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PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



fidcnce of success, that I saw there were but two 

 words of instructions necessary Go in ! For the 

 conveniences of forage, the teams for supplying the 

 artny were kept at Harper's Ferry. I asked him if 

 he could get out his teams and supplies in time to 

 make an attack on the ensuing Tuesday morning. 

 His reply was, that he could before daylight on Mon- 

 day, lie was off promptly to time, and I may here 

 add that the result was such that I have never since 

 deemed it necessary to visit General Sheridan before 

 giving him orders. 



Early on the morning of the 19th General Sheridan 

 attacked General Early at the crossing of the Ope- 

 quan Creek, and after a most sanguinarv and bloody 

 battle, lasting until 5 o'clock in the evening, defeated 

 him with heavy loss, carrying his entire position 

 from Opequan Creek to Winchester, capturing sev- 

 eral thousand prisoners and five pieces of artillery. 

 The enemy rallied and made a stand in a strong po- 

 sition at Fisher's Hill, where he was attacked and 

 again defeated with heavy loss on the 20th. Sher- 

 idan pursued him with great energy through Har- 

 risonburg, Staunton, and the gaps of the Blue Ridge. 

 After stripping the Upper Valley of most of the sup- 

 plies and provisions ibr the rebel army, he returned 

 to Strasburg, and took position on the north side of 

 Cedar Creek. 



Having received considerable reinforcements, 

 General Early again returned to the Valley, and, 

 on the 9th of October, his cavalry encountered ours 

 near Strasburg, where the rebels were defeated, with 

 the loss of eleven pieces of artillery and three hun- 

 dred and fifty prisoners. On the night of the 18th 

 the enemy crossed the mountains which separated 

 the branches of the Shenandoah, forded the north 

 fork, and early on the morning of the 19th, under 

 cover of the darkness and the fog, surprised and 

 turned our left flank, and captured the batteries 

 which enfiladed our whole line. Our troops fell 

 back with heavv loss and in much confusion, but 

 were finally rallied between Middletown and New- 

 town. At this juncture General Sheridan, who was 

 at Winchester when the batlio commenced, arrived 

 on the field, arranged his lines just in time to repulse 

 a heavy attack of the enemy, and immediately as- 

 suming the offensive, he attacked in turn with great 

 vigor. The enemy was defeated with great slaugh- 

 ter, and the loss of most of his artillery and trains 

 and the trophies he had captured in the morning. 

 The wreck of his army escaped during the night, 

 and fled in the direction of Staunton and Lynchburg. 

 Pursuit was made to Mount Jackson. Thus ended 

 this, the enemy's last attempt to invade the North 

 via the Shenandoah Valley. I was now enabled to 

 return the Sixth Corps to the Armv of the Potomac, 

 and to send one division from Sheridan's army to 

 the Army of the James, and another to Savannah, 

 Georgia, to hold Sherman's new acquisitions on the 

 sea-coast, and thus enable him to move without de- 

 taching from his force for that purpose. 



Reports from various sources led me to believe 

 that the enemy had detached three divisions from 

 Petersburg to reenforce Early in the Shenandoah 

 Valley. I therefore sent the Second Corps and 

 Gregg's division of cavalry, of the Army of the Po- 

 tomac, and a force of General Butler's armv, on the 

 night of the 13th of August, to threaten Richmond 

 from the north side of the James, to prevent him 

 from sending troops away, and, if possiole, to draw 

 back those sent. In this move we captured six 

 pieces of artillery and several hundred prisoners, 

 detained troops that were under marching orders, 

 and ascertained that but one division (Kershaw's) 

 of the three reputed detached, had gone. 



The enemy haying withdrawn heavily from Peters- 

 burg to resist this movement, the Fifth Corps, Gen- 

 eral Warren commanding, was moved out on the 

 13th and took possession of the Weldon Railroad. 

 During the day he had considerable fighting. To 

 regain possession of the road, the enemy made re- 



peated and desperate assaults, but was each time 

 repulsed with great loss. On the night of the 20th 

 the troops on the north side of the James were with- 

 drawn, and Hancock and Gregg returned to the front 

 at Petersburg. On the 25th the Second Corps and 

 Gregg's division of cavalry, while at Ream's Station 

 destroying the railroad, were attacked, and after 

 desperate fighting, a part of pur line gave way, and 

 five pieces of artillery fell into the nands of the 

 enemy. 



By the 12th of September a branch railroad was 

 completed from the City Point and Petersburg Rail- 

 road to the Weldon Railroad, enabling us to supply, 

 without difficulty, in all weather, the army in front 

 of Petersburg. 



The extension of our lines across the Weldon Rail- 

 road compelled the enemy to so extend his that it 

 seemed he could have but few troops north of the 

 James for the defence of Richmond. On the night 

 of the 28th the Tenth Corps, Major-General Birney, 

 and the Eighteenth Corps, Major-General Ord com- 

 manding, of General Butler's army, were crossed to 

 the north side of the James, and advanced on the 

 morning of the 29th, carrying the very strong forti- 

 fications and intrenchments below Chapin's Farm, 

 known as Fort Harrison, capturing fifteen pieces of 

 artillery, and the New Market road and intrench- 

 ments. This success was followed tip by a gallant 

 assault upon Fort Gillmore, immediately in front of 

 the Chapin Farm fortifications, in which we were re- 

 pulsed with heavy loss. Kautz's cavalry was pushed 

 forward on the road to the right of this, supported 

 by infantry, and reached the enemy's inner line, but 

 was unable to get further. The position captured 

 from the enemy was so threatening to Richmond 

 that I determined to hold it. The enemy made sev- 

 eral desperate attempts to dislodge us, all of which 

 were unsuccessful, and for which he paid dearly. 

 On the morning of the 30th General Meade sent out 

 a reconnoissance, with a view to attacking the ene- 

 my's line if it was found sufficiently weakened by 

 withdrawal of troops to the north side. In this re- 

 connoissance we captured and held the enemy's 

 works near Poplar Spring church. In the afternoon 

 troops moving to get to the left of the point gained 

 were attacked by the enemy in heavy force, and 

 compelled to fall back until supported by the forces 

 holding the captured works. Our cavalry under 

 Gregg was also attacked, but repulsed the enemy 

 with great loss. 



On the 7th of October the enemy attacked Kautz's 

 cavalry north of the James, and drove it back with 

 heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, and 

 the loss of all the artillery eight or nine pieces. 

 This he followed up by an attack on our intrenched 

 infantry line, but was' repulsed with severe slaugh- 

 ter. On the 13th a reconnoissance was sent out by 

 General Butler, with a view to drive the enemy from 

 some new works he was constructing, which resulted 

 in a very heavy loss to us. 



On the 27th the Army of the Potomac, leaving 

 only sufficient 'men to hold its fortified line, moved 

 by the enemy's right flank. The Second Corps, fol- 

 lowed by two divisions of the Fifth Corps, with the 

 cavalry in advance and covering our left flank, forced 

 a passage of Hatcher's Run, and moved up the south 

 side of it toward the South Side Railroad, until the 

 Second Corps and part of the cavalrv reached the 

 Boydton plank road where it crosses Hatcher's Run. 

 At .this point we were six miles distant from the 

 South Side Railroad, which I had hoped by this 

 movement to reach and hold. But finding that we 

 had not reached the end of the enemy's fortifica- 

 tions, and no place presenting itself for a successful 

 assault by which he might be doubled up and short- 

 ened, I determined to withdraw to within our forti- 

 fied line. Orders were given accordingly. Imme- 

 diately upon receiving a report that General Warren 

 had connected with General Hancock, I returned to 

 my headquarters. Soon after I left, the enemy 



