OCTOBER 19, 1864:
The St. Albans Raid:
In the northernmost combat action of the
Civil War, twenty one Confederate cavalrymen cross the U.S.- Canada border and
attack the small Vermont town of St. Albans. They rob three banks, stealing the
kingly sum of $210,000.00 (worth $3.2 million in 2010), relieve several
citizens walking the streets of their money, watches and wedding bands, steal
several horses, and declare that they have taken the town “in the name of the
Confederate States of America.” They then hurl several vials of an incendiary
called “Greek Fire” intending to burn down the town, but the stuff does not
ignite. When one St. Albanite fires a rifle at them, they shoot him. He dies
two days later. Several other citizens defending the town are wounded. After
less than an hour, the raiders return to Canada.
The
United States demands that Canada extradite the men, but the Canadian
government refuses, stating that the men were acting “under military orders.”
In effect, the Canadians making this claim give de facto recognition to the Confederacy. This causes a serious rift
between Canada and the United States. Many Canadians, fearful that their
heretofore peaceful border will become a front of the American war, immediately
demand that Canada rid itself of Confederate agents. The Canadian government tries
hard at first to ignore the incident, but within 48 hours compensates the
United States for the stolen funds. The raiders themselves are deported from
Canada.
The
Battle of Cedar Creek: Believing he has rendered General Jubal
Early C.S.A.’s forces incapable of a major offensive in the Shenandoah Valley,
General Philip Sheridan U.S.A. has detached the 6th Corps and sent
it back to the Petersburg pocket.
Sheridan
has badly underestimated Early, who gathers his scattered troops, manages to reinforce
and refit them, and then launches a dawn attack on the Union encampment at
Belle Grove Plantation just northeast of Strasburg, Virginia.
Elements
of Early’s force have crept stealthily, and in single file, along a hidden “pig
path” along Massanutten Mountain. They fall upon the Union camp without
warning. Many Union men, who are caught
in their nightshirts and at breakfast campfires, are captured. Others flee.
As
the Union main body dissolves in panic, Early orders a heavy artillery barrage.
This further shocks the Union troops, but units quickly respond, engaging in close
hand-to-hand fighting as they try to take the guns. Other units move into
blocking positions. Only lightly armed due to the confusion, they nonetheless
slow the Confederate advance.
Sheridan
himself is not in camp, but back at Winchester, As the sounds of battle reach
him, Sheridan sends speeded riders to recall the 6th Corps, which
immediately reverses direction.
On
the field, Captain Henry A. DuPont U.S.A. manages to establish a battery with
nine of sixteen guns, and begins firing back at Early’s men. The Union battery
becomes a rally point for the half-dressed, the shell shocked and the unarmed
Federal troops, who reorganize near Middletown. Fortunately, Early had not thought
to seize the Union supply trains, so that there are plenty of rifles and ammo
and clothes and shoes for the men to grab as they return to the fight. Many
men, however, do not choose to fight, and continue to move away from the battle
and toward Winchester.
By
7:30 A.M., the Union troops have reorganized in a battle line, and are fighting
back ferociously. Brigadier General George W. Getty U.S.A.’s Division is so
fierce that Early assumes he is fighting an entire Corps, and moves troops into
position to battle the larger threat. As he does so, the Union units he has
been fighting begin to advance. Early becomes confused and dilutes his forces
in trying to counter the sudden swarm of Federals in his front. Despite taking
the brunt of the Confederate attack, Getty’s Division holds for thirty minutes
before it withdraws in good order.
Still,
the Union line is shaky, and Early is punching holes in the defense.
After
having received contradictory reports all morning, Sheridan decides to go down
to the battlefield, bringing a 300 man force with him and traveling at the
gallop. When he belatedly arrives around 10:00 A.M. he immediately grasps the
situation.
Shouting,
"Come on back, boys! Give 'em hell, God damn 'em! We'll make coffee out of
Cedar Creek tonight!” to the stragglers he has passed, Sheridan charges down
into the battle. The Union men cheer the appearance of their commander and the
stragglers, galvanized, return to the fight.
Sheridan
later writes, a bit ruefully:
[I] was unconscious of
the true condition of affairs until about 9 o'clock, when having ridden through
the town of Winchester, the sound of the artillery made a battle unmistakable .
. . half a mile south of Winchester, the
head of the fugitives appeared in sight, trains and men coming to the rear with
appalling rapidity. I immediately gave directions to halt . . . and ordered the brigade . . . to . . . stop all stragglers. Taking twenty
men from my escort, I pushed on to the front . . . I am happy to say that
hundreds of the men, when of reflection found they had not done themselves justice,
came back with cheers . . . [S]till none behaved more gallantly or exhibited
greater courage than those who returned from the rear determined to reoccupy
their lost camp.
Jubal
Early has to this point fought an almost flawless battle. He has captured 1,300
Union prisoners, 24 cannons, and is successfully driving seven infantry
divisions off the field with a smaller force. Unfortunately, he makes a bad
decision at this point, ordering his troops to reorganize. This “fatal halt,”
of course, stops the forward momentum of the assault. "My heart went into
my boots.” Major General John B. Gordon C.S.A. wrote of receiving Early’s
ill-timed order.
Early
is unaware of Sheridan’s arrival on the field, and his decision to redeploy
combined with the appearance of Sheridan shifts the entire balance of the
battle. Sheridan quickly sends the newly-arrived 6th
Corps into battle, and charges the stopped and shifting Confederate line,
breaking upon it like a tidal wave. Early’s lines shatter, and his men begin
running back toward Cedar Creek, with Sheridan’s forces enveloping them. This
envelopment, with its corresponding attacks on the flanks, increase Confederate
panic. The collapse of the only bridge over “No-Name Creek” further south
creates even more chaos. Unable to bring wagons across the stream, the
Confederates are forced to abandon their supply train. Sheridan’s men chase the
scattering Confederates until nighttime.
Casualties
at the Battle of Cedar Creek are high. Almost 5,700 Federal soldiers are
killed, wounded or missing, and 3,000 Confederates. Cedar Creek stands out because two future U.S.
Presidents, Rutherfor B. Hayes and William McKinley are both on the
battlefield.
Sheridan,
for whom the day might have been a disaster, is promoted to Major General. His
absence early in the day and his tardy arrival on the field are overlooked in
the glow of victory. “Sheridan’s Ride” from Winchester to Strasburg becomes
conveniently legendary. When word of the victory is reported in the papers over
the next few days, it cinches President Lincoln’s re-election.
Early,
who has scraped the bottom of his manpower barrel clean to raise his force is
never able to threaten Sheridan again. Unwisely, Early blames the loss at Cedar
Creek on his men, insisting that they stopped fighting in order to plunder the
Union camp. He conveniently ignores his own redeployment order issued in the
heat of the fight. Others, however, do
not.
Officers
and men alike express roiling anger at Early for his shameless criticism of his
men. Most refuse to serve with him again. As a result, Robert E. Lee strips Early
of all but 3,000 of his soldiers.
With
such a token force, Early has little choice but to bivouac at Waynesboro at the
mouth of the Confederate-held Luray Valley, where his unsupplied command does
very little over the next few months. Early cannot even feed his men. The Shenandoah
Valley, once lush, is now a desert, and Sheridan adds insult to injury when he
moves more troops into the Valley in order to secure it.
During
the harsh winter of 1864-65, most of Early’s Confederates cross the Union lines,
leaving Early with just a few hundred troopers. In March 1865, Sheridan finally
raids Waynesboro, and Early escapes with only a score of men. His career ends
ignominiously on March 30, 1865, when, after bringing his small force to
Petersburg, Lee flatly tells him to “go home.”
Early
does not go home. He goes to Texas, searching for Confederate holdouts, then to
Mexico, and finally to Canada (the Canadian-born actor Nathan Fillion claims
descent from Jubal Early), where he remains for several years. Finally
pardoned, but unreconstructed, Early returns to Virginia. He dies in the
Valley, at Lynchburg, in 1894.
