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- Feb 23, 2013
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Part I - The Battle Opens
Position of Maj. James Breathed's battalion of Confederate horse artillery overlooking Red Bud Run.
On Sept. 10, 1864 Confederate Brig. Gen. Bryan Grimes, commanding a brigade in the division of Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes, wrote home to his wife in North Carolina "...Tomorrow we will break up our encampment and again go in the direction of Bunker Hill, when we move up the enemy fall back, and when they come in force we toll them up the Valley where we expect to reap the fruits of a Victory if they come on us and if we were to fight them here they would fall back into their holes too securely and have no long road to travel - So far Gen'l Early has been very Successful indeed in all his Manoeuvres."
Indeed, ever since Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early had led his Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia into the Shenandoah Valley in July of that year things had gone well. He had chased one Federal army out; invaded neighboring Maryland and won a battle; threatened Washington; and generally proved a nuisance to the administration of Abraham Lincoln. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant hoped that by consolidating four separate departments and their forces into one - the Department of the Shenandoah - under his cavalry chief Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan that Early and his small force would be eradicated. So far, however that had proven illusory as the two generals continued to spar with each other, Sheridan from fortified Harpers Ferry and Early from his base at Winchester.
Things began to change the day after Grimes wrote his letter, however, when the overconfident Early led most of his army north through Bunker Hill and another ten miles to Martinsburg in another attempt to distract Sheridan, who he had come to regard as merely another timorous opponent. A Quaker lady resident of Winchester named Rebecca Wright sent word to Sheridan by a black courier that not only had Early moved north, but more importantly, the division of Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson had also departed to return to Lee's army at Petersburg. This was the good news Sheridan had been waiting for and he immediately set his army in motion.
Confederate commanders at Winchester included, form left to right above: Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who led all of Early's cavalry, much of which had come from his uncle's stationary army besieged at Petersburg; cantankerous "Old Jube" Early, commanding the Army of the Valley; his second-in-command, Lt. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, nominally leading a corps that had shrunk to be some attached cavalry and the small division of Brig. Gen. Gabriel C. Wharton. When Early learned of Sheridan's move he turned the divisions of Robert Rodes at Bunker Hill and Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon around and rushed them back to Winchester, leaving Breckinridge and Wharton to contest what developed to be an overwhelming force of Union cavalry. Soon Early also ordered Breckinridge to bring his force too, but the former vice-president realized that if he did the Northern horsemen would rush behind Early and catch him between two fires. For the time being, Breckinridge decided to remain where he was near Stephenson's Depot.
As the battle developed, Sheridan's army was drawn out in a long marching column along the Berryville Pike, leading from that town westward to Winchester. The Union VI Corps at the head of the column soon encountered Confederate pickets from the sole remaining Confederate division of Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur along the banks of Opequon (Oh-PECK-un) Creek which gave its name to Union accounts of the battle. Soon Ramseur was being pushed steadily back towards Winchester where he drew up a line that eventually stretched between Red Bud Run on the north and Abraham's (Abram's) Creek on the south. (In the map above, note the light blue and brown areas that indicate that portion of the battlefield that has been preserved and from where the bulk of the photos that follow were taken.)
The VI Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, deployed its three divisions and proceeded along the Berryville Pike (modern Route 7) heading sightly southwest towards the town of Winchester. This area is now almost completely covered by modern development so that although the battle raged here as fiercely as it did to the north there is little to indicate it. One surviving wartime structure in the area is Abram's Rest, above, said to be the oldest house remaining in Winchester, dating from the mid-1700's.
The modern walking trail whose entrance is above follows generally the direction taken by the two-division XIX Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. William Emory which moved forward in such a fashion that a gap soon appeared between it and its neighbor, the VI Corps.
Just in time, Early arrived at the head of Rodes' and Gordon's divisions to extend Ramseur's line between the two creeks with his flanks securely on both. The battlefield soon became divided into what the troops described as the First Woods, from which Ramseur was driven; the Middle Field between, and the Second Woods where the Confederates were massing. (All are indicated on the map.) Above shows the view from Gordon's position on the left towards the attacking XIX corps divisions of Brig. Gen.'s William Dwight and Cuvier Grover.
Just across Red Bud Run on the north of the developing battle Fitzhugh Lee placed the battalion of horse artillery commanded by Maj. James Breathed which took position at right angles to the advancing Federal infantry. They were supported for a time by some of Lee's cavalry under Col. William Payne, until pressure from the north caused Lee to move them later in the afternoon.
Grover's division was savaged by unexpectedly heavy Confederate infantry fire from Gordon's men in their front and Breathed's guns on their right and fell back almost in panic to the safety of the First Woods where they were rallied by Sheridan and XIX Corps commander Emory. The view above looks out over the Middle Field where so many Federal casualties of the battle occurred.
When the advancing Federal lines diverged they created a gap between the VI Corps and XIX Corps which was soon exploited by a counterattack by the Confederate divisions of Rodes and Gordon. Heavy fighting ensued before the Union lines were stabilized and the Rebels driven back. In the swirling action, Confederate division commander Robert Rodes and Union VI Corps division commander Brig. Gen. David A. Russell were both killed. The view above looks from the position in the West Woods from which Rodes' Division began its attack; when he fell his men were disheartened but his place was soon taken by Brig. Gen. Cullen Battle and that of Russell by Union rising star Brig. Gen. Emory Upton.
Next, Part II
Position of Maj. James Breathed's battalion of Confederate horse artillery overlooking Red Bud Run.
On Sept. 10, 1864 Confederate Brig. Gen. Bryan Grimes, commanding a brigade in the division of Maj. Gen. Robert Rodes, wrote home to his wife in North Carolina "...Tomorrow we will break up our encampment and again go in the direction of Bunker Hill, when we move up the enemy fall back, and when they come in force we toll them up the Valley where we expect to reap the fruits of a Victory if they come on us and if we were to fight them here they would fall back into their holes too securely and have no long road to travel - So far Gen'l Early has been very Successful indeed in all his Manoeuvres."
Indeed, ever since Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early had led his Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia into the Shenandoah Valley in July of that year things had gone well. He had chased one Federal army out; invaded neighboring Maryland and won a battle; threatened Washington; and generally proved a nuisance to the administration of Abraham Lincoln. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant hoped that by consolidating four separate departments and their forces into one - the Department of the Shenandoah - under his cavalry chief Maj. Gen. Phillip Sheridan that Early and his small force would be eradicated. So far, however that had proven illusory as the two generals continued to spar with each other, Sheridan from fortified Harpers Ferry and Early from his base at Winchester.
Things began to change the day after Grimes wrote his letter, however, when the overconfident Early led most of his army north through Bunker Hill and another ten miles to Martinsburg in another attempt to distract Sheridan, who he had come to regard as merely another timorous opponent. A Quaker lady resident of Winchester named Rebecca Wright sent word to Sheridan by a black courier that not only had Early moved north, but more importantly, the division of Maj. Gen. Richard Anderson had also departed to return to Lee's army at Petersburg. This was the good news Sheridan had been waiting for and he immediately set his army in motion.
Confederate commanders at Winchester included, form left to right above: Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who led all of Early's cavalry, much of which had come from his uncle's stationary army besieged at Petersburg; cantankerous "Old Jube" Early, commanding the Army of the Valley; his second-in-command, Lt. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, nominally leading a corps that had shrunk to be some attached cavalry and the small division of Brig. Gen. Gabriel C. Wharton. When Early learned of Sheridan's move he turned the divisions of Robert Rodes at Bunker Hill and Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon around and rushed them back to Winchester, leaving Breckinridge and Wharton to contest what developed to be an overwhelming force of Union cavalry. Soon Early also ordered Breckinridge to bring his force too, but the former vice-president realized that if he did the Northern horsemen would rush behind Early and catch him between two fires. For the time being, Breckinridge decided to remain where he was near Stephenson's Depot.
As the battle developed, Sheridan's army was drawn out in a long marching column along the Berryville Pike, leading from that town westward to Winchester. The Union VI Corps at the head of the column soon encountered Confederate pickets from the sole remaining Confederate division of Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur along the banks of Opequon (Oh-PECK-un) Creek which gave its name to Union accounts of the battle. Soon Ramseur was being pushed steadily back towards Winchester where he drew up a line that eventually stretched between Red Bud Run on the north and Abraham's (Abram's) Creek on the south. (In the map above, note the light blue and brown areas that indicate that portion of the battlefield that has been preserved and from where the bulk of the photos that follow were taken.)
The VI Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, deployed its three divisions and proceeded along the Berryville Pike (modern Route 7) heading sightly southwest towards the town of Winchester. This area is now almost completely covered by modern development so that although the battle raged here as fiercely as it did to the north there is little to indicate it. One surviving wartime structure in the area is Abram's Rest, above, said to be the oldest house remaining in Winchester, dating from the mid-1700's.
The modern walking trail whose entrance is above follows generally the direction taken by the two-division XIX Corps commanded by Maj. Gen. William Emory which moved forward in such a fashion that a gap soon appeared between it and its neighbor, the VI Corps.
Just in time, Early arrived at the head of Rodes' and Gordon's divisions to extend Ramseur's line between the two creeks with his flanks securely on both. The battlefield soon became divided into what the troops described as the First Woods, from which Ramseur was driven; the Middle Field between, and the Second Woods where the Confederates were massing. (All are indicated on the map.) Above shows the view from Gordon's position on the left towards the attacking XIX corps divisions of Brig. Gen.'s William Dwight and Cuvier Grover.
Just across Red Bud Run on the north of the developing battle Fitzhugh Lee placed the battalion of horse artillery commanded by Maj. James Breathed which took position at right angles to the advancing Federal infantry. They were supported for a time by some of Lee's cavalry under Col. William Payne, until pressure from the north caused Lee to move them later in the afternoon.
Grover's division was savaged by unexpectedly heavy Confederate infantry fire from Gordon's men in their front and Breathed's guns on their right and fell back almost in panic to the safety of the First Woods where they were rallied by Sheridan and XIX Corps commander Emory. The view above looks out over the Middle Field where so many Federal casualties of the battle occurred.
When the advancing Federal lines diverged they created a gap between the VI Corps and XIX Corps which was soon exploited by a counterattack by the Confederate divisions of Rodes and Gordon. Heavy fighting ensued before the Union lines were stabilized and the Rebels driven back. In the swirling action, Confederate division commander Robert Rodes and Union VI Corps division commander Brig. Gen. David A. Russell were both killed. The view above looks from the position in the West Woods from which Rodes' Division began its attack; when he fell his men were disheartened but his place was soon taken by Brig. Gen. Cullen Battle and that of Russell by Union rising star Brig. Gen. Emory Upton.
Next, Part II
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