3rd Battle of Winchester Battle Maps – Dusk

3rd Winchester • Tour the Battlefield • Battle Maps • Battle Facts • The Armies
The Battlefield • Dawn • 10 a.m. • 11:40 a.m. • Counterattack • Early p.m. • Late p.m. • Dusk

As the day came to a close the Confederate lines were compressed into a tight line less than two miles in length north and east of Winchester. But there were no natural features to anchor the defences and the northern part of the line was very weak, held by Early’s cavalry and his smallest infantry division.

Battle map for the 3rd Battle of Winchester - Dusk

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As Sheridan’s infantry pushed towards Winchester his cavalry broke through Early’s line in a thundering attack, the largest cavalry charge of the Civil War. The Confederate line collapsed and they “whirled through Winchester,” in the words of a staff officer, making their way to safety twenty miles south on the strong defensive position of Fisher’s Hill. The growing darkness and the exhaustion of Union troops prevented a pursuit and a Confederate disaster. Even so Early lost 1,800 men captured or missing – over 15% of his army.