Third Battle of Winchester

Third Battle of Winchester. Fitzhugh Lee's Position. When Union Gen, Philip H. Sheridan first attacked early on the morning of September 19, 1864, Confederate Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's cavalry and Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur's infantry delayed the advance. Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early arrived with the rest of his army just in time to resist Sheridan's main attack at 11:40 A.M. Lee posted two cavalry brigades and Maj. James Breathed's six-gun horse artillery battalion here at the Huntsberry Farm. When the Federals drove Gordon's division from the south side of Red Bud Run, Breathed's gunners "sighted their guns by the sound” of battle and punished them as they moved across the Middle Field, obscured by woods. Meanwhile, Confederate Col. William Payne dismounted his Virginia cavalry brigade and advanced to the edge of the ravine. Firing into the Union flank, Payne's troopers helped save the Confederate left flank., Breathed and Payne continued to assist Confederate infantrymen south of here as they counterattacked and drove back the Federals. Early in the afternoon, Lee detached Col. Thomas T. Munford's cavalry brigade and two artillery pieces to the southern end of the battle line to confront Union cavalry threatening to sever the Confederate route of retreat. Breathed and Payne remained here to harass the Union forces on the south bank of Red Bud Run and to repulse Federal efforts to silence the Confederate guns. When Union Gen. George Crook attacked at about 3 P.M., Lee withdrew his remaining forces from here before they became seriously engaged, to confront a large Union cavalry force storming up the Valley Turnpike to the west., (captions) , Gen. Fitzhugh Lee Library of Congress , Maj. James Breathed From Confederate Veteran Magazine (1908) , Col. William Payne Courtesy Library of Congress , Col. Thomas T. Munford - Courtesy Library of Congress