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Winchester III
aka Oequon Creek
Frederick and Clarke Counties, Virginia
September 19, 1864
After US Major General William Tecumseh Sherman captured
Atlanta on September 2, US General Grant and President Lincoln
agreed that US General Sheridan should move against CS General
Early. When Grant came from Petersburg to Harpers Ferry to meet with
Sheridan, he found that Sheridan was ready with a plan. Sheridan had
just learned from Rebecca Wright, a Quaker schoolteacher in
Winchester, that he had more than twice as many troops as Early. She
reported that on September 15, in response to CS General Robert E.
Lee's orders, Early had started CS General Anderson back to Richmond
with CS General Kershaw's Division and CS Major Wilfred E. Cutshaw's
artillery battalion so that Lee could extend his Richmond-Petersburg
line to protect his flanks. Grant had cut the railroad between
Petersburg and Weldon, North Carolina, in the battle of Globe Tavern
in mid-August. When Sheridan outlined to Grant his strategy to
control the Shenandoah Valley, the general responded with the brief
order "Go in." Early had further weakened his force by dispatching
two infantry divisions to raid the B & O Railroad at Martinsburg and
had only two divisions to hold Winchester.
On September 19, Sheridan launched his bold dash for
Winchester with 37,000 men. The three Union infantry corps marched
along the Berryville Pike, crossed Opequon Creek, and headed west
into the two-mile-long Berryville Canyon. US Brigadier General James
H. Wilson's cavalry division riding ahead surprised CS General
Ramseur's Division at the western entrance to the canyon. While they
battled, US Major General Horatio G. Wright's VI Corps moved slowly
through the narrow canyon. The wagons and guns held back his
infantry as well as that of US Major General William H. Emory's XIX
Corps. This "stupid clutter" set Sheridan's timetable back four
hours, and he lost the opportunity to strike Early while the
Confederate forces were separated. Early had time to concentrate
three of his divisions along a wooded ridgeline east of the town.
His line extended from Abrams Creek north across the Berryville Pike
to Red Bud Run, with artillery batteries on the high ground. CS
Major General John C. Breckinridge covered the Valley Pike north of
town with CS Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton's infantry and CS
General Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry.
The Federals attacked just before noon. On their right US
Brigadier General Cuvier Grover's XIX Corps division advanced
through the woods and attacked across an open field (later known as
Middle Field). CS General Gordon's Division hit them with a
withering fire, then counterattacked, and inflicted nearly 1,500
Federal casualties in less than an hour. When Emory led his Second
Division forward, he was trapped for two hours in "that basin of
Hell." On the left the VI Corps was successful against Ramseur until
CS General Rodes saw a gap between the two Federal corps, sent his
division in, and knocked out a Federal division. US Brigadier
General David A. Russell's division counterattacked and halted the
Confederate drive. Both Rodes and Russell were killed.
US General Merritt's cavalry division crossed Opequon Creek
about two miles north of the Berryville Pike crossing but was slowed
by fire from Wharton's infantry, deployed to block the Union advance
by Breckinridge, commanding the army's left flank. Fitzhugh Lee's
troopers were on the infantry's left. Sheridan extended the Federal
line north of Red Bud Run with US General Crook's VIII Corps. While
US Captain Henry A. du Pont's eighteen cannons fired from a hill
opposite Gordon's flank, the infantry attacked across Redbud Run at
the Hackwood house and drove the Confederates back toward
Winchester.
Merritt and US Brigadier General William W. Averell attacked
Early's compact L-shaped line, which covered the Valley and
Berryville Pikes. In one of the largest mounted charges of the war,
their five cavalry brigades thundered down the Valley Pike and
crumpled the Confederate left. Early ordered a general retreat to
Fisher's Hill with the Federals in close pursuit. Sheridan wired
Washington that he had sent Early "whirling through Winchester."
Early lost one fourth of his men, including 2,000 taken prisoner, in
the first of the climactic battles in the Shenandoah Valley
campaign.
Result(s): Union victory
Location: Frederick and Clarke Counties, Virginia
Campaign: Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign
(August-December 1864)
Date(s): September 19, 1864
Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan
[US]; Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early [CS]
Forces Engaged: Army of the Shenandoah [US 39,240]; Army of
the Valley [CS 15,200]
Estimated Casualties: 8,630 total (US 5,020; CS
3,610)
Links:
The Battle of Winchester/Opequon Creek -
http://users.erols.com/julie-mike/13wvi/html/opequan_creek.html
Third Winchester Battlefield Preservation -
http://www.civilwar.org/travelandevents/t_vs_thirdwinchester.htm
Designers:
Luciano Bassotti
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