Existing comment:
3rd Battle of Winchester
September 19, 1864
In the late summer of 1864 General Philip H. Sheridan with 41,000 Federals was ordered to take the vital Shenandoah Valley.Opposing this force was a Confederate army of 18,000 under General Jubal A. Early stationed north and east of Winchester. On September 19, Sheridan moved on Winchester from the east employing Generals H.G.Wright's and W.H. Emery's Corps. The Confederates under Generals R.E. Rodes and J.B. Gordon counterattacked but were driven back by overwhelming numbers. Sheridan the sent General G.Crook's Corps to to turn the Confederate left. At the same time Crook was attacking the flank, two Federal cavalry divisions of Generals W.W.Averell W.Merritt drove General Fitz Lee's cavalrymen down Martinsburg Turnpike (U.S.11). Early ordered Winchester evacuated and retreated south towards Strasburg. |