Firing again on
picket. Turned out. At daylight heavy firing commenced on left with infantry. At
8 A. M. learned the infantry had fallen back in confusion, losing 24 pieces of artillery.
8th and 19th corps broken. 6th corps firm and in line. Cavalry went into
position immediately and gave infantry time to form. Crossed the pike and
formed again — under heavy fire all the time. Kept the position until Sheridan
came up, then sent over to the right again. Charged rebel cavalry. Little
before dusk whole line advanced — routing the rebs. Two regts. of 3rd Div.
charged to the right, driving reb cavalry over Cedar Creek and the rest charging
on right of 19th corps, 5th N. Y. in advance. Overtook the artillery and wagon
trains, capturing it and many prisoners.
_______________
Note — The modest entry under date of Oct. 19,
1864, refers to the historic battle of Cedar Creek, Va., when Sheridan made his
famous ride on his black horse from Winchester, “twenty miles away,” and saved the
day. During Sheridan's temporary absence from his army, Gen. H. G. Wright, the next
in command, permitted himself and the army to be totally surprised at three
o'clock in the morning, by the recently defeated army of Gen. Jubal A. Early. The
Union troops were nearly all sleeping in their tents when the enemy's cannon and
musketry opened on them in a terrific onslaught at close range. The Union
artillery was mainly captured, nearly 5,000 Union soldiers killed and captured,
and our army, except the Cavalry and one Division of Infantry, started in panic
and confused retreat towards Winchester in the rear — where Sheridan had spent the
previous night. Up to that point the event had been one of the greatest Union
disasters of the war. But about 10 o'clock in the morning Sheridan arrived on the
field in the dramatic manner described in the poem, "Sheridan's Ride," and instantly all was reversed. Meanwhile the Cavalry, which had
not been involved in the surprise and panic and slaughter, being encamped on the
right and left flanks of the army out of the line of the attack of Early, had
promptly been ordered to the center and front, where they held the Confederates
back from further pursuit until Sheridan's arrival. Sheridan's presence
promptly restored confidence. The retreating and disorganized troops quickly
rallied, and by 3 P. M. a general charge was ordered all along the line
occupying some four miles front. The Cavalry charge on this occasion was the finest
performance and spectacle at any time witnessed by the writer during the war. The
astonished and recently victorious Confederates broke in confusion, their
retreat was a worse panic than that of the Union army in the early morning. All
our artillery was retaken from the enemy and some thirty cannon captured in
addition, besides great numbers of prisoners and the entire wagon train of Early.
Early's army never made another serious rally. — A. B. N.
SOURCE: Frances
Andrews Tenney, War Diary Of Luman Harris Tenney, p. 133
