The Battle of Cedar Creek was the last great Civil War battle to take place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It took place on October 19, 1864 and spread over several miles between the towns of Middletown and Strasburg. Union troops were led by Major General Philip Sheridan, Confederates by Lt. General Jubal Early.
The 102nd Pennsylvania was a unit raised in the area surrounding Pittsburg in 1861 at the beginning of the war. They fought mostly in Virginia and remained in service until the surrender at Appomattox. They were among the over 30,000 Union soldiers in the battle at Cedar Creek, part of the VI Corps, 2nd Division, 1st Brigade under Col. James M. Warner.
The Confederate Army attacked early in the morning of Oct. 19, surprising the Union forces and causing most of them to withdraw. Over the course of the day the Union troops rallied, eventually routing the Confederates.
The first and third divisions of the VI Corps were initially forced back to the town of Middletown, where the 2nd division took a defensive position at the town cemetery shown in the accompanying photographs. They continued to retreat until about 10 a.m. when the Union lines solidified and held.
General Sheridan arrived about 10:30, reorganized the Union troops and about 3 p.m. the Union army began to advance. By 6 p.m. the Confederate army was retreating.
About 600 Union soldiers were killed at Cedar Creek, with over 5000 more men wounded. Among the wounded was my great-grandfather, Lewis Cass White, the color sergeant for the 102nd Pennsylvania. He was shot three times, but survived the battle and several month in the hospital.
See Wikipedia article at Cedar Creek
