Battle of Cedar Creek Tour Marching
Orders
Saturday 5 October 2024
Subject
Matter: The last major battle of Gen Phil
Sheridan’s 1864 Valley Campaign, August thru October
of 1864, three weeks before the November
presidential election. Believing Gen Jubal
Early’s Army of the Valley is beat, Sheridan leaves
for Washington D.C. on October 15 for a strategy
meeting with Lt. Gen. Grant and Sec. of War Stanton
regarding next steps for Sheridan’s Army of the
Shenandoah. The stage was set for one of the
most audacious counter attacks in the Civil War and
its profound ramifications.
Tour Marching Orders
Tour Guide: Blake Myers & Jim Lewis
Gathering Time/Assembly Location: 8:00 AM / Centreville Regional Library
• Consolidate into as few cars as possible for the tour car caravan
Tour Start Time: 9:30AM Tour Duration: 6 hrs.
Lunch (c. 12 Noon): Italian Touch in Middletown (individual lunch tabs)
Mode of Transportation/Clothing: Car Caravan
• Dress for prevailing weather conditions
• Nominal walking requirements
Tour Stops include:
1. Hupps Hill Hist. Park: Overview of the military situation, topography & units
2. Riverview Cemetery: View Signal Knob and observations by Hotchkiss & Gordon
3. Strasburg Museum: Jackson’s 1861 B&O Railroad Raid
4. Bowman’s Mill Ford: Where Kershaw forded Cedar Creek
5. Thoburn’s Redoubt: Where the fighting began very early in the AM
6. Long Meadow & Bowman’s Ford: Where Ramseur & Pegram forded North Fork of Shenandoah River enroute to linking up with Gordon
7. Cedar Creek Battlefield: Historic Heater House and the VT BDE
8. Belle Grove Plantation: Historic plantation/house (Sheridan’s HQ) and the fighting that took place there
9. Mount Carmel Cemetery: Where Gen Getty’s Division’s critical stand took place
10. Early/Sheridan: Early’s line re-established here and Sheridan’s arrival on battlefield
11. “The Fatal Halt”: Early’s ‘decision’ to halt the advance
12. Sheridan’s reconstituted right-flank w/cavalry positioned for the counterattack
13. Federal Counterattack: Where a good portion of the counterattack occurred
14. Sheridan’s reconstituted left-flank: Understanding the full length of the Federal line & the actions of a well-known a Fed cavalry commander from Vienna
15. Historic Wayside Inn: Wrap up and discussion of interesting and relevant tidbits
Cost: Free to All
BRCWRT Contact: Jim Lewis, antietam1862@verizon.net 703 593-2956