Third Battle of Winchester

Third Battle of Winchester. A Gathering of Future Leaders. , The Third Battle of Winchester, fought here on September 19, 1864, was a proving ground for several men on both sides who shaped post-war America. They included two future presidents, two senators, a state governor, and several military leaders., Statesmen , Col. Rutherford B. Hayes, who commanded a Federal VIII Corps brigade, was president from 1877 to 1881. , Capt. William McKinley, who led a VIII Corps infantry company, was president from 1897 to 1901, when he was assassinated. , Gen. John B. Gordon, who commanded a Confederate division, later became a senator from Georgia from 1891 to 1897. , Capt. Henry A. DuPont, who commanded a U.S. artillery brigade, later served as a senator from Delaware; he was also awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry at the Battle of Cedar Creek. , Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, who led the Confederate cavalry and was wounded at Winchester, was governor of Virginia from 1895 to 1889 and commanded a U.S. Army corps during the Spanish-American War in 1898., Frontier Officers , U.S. Gens. Philip H. Sheridan, George Crook, Ronald S. Mackenzie, Marcus A. Reno, and George A. Custer later had leading roles in the West during the Indian Wars., Military Theorist , Gen. Emory Upton, a Federal division commander, was a celebrated military theorist who wrote books including The Military Policy of the United States (1904), which is still influential. , Prophet of the Lost Cause , Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early became a leading proponent of the Lost Cause philosophy that dominated the South for decades., Philippine Expidition , Gen. Wesley Merritt, a Federal cavalry division commander, led the First Philippine Expedition in 1898 during the Spanish-American War.