Sheridan's Failure at Cedar Creek

General Philip H. Sheridan took command of the Army of the Shenandoah, Virginia in August 1864. His coming was the signal for aggressive fighting, and for a series of brilliant victories over the rebel army. He defeated General Jubal A. Early at Winchester and again at Fisher’s Hill, while General Alfred Torbert whipped General Thomas Rosser in a subsequent action, where the route of the rebels was so complete that the fight was known as the “Woodstock Races.” Sheridan’s plan after this was to terminate his campaign north of Staunton, and then return to desolate the Valley, so as to make it untenable for the Confederates, as well as useless as a granary or storehouse. Then, he would move the bulk of his army through Washington and unite them with General Ulysses S. Grant in front of Petersburg. Grant, however, and the authorities at Washington, was in favor of Sheridan’s driving Early into Eastern Virginia, and following up that line, which Sheridan himself believed to be a false move.