Sheridan was a West Pointer, graduating in 1853, and was appointed
captain at the outbreak of the war. It was not until May of 1862 that he
found his real place as colonel of cavalry, and not until the first days
of the following year that he had the opportunity to distinguish
himself. Then, at the battle of Murfreesboro, he broke through the
advancing Confederate line which was crumpling up the right of the Union
army, and turned the tide of battle from defeat to victory. As a reward,
he was appointed major-general of volunteers. In April, 1864, he became
commander of the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac, and three
months later made his famous raid along the valley of the Shenandoah.
Entering the valley with an army of forty thousand men, Sheridan swept
Early and a Confederate force out of it, and then, to render impossible
any Confederate raids thereafter with the valley as a base, rode from
end to end of it, destroying everything that would support an army.
Early, meanwhile, had been reinforced, and, one misty morning, fell upon
the Federals while they lay encamped at Cedar Creek. The surprise was
complete, and in a short time the Union army was in full flight.
Sheridan had been called to Washington, and on the morning of the battle
was at Winchester, some twenty miles away.
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