September 19, 1864 – Philip Sheridan Inspires His Men in Winchester, Virginia Civil War Battle

33-year-old Major General Philip Sheridan was assigned by General Grant to slam shut Washington, D.C.’s “back door” – i.e., the Shenandoah Valley. Sheridan was to confront the Confederate army of Jubal Early.

Philip Sheridan

The Shenandoah Valley had both strategic and symbolic importance. It was a potential route for Lee’s armies to advance into Maryland and Pennsylvania. It was a major source of rations. Confederate control of the valley also allowed the South to block the shortest east-west transportation routes from Baltimore to the Ohio River from the North. Perhaps most portentously, if the North suffered a defeat there, Lincoln could lose the election. The repercussions of such a loss would probably entail a negotiated peace with the South that would recognize it as a discrete political entity.

Grant charged Sheridan with carrying out “total war” in the Shenandoah, writing him to “Do all the damage to railroads and crops you can…”

In 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History, historian Charles Bracelen Flood records that on this day in history, Sheridan led a force of 37,000 against Early, who had between 12,000 and 17,000 men. But mistakes and complications took their toll. One of Sheridan’s subordinate officers, Horatio Wright, decided to bring the entire wagon train with him on their opening attack. As Flood writes:

The situation quickly became chaotic. A soldier from Vermont described the miles-long tangle of wagons and ambulances as a ‘stupid, mischievous clutter.’”

Exacerbating the problems, Sheridan had misread a map in making his battle plan, and the resulting confusion left a large hole in his battle line. The Confederates did not hesitate to take advantage of the situation. But by late afternoon, Sheridan’s superior numbers helped compensate for earlier mistakes. Sheridan also, according to Flood, began to get a better sense of the battle and how to fight it as the day wore on. In addition, he bolstered the morale of the men by riding among them. Flood says of Sheridan:

When a Confederate cannonball struck between his horse Rienzi’s legs without harming him or Rienzi, he shouted, ‘Damn close, but we’ll lick hell out of them yet!’. . . One member of the company later reported that when some men of the 49th Pennsylvania gathered around him, he called out to them over the blasting gunfire, ‘Boys the only way we have to Do is to Kill every Son of a Bitch.”

Rienzi, taxidermied and on display at the National Museum of American History

A staff member said of the effect Sheridan had:

His influence on his men was like an electric shock, and he was the only commander I have ever met whose personal appearance in the field was an immediate and positive stimulus to battle. . . . “

The battle ended in dramatic fashion. Just before sunset, 7,000 Union horsemen assembled, raised their sabers, and began a charge toward the Confederates. Before long, every Rebel turned and ran in the direction of Winchester, and it became a rout. Most of them did, however, manage to escape.

It was an important victory, but Sheridan suffered 5,000 casualties.

The next morning, Lincoln telegraphed Sheridan directly, writing: “Have just heard of your great victory. God bless you all, officers and men. Strongly inclined to come up and see you.”