Cedar Creek • Tour the Battlefield • Battle Maps • Battle Facts • The Armies
Sheridan was not with the army during the morning of the attack. He had been called to a conference in Washington, and had returned as far as Winchester the night before the battle. Uneasy at the distant sound of artillery in the south in the morning, Sheridan hurried his breakfast and started for Cedar Creek with a small cavalry escort. He quickly ran into fugitives from the battle.
Park in the gravel on the right side of the small bridge. Visitors are encouraged to stay in their vehicles.
To continue to Stop Ten, proceed 0.5 mile. Turn right (southwest) onto U.S. Route 11 for 1.4 miles. Turn left onto Skirmisher Lane (opposite Cougill Road). This is the 3rd entrance into Lord Fairfax Community College.
Leaving most of his escort to form a straggler line across the turnpike, he headed south, assuring the fugitives “tonight we’ll make coffee from Cedar Creek” and urging them to turn around. Many of them did.
Sheridan reached the battlefield at this location around 10:30, finding the Sixth Corps and his cavalry still ready to fight. He began to prepare a counterattack. At the suggestion of one of his staff he rode the length of the battle line to show his men that he had returned and was in command.
Sheridan’s turned his beaten army around by sheer force of personality. By late afternoon they launched the attack that would eliminate Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah for the rest of the Civil War.
A nearby Virginia historical marker on the Valley Pike marks the .