Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/451

 1 he Battle of Cedar Creek. 445

day the lull and final cessation of firing in the distance showed that the battle was over and the field in possession of our troops.

The surgeons, with due regard for the safety of the wounded, did not cross over the bridge, but established their hospitals on the western side. Very soon after a battle commences the wounded begin to come in first those who can walk, holding a wounded hand or arm with the uninjured one, and then those more seriously wounded in ambulances. One of the first to reach the hospital that day was a young lieutenant, bright and handsome, whom I had met while on a visit to a family in Winchester a short time previously, whose left eye had been completely destroyed by a bullet.

Late in the evening there came a rumor that our troops were fall- ing back. It was discredited at first, but soon a surging mass of men crossing the bridge and filling the plain at this end of the bridge confirmed the report. The wounded were hastily placed in the am- bulances, which, with the medical wagons, were sent to the rear.

The line of Cedar Creek offered an excellent position for rallying the troops and checking the advance of the enemy, none of whom were then in sight. The officers went among the men and begged them to form in line of battle. But the commands were all mixed up, discipline was utterly lost, and as fast as a line was formed it would break and melt away like a rope of sand. The men were all the time drifting to the rear like a herd of cattle. There can be no question that a bold and resolute stand at this point would have checked the advance of the enemy.

The men were not cowards. Most of them were veterans who had seen honorable service in nearly all of the great battles fought by the Army of Northern Virginia. But they had become separated from their commands. Men who will fight bravely and give prompt obe- dience to orders when side by side with their comrades and under the control of officers whom they have been accustomed to obey, will lose their enthusiasm when separated from their companions, and pay no attention to the commands of an officer whom they have never seen before.

While futile efforts were being made to rally our troops, the sharp crack of rifles was heard on our left. Looking in that direction, I saw some ten or twelve men Sheridan's dismounted cavalrymen lying flat upon the brow of a hill about two hundred yards off, and firing deliberately down upon our men below.

Although there were at least one thousand men in the disorganized throng below, nearly all of whom had their muskets, only one man