Cedar Creek • Tour the Battlefield • Battle Maps • The Armies
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Battle of Cedar Creek – Pre-dawn, October 19, 1864
The Union position at Cedar Creek was laid out as much for good camping and access to water as defence. What small threat Early’s outnumbered and twice beaten men still offered would be from the west, where he was bivouaced up the Valley Pike on Fisher’s Hill.
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The Union line covered the crossings of Cedar Creek. In the center Emory’s 19th Corps camped on high ground behind a line of entrenchments that overlooked the Valley Pike’s crossing of the stream.
On the left (south) flank Crook’s 8th Corps also had entrenchments on the high ground overlooking the lower crossings of Cedar Creek as well as a ford across the Shenandoah. But this was the least likely threat. The steep sides of Massanutton Mountain came very close to the Shenandoah. There was barely room for the Strasburg-Front Royal Road and the Manassas Gap Railroad, and it would be difficult for Early to move an attacking force around the 8th Corps flank without it being detected.
The right (north) flank was the concern. There was plenty of ground to the northwest for Early to swing around into the Union rear. The Sixth Corps was placed here as well as two of the cavalry divisions, putting what were probably the best Union troops at what was thought to be the most threatened area.
In the center of the Union lines Belle Grove plantation’s mansion housed the army’s headquarters staff while its grounds along the Valley Pike provided space for its wagon park and cattle herd. It was a good position for an army who expected minimal trouble.
One of the biggest flaws in the position was that it was completely visible to Rebel lookouts high above on Massanutton Mountain. Knowing the exact deployment of Union forces, Early’s staff came up with a bold plan to strike the 8th Corps flank and defeat each part of Sheridan’s army in detail.
As darkness fell on October 18 Sheridan settled into a room fifteen miles to the north in Winchester, returning from a conference in Washington. To the south Early’s men filed off Fisher’s Hill onto the Valley Pike for a night march around the Union flank that would have pleased Early’s old commander, Stonewall Jackson.