Bloody Autumn by Daniel T. Davis

Author:Daniel T. Davis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / United States / Civil War Period (1850-1877)
ISBN: 9781611211665
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Published: 2013-11-18T16:00:00+00:00

The 128th New York fought valiantly, but the gray onslaught overwhelmed them. A monument remembering their action sits near the XIX Corps entrenchments, just to the west of the Valley Turnpike. (DD/PG)

A monument to wounded Confederate general Stephen Ramseur sits along the Valley Pike near the turnoff for Belle Grove. (CM)

Cedar Creek, Part II

CHAPTER ELEVEN

OCTOBER 19, 1864

As Jubal Early crossed over Cedar Creek, he rode through the captured Union camps and saw his army gathering much-needed supplies. As hungry as the men might be, though, now was not the time. Early sent his staff officers to stop the soldiers from looting the camps and “orders were sent to the division commanders to send for their men.”

The day had been a success so far. The cantankerous Early had seen his army overrun two Union positions. He needed only to finish the rout.

As the Confederate commander approached the front line, he ran into Gordon, who briefed him on the situation. The Georgian had just sent the divisions of Kershaw and Evans toward the Union VI Corps camps. Ramseur and Pegram had come to a rest on the Valley Turnpike north of where the two officers met. Gabriel Wharton’s infantry division was also arriving on the field. Along with artillery battalions commanded by Thomas Carter, these troops could help in the Confederate offensive against the VI Corps.

However, the early morning fog that had shielded the initial Confederate approach now mixed with the smoke to obscure the troop positions Gordon summarized. In addition, the fog obscured how soundly the Confederates had pushed the enemy from the field and the rout that had consumed these Union soldiers.

Literally, the fog of war had settled over the battlefield—over the armies, over Gordon, over Early—as their later accounts would testify.

Early later wrote that he ordered Gordon to advance to gauge the strength of the Union positions. If they proved too strong, the Georgian was to pull back. With the remaining fog of the morning and the smoke of the fight hanging in the air, Early could not distinguish the Union dispositions. In order to reconnoiter and better assess the situation, Early ordered a halt. Old Jube justified the halt because “it was now apparent that it would not do to press my troops further.” Their assault had traversed “over rough ground to attack the enemy in the early morning” and the “ranks had been much disordered.” When the fog began to lift, it gave Early additional justification by revealing the enemy position along the ridge; it was “discovered to be a strong one,” he contended.

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