Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 10.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

Line of battle was formed on the north side of the town, the command reorganized, and we then turned back deliberately to Newtown, and the next day to Fisher's Hill. We lost three pieces of artillery, two of which had been left with the cavalry on the left, and the other was lost because the horses were killed, and it could not be brought off. In this fight I had already defeated the enemy's infantry, and could have continued to do so, but the enemy's very great superiority in cavalry, and the comparative inefficiency of ours, turned the scales against us. In this battle the loss in the infantry and artillery was — killed, 226; wounded, 1,567; missing, 1,818; total, 3,611. There is no full report of the cavalry, but the total loss in killed and wounded from September 1st to 1st October, is — killed, 60; wounded, 288; total, 348; but many were captured, though a good many are missing as stragglers, and a number of them reported missing in the infantry were not captured, but are stragglers and skulkers. Wharton's (Breckenridge's) division lost six colors, and Rodes's division captured two. Rodes's division made a very gallant charge, and he was killed conducting it. I fell back to Fisher's hill, as it was the only place where a stand could be made, and I was compelled to detach Fitz. Lee's cavalry to the Luray valley to hold the enemy's cavalry in check should it advance up that valley. The enemy's loss at Winchester was very heavy. Dr. McGuire has received a letter from a member of his family, who states that 5,800 of the enemy's wounded were brought to the hospital at Winchester, and that the total wounded was between 6,000 and 7,000, and a gentleman who passed over the field says that the number of killed was very large. Sheridan's Medical Director informed one of our Surgeons, left at Woodstock, that the number of wounded in hospital at Winchester was the same as stated in the letter to Dr. McGuire, and I am satisfied from what I saw that the enemy's loss was very heavy.

The enemy's infantry force was nearly, if not quite, three times as large as mine, and his cavalry was very much superior, both in numbers and equipment. This I have learned from intelligent persons who have seen the whole of both forces. I posted my troops in line at Fisher's Hill, with the hope of arresting Sheridan's progress, but my line was very thin, and having discovered that the position could be flanked, as is the case with every position in the Valley, I had determined to fall back on the night of the 22nd, but late that evening a heavy force was moved under cover of the woods on the left, and drove back the cavalry there posted, and got in the rear of my right flank, and when I tried to remedy this the infantry got into a panic and gave way in confusion, and I found it impossible to rally it. The artillery behaved