Sheridan Moves To Battle

Sheridan Moves To Battle. "Stupendous Oversight": Chaos is the Canyon. Learning that Confederate Gen. Jubal A. Early had taken half of his army north to Martinsburg, West Virginia, Union Gen. Philip H. Sheridan planned to move quickly on September 19, 1864, to destroy the remaining Confederate force in Winchester and cut off Early., The day began with promise. Sheridan's cavalry quickly secured Spout Spring, where the Berryville Pike crosses Opequon Creek some 2.5 miles east of here, then pushed the Confederates back through the narrow Berryville Canyon. Emerging on the west end of the 2-mile-long ravine, the Federals secured the open ground on both sides of the pike , including the area where Millbrook High School stands a short distance behind you today., But problems arose when Union Gen. Gen. Horatio Wright, commander of the 6th Corps, allowed his supply wagons to follow his troops (against Sheridan's instructions) and enter the canyon before Gen. William Emory's 19th Corps , a "stupendous oversight," as Union Capt. John DeForest described it, that meant "the infantry column was cut in two parts by miles of wagons.", Worse, Wright's wagon train became jumbled in the narrow confines of the ravine, leading to a chaotic snarl of wagons, wounded, horses, and men. Wright ordered the wagons back but the attempt to turn them around only increased the disorder., Sheridan fumed, but the damage was done. "[My] troops did not join me on the field until nearly 11:00 a.m.,” Emory said. The fiasco cost Sheridan nearly three hours, time that Jubal Early used to assemble his widely dispersed army on the battlefield. Sheridan's hopes for a quick and easy victory were gone., (captions) , Sketch: Sheridan Riding through Berryville Canyon with Union Cavalry. Sketch by James Taylor. Courtesy the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio, African-American Thomas Laws risked his life to smuggle vital information about Confederate troop movements to Sheridan, information that prompted his decision to attack on September 19. (Image Courtesy the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.), Gen. Philip H. Sheridan