Guns of Cedar Creek, The

The Battle of Cedar Creek not only decided final control of the Shenandoah Valley, the "breadbasket" of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, in the waning months of the Civil War, but it was also in microcosm a vivid example of the nearly four years of fighting that preceded it. Certainly it included a fascinating cast of characters and more than its share of enduring poignancy. Especially moving were the deaths of two of the best and the brightest on both sides, Stephen Dodsen Ramseur of North Carolina, a Major General at 27, and the brilliant and revered 29-year-old Charles Russell Lowell of Massachusetts.

Among others who met on that field were the two rival commanders, tiny Phil Sheridan and blasphemous Jubal Early; George Armstrong Custer; John Gordon; George Crook; Tom Rosser; two future presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley; and many more. In thoroughly exploring their lives and prior experiences in the war the narrative includes descriptions of 1st and 2nd Manassas, Seven Pines, Gaines's Mill, Antietam (Sharpsburg), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and Gettysburg.

No more dramatic battle could be imagined than what occurred that October day at Cedar Creek. It began with a pre-dawn assault by the Confederates that drove the Federal left wing back, followed by Sheridan's famous 14-mile ride on his legendary horse, Rienzi, to rally his retreating army, and ended in growing darkness as the victorious Federals drove the Confederates from the field.

The book closes with an account of the subsequent fates of the main figures of Cedar Creek, which included for some participation in the surrender of Appomattox barely six months later, and ranged from fighting Indians in the West to politics and building railroads. none of them, the author points out, ever forgot Cedar Creek or ceased to write or talk about it, whether with generosity or bitterness toward former comrades and foes.