just then our bugles blew the " Charge." There seemed to be a hundred bugles blowing for all that was in it. Then with a cheer, officers and men charged over the plain, starting in line, but not keeping that formation a minute. The whole plateau was covered with men on horses going at utmost speed at the enemy. All the while, the enemy's artillery played on our charging troopers until we came near their cavalry, who fired several volleys and then broke and fled pell-mell to the rear of their infantry, many of them taking shelter in the town.
Our charge caused the Rebel infantry to fall back, also, and we took a number of prisoners. Some of our men pursued the retreat- ing enemy too far, and were captured. John Runk, of Company H, and Aloysius Small, of Company K, were captured here; the latter died at Andersonville Prison.
Our men were now recalled and fell back to re-form the line. In the charge, a cannon was captured by our ?2nd Pennsylvania
MAP OF THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER.
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376 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
Cavalry boys, and pulled away under direction of Major Troxell, who went along with it, yelling like a boy out of school. In going back, Colonel Greenfield found him sitting on the gun and asked him what he was doing there; he replied that he was holding the gun to keep some other command from taking it. The Colonel ordered him to give it in charge of a non-commissioned officer and join the regiment.
Our men, in pursuing the Rebel cavalry, were led to the left or east of the Pike, and in this way came in contact with their in- fantry. Our brigade re-formed and again advanced, occupying the heights near Star Fort, a strong earthwork built at a former period of the war, situated west of the Martinsburg Pike and a short dis- tance north of Winchester. This fort had not yet been held by the enemy ; our position was a strong one and should have been main- tained.
* From this position we had a bird's-eye view of both armies in action ; in the foreground, Torbert's Cavalry divisions, Averill and Merritt with their brigades under Powell, Custer, Lowell and Devin ; next was Crook's Sth Corps, Infantry or Army of West Virginia, as it was also known, beyond which in the order named were Emory's 19th Corps, Wright's 6th Corps and Wilson's Division of cavalry, the center and left steadily driving the enemy back toward Winchester. It was a magnificent sight; the two armies in deadly conflict, the Union troops confident of victory, and the enemy in the throes of defeat; the roar of musketry, the white smoke-flash- and boom of the artillery, together with the whistling of round-shot and bursting of shells; banners flying, gleam of bayonet and flash of saber in the evening sunlight-a sight thrilling in the extreme and terrible to behold."
Adjutant Isenberg, in a letter, says: "While the Federal and Confederate infantry, evenly matched, were grappling in a death struggle, we saw Custer with his brigade of cavalry, moved in regimental column toward the left flank of the enemy. The col- umn halted, drew saber (I'll never forget that flash), and charged full and square against the enemy's left flank, which doubled up; then our infantry charged on the balance of the Confederate line and Early's army was driven in confusion."
While holding this important position, a staff officer from General Averill rode up and ordered us to join our division.
* Colonel Greenfield.
-
377
BATTLE OF WINCHESTER.
We had no more than reached the foot of the hill when the enemy occupied the earthwork and opened an enfilading artillery fire on Merritt's Cavalry and Crook's Infantry, over-shooting our brigade, however.
After our recall, a part of the 22nd, Colonel Greenfield in command, and a part of the 14th Cavalry, Captain Duncan in com- mand, some 300 or 400 men in all, were lined up back of a low hill next to the hill on which the fort stood. Colonel Schoonmaker ordered Colonel Greenfield to take command of these forces and charge the fort by way of a ravine, which led well up toward the works. Greenfield formed his line in column of fours and charged up the ravine. Our men, by leaning down on their horses, were partly under cover for a considerable distance, but when we emerged from the ravine and charged for the entrance to the fort, we received a murderous fire, killing and wounding a number of men, including several officers, among whom was the brave and gallant Captain Duncan, of the 14th Cavalry, who received a mortal wound, and Captain Speer, of the 22nd, who was painfully wounded.
The fort was occupied by a strong force, who swarmed the embankments and poured a hot and continuous fire into our col- umn. Finding the enemy in such superior force inside a strong earthwork, and fully realizing the futility of an assault with a mounted force, Colonel Greenfield moved on to the right, where the men were partly protected from the enemy's fire, and where the column, somewhat broken up in the charge, was re-formed, when the enemy within the fort, becoming alarmed lest they be flanked and cut off, hastily evacuated, and retreated rapidly down in the direction of Winchester.
This charge by a small mounted force upon a well-supported battery within a strong earthwork was as great a blunder as the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, although not attended with such loss of life. The order for the charge must have ema- nated from General Averill, who evidently believed the guns in the fort unsupported, and that the enemy would hastily retreat upon the approach of our charging cavalry.
John Gillis, of Company K, had his horse killed and he was badly stunned by the fall; his brother, David, dismounted and gave John his horse, while he himself ran over the hill and on until he came up with the mounted men. He was so exhausted that he fell down and could not speak, and was not able to speak above a whisper for several months. John A. Felton. of Company .H. had
. .
378 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
his horse killed in the ravine. He was not hurt, but the horse fell on his leg and he could not get away. Some of the "Rebs " came down to rob the dead and wounded; before they got to Felton, he succeeded in getting loose, and ran away, followed by a shower of bullets and orders to surrender.
Our division then reunited and took part in the charge on the left, which resulted in the complete rout of the enemy. General Early, in his report, says: "The enemy's cavalry again charged around my left flank, and the men began to give way again, so that it was necessary for me to retire through the town."
Sheridan briefly describes the final charge and stampede as follows :
" The ground, which Breckenrdge was holding, was open, and offered an opportunity such as seldom had been presented during the war, for a mounted attack, and Torbert quickly took advantage of it. * The instant Merritt's Division could be formed for the charge, it went at Breckenridge's Infantry and Fitzhugh Lee's Cavalry with such momentum as to break the Confederate left, just as Averill was passing around it. Merritt's Brigades-Custer, Lowell and Devin-from the start met with pronounced success, and with saber or pistol in hand, literally rode down a battery of five guns and took about 1,200 prisoners. Almost simultaneously with this charge, Crook struck Breckenridge's right and Gordon's left, forcing these divisions to give way, and, as they retired,
* General Early in his report to General Lee says, "I sent for him (Brecken- ridge) again, and he came up in the afternoon before the enemy had made any further attack; but as he reported the enemy's cavalry advancing on the road from Charlestown by Brucetown and Stephenson's Depot, I ordered one of his brigades to the left on that road; and directed General Fitz Lee to take charge of all the cavalry on that flank and check the enemy's cavalry, and moved the other two brigades of Breckenridge's division toward the right, where our forces were weakest and where the enemy were making demonstrations in force. Breckenridge was scarcely in position before our cavalry on the left was discovered coming back in great confusion, followed by the enemy's, and Breckenridge's force was ordered to the left to repel this cavalry force, which had gotten in the rear of my left, and this, with the assistance of the artillery, he succeeded in ·doing; but as soon as the firing was heard in the rear of our left flank, the infantry commenced falling back along the whole line, and it was very difficult to stop them. I succeeded, however, in stopping enough of them in the old rifle-pits, to arrest the progress of the cnemy's infantry, which commenced advancing again when the confusion in our ranks was discovered, and could have still won the day if our cavalry would have stopped the enemy's; but so overwhelming was the latter and so demoralized was the larger part of ours, that no assistance was received from it. The enemy's cavalry again charged around my left flank. and the men began to give way again, so that it was necessary for me to retire through the town."
EARLY'S ARMY SENT WHIRLING UP THE VALLEY. 379
Wright, in a vigorous attack, quickly broke Rodes up and pressed Ramseur so hard that the whole Confederate army fell back, con- tracting its. lines within some breastworks which had been thrown up at a former period of the war immediately in front of Win- chester. Here Early tried hard to stem the tide, but soon Tor- bert's Cavalry began passing around his left flank, and as Crook, Emory and Wright attacked in front, panic took possession of the enemy, his troops, now fugitives and stragglers, seeking escape into and through Winchester.
" When this second break occurred, the 6th and 19th Corps were moved over toward the Millwood Pike to help Wilson on the left, but the day was so far spent that they could render him no . assistance, and Ramseur's Division, which had maintained some organization, was in such tolerable shape as to check him. Mean- while, Torbert (Merritt and Averill) passed around to the west of Winchester to join Wilson, but was unable to do so until after dark. Crook's army pursued the enemy through the town to Mill Creek, I going along.
"Just after entering the town, Crook and I met in the main street, three young girls, who gave us the most hearty reception. One of these young women was a Miss Griffith, and the other two Miss Jennie and Miss Susie Meredith. During the day, they had been watching the battle from the roof of the Meredith residence, with tears and lamentations, they said, in the morning, when mis- fortune appeared to have overtaken the Union troops, but with un- bounded exultation when later the tide set in against the Confeder- ates. Our presence was to them an assurance of victory, and their delight being irrepressible, they indulged in the most unguarded manifestations and expressions. When cautioned by Crook, who knew them well, and reminded them that the Valley had hitherto been a race-course-one day in the possession of friends and the next of enemies-and warned of the dangers they were incurring by such demonstrations, they assured him that they had no further fears of that kind now, adding that Early's army was so demoralized by the defeat it had just sustained that it would never be in condition to enter Winchester again. As soon as we had succeeded in calm- ing the excited girls a little, I expressed a desire to find some place where I could write a telegram to General Grant, informing him of the result of the battle, and General Crook conducted me to the home of Miss Wright. where I met for the first time the woman who had contributed so much to our success, and on a desk in her schoolroom
380 TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
I wrote the dispatch announcing that 'we had sent Early's army whirling up the Valley.'"
Sheridan received congratulatory telegrams from Grant, Stan- ton, Meade and Lincoln, the latter in the President's characteristic style, as follows :
" Have just heard of your great victory. God bless you all, officers and men. Strongly inclined to come up and see you.
" A. LINCOLN."
The conflict was a bloody one. The Union loss was from 4,900 to 5,000 men, and of these about 4,300 were killed or wounded, the killed including General Russell and the wounded Generals Upton, McIntosh, who lost a leg, and Chapman, also Colonel Duval, commanding a division, and Colonel Sharpe, commanding a brigade. Early's loss was from 3,900 to 4,000. His killed in- cluded Generals Rodes and Goodwin and Colonel Patton, a brigade commander. General Early, realizing his impending. defeat in time, was able to save his trains and stores, and take away a portion of his wounded.
At the suggestion of General Grant, President Lincoln ap- pointed Sheridan a Brigadier General in the Regular Army as a reward for this victory.
The cavalry divisions of Averill and Merritt passed around to the west of Winchester in pursuit of the retreating enemy, Averill maintaining the same relative position of our line, the ex- treme right. He says: "The broken ground, intersected by deep ditches and high embankments west of the town, gave the enemy a chance to save his left flank, as our cavalry on such ground could make but slow progress against the stubborn resistance of his infantry and well-handled artillery.
" Throughout the whole engagement, my division was not broken or thrown into disorder, and was constantly in advance. My losses, as stated by informal reports of brigade commanders-in killed, wounded and missing-were 250; of the enemy, 3 officers and 80 men were captured, and 1 gun, 1 caisson and 2 ambulances." *
* Colonel Greenfield says, "The artillery General Averill mentions was a 3-inch rifled gun, captured by our regiment (22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry), the original receipt for which I hold from Sheridan's ordinance officer, which reads as follows :
CEDAR RUN, VA., Sept. 21, 1864.
" Received this day of Corporal Grove. 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry, one 3-inch rifled gun, limber and implements, captured by General Averill's command, September 19, at or near Winchester, which gun is ordered to be sent to Winchester by the General commanding.
M. WATKINS, Lieut. and Act'g Ord. Officer.
381
AFTER THE BATTLE.
It was sometime after dark that night of the 19th, when Averill and Merritt's forces reached Kernstown, three miles south of Win- chester, where Wilson's Division from the extreme left of our line had preceded them; Merritt took position on the right of Wilson, while Averill again took the right; all three divisions bivouacked for the night, having been in the saddle since 3 A. M., and fighting . . nearly the entire day. Worn and weary, but happy over the great victory, and with little apprehension of a night attack, they lay down and slept; but not so with the beaten Confederates. They, too, had been on the march before daylight, and had been in battle throughout the long day, but had been sorely defeated and driven in great disorder. They were worn out with the strife and march- ing of the day, and were mortified with the great defeat their army had suffered, and they needed rest, but for them there was no rest in store, but a long, weary tramp up the Valley, in an effort to get away from their victorious pursuers and reach their strong- hold at Fisher's Hill, which to them had been a "City of Refuge " on former occasions.
38? TWENTY-SECOND PENNSYLVANIA CAVALRY.
CHAPTER XXVII. BATTLE OF FISHER'S HILL.
* To fully understand the strength of this position at Fisher's Hill, it will be well for the reader to study the map and note how the broad Valley is here divided by the isolated Massanutten Moun- tains, thus forming two valleys, the Luray Valley on the eastern side, near the lower end of which is the town of Front Royal, and the North or Shenandoah Valley on the west side, near the lower end of which is the village of Strasburg, hard by Fisher's Hill. Here, at the latter point, the Valley narrows down to a width of about four miles, the North Fork of the Shenandoah River hugging the Massanutten Mountains on the eastern side, while a small stream, called "Tumbling Run," cuts across the Valley from the Little North Mountain on the west. The south bank of Tumbling Run rises in an almost perpendicular bluff to a height of from fifty to sixty feet, above and back of which is Fisher's Hill, which had been strongly fortified by the enemy on a former occasion.
Our army, which had rested the night of the 19th a few miles south of Winchester, took up the pursuit of the enemy at daylight next morning. The three cavalry divisions led the advance, Averill moving forward on the right along the Middle and Back Road, Merritt in the center along the Valley Pike and Wilson on the left by the Front Royal Road. The 6th and 19th Corps followed Mer- ritt, marching abreast on either side of the Pike over the open country, while Crook followed in their rear. ; The enemy offered little resistance this day, having hurried on to Fisher's Hill and occupied that fortified position.
Our forces, on arriving, crossed Cedar Creek and the infantry took position on elevated ground in front of Strasburg, the 6th Corps occupying the right and the 19th Corps the left of this posi- tion. Crook was halted in the timber north of Cedar Creek. Averill's Division was on the extreme right near the Back Road, while Torbert, with Wilson's Division and part of Merritt's, was sent to Front Royal to push up the Luray Valley and get into the enemy's rear. During the next day and night, the enemy was busy strengthening his works so as to make them almost "impregnable." Sheridan says: "In fact, so secure did Early consider himself
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