Cedar Creek Battle

**This posting is in honor of Aunt Bee who kept hounding me to do a post so she would not have to look at the Thinker and ponder the question of why do we call it a pair of pants. Since this post has to do with history and I know she LOVES it. It is dedicated to her. Love you and miss you, Aunt Bee***

Whew!!! It has been a couple of months since I have been able to see anything remotely associated with the Civil War.I have been anticipating this event since I found out about it in July/August. An actual Civil War Re-enactment.

The re-enactment was the Cedar Creek Battle fought on Oct 19, 1864 in Middletown, Virginia. (About 20 minutes from our house). This event was HUGE. They had about 4,000 re-enactors. There were tents all over the place. Apparently the re-enactors stayed the night in these tents

Then there was Sutler's Row where you could find everything from canteens, to clothes, to guns. Almost everyone, even the people walking around, were dressed up in their 19th century attire. This was a string band playing songs from the Civil War.

I thought the re-enactment started at 11:00 but it really started at 2:00. Had I had known that we would have planned things better. So as it turned out Jeff went home with the babies and the kids and I watched the re-enactment. The battle field was on 310 acres and they used all of it. We tried our best to get some good pictures.

I thought the re-enactment was good but was disappointed on several points during the re-enactment. After the re-enactment I did a little research on the actual battle and now I am even more disappointed with the re-enactment. Don't get me wrong. It was very good. I was just looking for something more. I'll explain as I unfold the battle.

It's late summer, 1864. The War has been dragging on for years, and people on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line are growing weary of the never-ending toll of death and destruction. President Abraham Lincoln is up for reelection, facing one of his former Army commanders, George B. McClellan. A McClellan win could mean a negotiated truce with the Confederacy.U.S. Calvary Gen. Philip H. Sheridan is called upon to rout the Confederate Army from the Shenandoah Valley, the "breadbasket of the Confederacy" whose farms, mills and rugged inhabitants helped sustain the troops - and whose geographical proximity to Washington, D.C. provided a Rebel staging area that threatened the U.S. Capital itself. September, 1864. After forcing Rebels out of the Valley, Sheridan's army turns and begins a northern sweep through the pastoral countryside in Augusta and Rockingham Counties, while Gen. Jubal A. Early and his troops are regrouping up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sheridan's soldiers are burning hundreds of farms and mills, as well as destroying or seizing a huge number of crops and livestock. "The Burning" continues through Page and Shenandoah Counties until the Union Army pauses for a rest at Strasburg, Va. By October 9, Sheridan's goal of taking out the Valley as a strategic military target is a Union success.In the meantime, hot on Sheridan's heels comes "Old Jube." (Jubal Early) His calvarymen are thirsting for revenge after the Yankees laid waste to the Shenandoah Valley countryside, where people now face a Winter of desperate survival. During the pre-dawn hours of October 19, Early's men, who are now hungry, exhausted, under-equipped, and overwhelmingly outnumbered, stealthily approach the slumbering Union encampments just outside of Strasburg.

The furious Confederate attack early that morning initially surprised Northern soldiers causing them to scatter in a disorganized retreat toward Middletown. *** This was a major disappointment in the re-enactment for me. When the re-enactment started the union forces are all in line waiting for the confederates.

The confederates approach and they battle in these straight lines for awhile

As the kids and I said during the battle. It seems too organized. I wanted to feel the chaos. I wanted to feel what it would have been like to be on that battlefield. Ashlie even mentioned no one was dying. She wanted to see dead people. (I think an aftermath of her night at the haunted house). It would have been cool for the battle to start by the confederates doing the surprise attack on the camps. Then the union could scramble to their feet get into formation and attack the confederates. ****

The conferates kept pushing the union forces back. ** When I read this I imagine the union forces turning around and running then regrouping and firing again. Instead during the re-enactment they would turn around and march back a few yards then turn around and fire again.

The Confederates kept pushing the union back

The union retreated up this hillside

Meanwhile Sheridan (Union Commander) was in Winchester and had heard the cannons. He rode from Winchester to Middletown (about 12 miles) and found his men retreated. He rallied his troops and the union did a massive counterattack. *****This was my second major disappointment of the battle. During the re-enactment the Confederates drove the Union back. As the union were retreating up this hill the confederates just stood there. Apparently in the real battle this was Jubal Early's biggest mistake. He should have continued attacking. Instead it gave time for Sheridan to rally his troops. During the re-enactment it gave the impression that the confederates just stood there. But what I have been reading is the confederates started raiding the camps looking for food. ****

The Confederates were then driven back up the Valley in chaos, marking a major turning point in the War. The battle of Cedar Creek effectively marked the end of military action in the Shenandoah Valley. That November, Lincoln won the presidential election. It has been noted that the Battle of Cedar Creek was one of the decisive victories allowing Lincoln to bolster public resolve to end the conflict on the Union's terms.

***As the confederates where retreating we had to leave so Ashlie could get to work. So we didn't get to see the end of the battle. But it was almost over with anyway so it wasn't that big of a deal.

One of the other things that amazed me during the re-enactment is all the activity behind the front line. There was a band playing, women walking around, people just standing there. I know during the actual battles women were on the battlefield rallying their men. I also know alot of people would come out and see the battles just like we were. But it all seemed so calm. I wonder if that was how it really was. Was the band really playing during the actual battle? Were soldiers really just standing around like that watching what was happening. Apparently during the actual battle there were about 1,000 prisoners taken. None of that was depicted during the battle. At least what we could see. During the re-enactment someone would tell us what time it was and a very very brief summary of what was going on. It would have been cool if some the actors or at least the commanders had mics so we could hear what they were saying. Maybe then we could have felt a little bit more of the chaos that I am sure what really going on during the battle.

Again, this was good and I am very glad we went. I was just looking for something more.