With Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley
With Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley
Wesley Merritt at Cedar Creek, October 1864
On October 19, 1864, the Union victory at the Battle of Cedar Creek successfully handed control of the agriculturally rich Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to the North. The battle started with a dramatic and successful Confederate attack on the vast, 6-mile-long Union encampment of Gen. Philip Sheridan's Army of the Shenandoah. Recent archaeology conducted by researchers from James Madison University has successfully identified the camp of the Union 1st Cavalry Division that lay on the right flank of what was a massive, transient, tent city. This paper discusses the nature of the field work carried out as it relates to defining the camp boundaries and the cultural and natural landscapes within which it was established. The paper further considers the unique nature of Sheridan's cavalry forces and in particular the role played by the 1st Division in the events at Cedar Creek.
Keywords: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, cavalry, Gen. Philip Sheridan, Battle of Cedar Creek, Union 1st Cavalry Division, Army of the Shenandoah
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