Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 12.djvu/463

 Reminiscences of Cavalry Operations. 453

seemed to have followed him until our great disaster at Tom's Brook, where by Rosser's rashness we were entrapped, and lost more in that one fight than we had ever done before, in all of our fights together. (I refer to material, not men.)

On page 176, Pond's book, we find the following :

"The night of the 21st he sent this dispatch (Sheridan to Grant;. ' Gen. Wilson's cavalry division charged the enemy at Front Royal pike this morning and drove them from Front Royal up the Luray Valley for a distance of six miles. I directed two brigades of the First Cavalry Division, with General Wilson's division, to follow the enemy up the Luray valley and to push them vigorously.' "

Pond says, page 178 : " Unfortunately Torbert did not succeed in driving Wickham's cavalry from its strong defensive position at Mill- ford, and hence the portion of Sheridan's plan which contemplated cutting off the enemy's retreat by seizing the pike at New Market was not carried out.

"On the 2ist Torbert had moved through Front Royal into the Luray Valley with the divisions of Merritt and Wilson, excepting Devins's brigade of Merritt' s division, which had been left to guard the rear of the army at Cedar Creek. He found Wickham, with his own and Payne's brigades, posted on the south side of Gorny Run. At 2 A. M. of the 22d Custer's brigade was sent back across the South Fork with orders, says Torbert, to march around the enemy's flank to his rear, as he seemed too strong to attack in front ; but Torbert, on moving forward at daylight, found the enemy had retreated to a still stronger position on the south side of Millford creek, with his left on the Shenandoah and his right on a knob of the Blue Ridge, occupying a short and compact line. The banks of the creek seemed to Torbert too precipitous for a direct attack, and ' not knowing,' he says, ' that the army had made an attack at Fisher's Hill, and thinking that the sacrifice would be too great to attack without that knowledge, I concluded to withdraw to a point opposite McCoy's Ford.' On the 23d Wilson crossed McCoy's Ford, and Merritt went back through Front Royal, where he skir- mished with Mosby during the afternoon. ' News was received of the victory at Fisher's Hill and directions to make up the Luray Valley.' Both divisions at once moved forward and bivouacked at Millford creek, which the enemy had evacuated."

Note.— [Sheridan to Grant] September 23d : " Its operations [the cavalry] up the Luray Valley, on which I calculated so much, was an entire failure. They were held at Millford by two small brigades